Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP is pleased to announce that attorney Michael J. Bentley has been named the Young Lawyer of the Year by Mississippi College School of Law.
The award is given to a young lawyer who has made significant contributions to the legal community as well as the advancement of MC Law over the previous year. Since graduating in 2007, Bentley has remained involved with MC Law, serving as an adjunct professor of Legal Writing since 2008 and coaching several moot court teams. This year, he coached the school’s team that won the Andrews Kurth Moot Court National Championship in February.
Bentley has also been actively involved with the Jackson Young Lawyers (JYL) since his admission to the bar in 2007, serving first as Chair of the Pro Bono Committee and now as a member of the JYL Board of Directors. He has served as a volunteer attorney for the Stewpot Legal Clinic, the MVLP Legal Line, and the Mississippi Center for Justice’s Education Advocacy Project. Bentley is also a board member, and First Vice-President, of the Mississippi Association of Partners in Education, a statewide non-profit organization with the mission of building partnerships between public schools and their local businesses.
“This is a significant honor for Michael and we congratulate him on this much-deserved award,” said Firm Chairman Beau Grenier. “Through his continued involvement with the Mississippi College School of Law, and his leadership in the legal community as a whole, he works tirelessly on behalf of our profession. We’re proud to see him recognized in this way.”
Bentley joined Bradley Arant after completing a clerkship for Judge Leslie Southwick at the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He maintains a commercial litigation practice, with a focus on appeals. His appellate experience is diverse, ranging from oil and gas and maritime matters to insurance coverage disputes and professional malpractice claims. Bentley also has significant experience representing lenders in real estate litigation, from wrongful foreclosure suits to challenged tax sales, and banks in disputes arising under the Uniform Commercial Code.