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W. Wayne Drinkwater

Contact

  • One Jackson Place
    188 E. Capitol Street
    Suite 400
    Jackson, MS 39201
P: 601.592.9911
F: 601.592.1411
Secretary:
P: 601.592.9922

W. Wayne Drinkwater

Partner

Wayne has extensive experience as lead counsel in major business and commercial litigation and appellate cases. He has served as lead counsel in some of Mississippi’s most significant litigation. He has also handled more than 60 appeals, arguing more than 30 in state and federal courts across the United States.

A former law clerk at the United States Supreme Court, Wayne is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers. He is included in Best Lawyers in America in four litigation fields. For the past 7 years, he has been named Mississippi’s top commercial litigator in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business.

Experience

Wayne represents clients throughout the South and United States. The range of his practice includes business and commercial cases, mass torts, and appellate practice. Wayne also maintains a pro bono practice, representing plaintiffs in litigation challenging state and local government policies. As pro bono counsel, Wayne has successfully represented classes of abused and neglected children and bookstore owners, penitentiary inmates, the Mississippi Ethics Commission, and the first man admitted to Mississippi University for Women.

Distinctions

 

  • Listed in The Best Lawyers in America®
    • Appellate Practice, 2007-2013
    • Bet-The Company Litigation, 2007-2013
    • Business Litigation, 1997-2006
    • Commercial Litigation, 2006-2013
    • Mass Tort Litigation, 2007-2010
    • Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions-Defendants, 2011-2013
  • "Lawyer of the Year," Jackson, MS
    • Appellate Practice, 2011, 2013
    • Bet-the-Company Litigation, 2012
  • Listed in Chambers USA
    • Litigation: Appellate, 2005-2012
    • Litigation: General Commercial, 2003-2012 (Star Individual 2004-2012)
  • Listed in Mid-South Super Lawyers, Business Litigation, 2009-2012
  • Listed in Benchmark Litigation, "Litigation Star," Mississippi, 2008-2013
  • Listed in Benchmark Appellate, "Appellate Star," Mississippi, 2012-2013
  • Listed in Mid-South Super Lawyers, “Top 50 Mississippi Super Lawyers,” Business Litigation and Appellate, 2012

Memberships and Affiliations

  • American College of Trial Lawyers, Fellow
  • American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, Fellow
  • American Board of Trial Advocates, Advocate
  • Product Liability Advisory Council, Sustaining Member
  • American Bar Foundation, Fellow
  • American Law Institute, Fellow
  • Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Board of Trustees
  • Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi, Vice Chancellor
  • Mississippi Bar Foundation, Trustee
  • Supreme Court Historical Society, State Chair