Attorney Profiles - Reeves & Mestayer
Email: mdl@attorneys4people.com
Practice Areas: Personal Injury; Insurance Bad Faith; Products Liability; Admiralty and Maritime Law; Medical Malpractice; Litigation; Appellate Practice.
Admitted: 1989, Louisiana; 1991, Mississippi
Law School: Louisiana State University, J.D., 1989
College: University of Southern Mississippi, B.A., cum laude, 1980
Member: Louisiana State Bar Association; Mississippi State Bar; Mississippi Trial Lawyers Association (Board of Governors, 1996-2001; Lifetime Member); Louisiana Trial Lawyers Association; Association of Trial Lawyers of America; Mississippi Board of Bar Admissions; Mississippi Bar Tribunal; Million Dollar Advocates Forum.
Biography: Member, LSU Moot Court Board; Moot Court Competition. Speaker: "Use of Focus Groups to Develop Demonstrative Evidence and the Presentation of Your Case," Kentucky Academy of Trial Attorneys, June 12, 1998; "Cross Examination of a Defendant Doctor/IME," Mississippi Trial Lawyers Association, Oct. 20, 1999; "Late Breaking News from the Tire Front-Firestone/Ford Update," Mississippi Trial Lawyers Assn., No. 17, 2000; "Preparing for and Assisting at Trial," Half Moon, LLC, March 24, 2000. Law Clerk to Justice Michael D. Sullivan, Mississippi Supreme Court, 1989-1990; Law Clerk to U.S. District Court, Southern District of Mississippi U.S. Magistrate Judge, 1990-1991.
Born: Pascagoula, Mississippi, February 28, 1956
ISLN: 901510547
MemberEmail: jrr@attorneys4people.com
Jim Reeves was born in Mobile, Alabama, in 1965. He obtained his undergraduate degree with honors from the University of South Alabama in 1989. Mr. Reeves then attended Tulane University Law School where he graduated cum laude in 1992.
Upon graduation, he began his career working with a large law firm representing large corporations and insurance companies. Mr. Reeves quickly rose through the ranks of the firm and became a partner in less than five years.
In 1998, he left the defense firm and changed the focus of his practice. He began representing ordinary people and businesses who were injured or damaged by the negligence of others. Over the years, he has successfully handled hundreds of cases on behalf of working families, veterans, children and ordinary people. These cases have been against the largest, most powerful companies in the world, including Ford Motor Company, Bridgestone/Firestone, Lloyds of London Insurance Companies, Diamond Offshore Drilling, State Farm Insurance, Minnesota Mutual Life Insurance Company, St. Paul Life Insurance Company, just to name a few. Mr. Reeves continues to represent people and businesses throughout the United States in matters involving serious personal injury, death, fraud, and unfair business practices. Over the course of his career, Mr. Reeves has been counsel in over 100 cases with a recovery of one million dollars or more (among the most in the Nation for attorneys of similar age). Some of these cases include:
- $55 Million on behalf of 75 passengers and drivers injured or killed in tire defect/vehicle rollover cases
- $22 Million on behalf of 7 investors defrauded of their life savings.
- $12 Million on behalf of 5 people killed in a multi-vehicle collision.
- $10 Million on behalf of school children and teachers poisoned by defective spray roofing.
- $5.5 Million verdict on behalf of a woman who was abducted and raped in a K-Mart parking lot because the store provided no security.
- $3.75 Million verdict on behalf of a seaman disabled in an offshore injury.
- $2.2 Million on behalf of the family of a woman killed in a trucking accident.
- $1.8 Million arbitration recovery on behalf of a business which was the victim of unfair trade practices.
He is an active member of the Harrison County, Alabama, and Mississippi Bar Associations. He was appointed to serve on the Mississippi Bar Tribunal in the year 2002. He is also a member of the American Association for Justice (President's Club), the Alabama Trial Lawyer Association and Mississippi Association for Justice (MAJ). He was elected to the Board of Governors of the MAJ in 2002 and serves in the Leaders Forum. He is a member of the American Trial Lawyers Association and is active in the Southern Trial Lawyers Association, the American Inns of Court, the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, and has achieved the level of Fellow at the National College of Trial Advocacy.
Mr. Reeves is the author of numerous legal articles and frequently lectures other lawyers and law students on the intricacies of handling complex civil cases.
MemberEmail: mgm@attorneys4people.com
Matthew G. Mestayer, born in Pascagoula, Mississippi in 1967. He obtained his undergraduate degree from Springhill College in 1990 in International Business. Mr. Mestayer then attended University of Mississippi Law School where he graduated in 1993.
Upon graduation, Mr. Mestayer, like many lawyers, started his career representing corporations. However, he quickly realized that, he had much more sympathy for hurt indivduals and began to develop a plaintiffs practice.
In 1999, Mr. Mestayer was appointed the Municipal Judge of Ocean Springs and he maintains that position currently. While the City Judge of Ocean Springs, Mr. Mestayer has heard literally thousands of cases involving all types of matters. Furthermore, Mr. Mestayer has been recognized for his work with victims of domestic violence and has received in 2004 the Gulf Coast Womens Center For Non-Violence Judicial Award.
Additionally, Mr. Mestayer has started several programs to help at risk youth deal with alcohol and drug issues. Mr. Mestayer has been a frequent speaker on domestic violence and issues involving minors.
In addition to being a part-time Judge, Mr. Mestayer has a full law practice in Biloxi, Mississippi. He specializes in representing those injured at work or automobile accidents. He especially enjoys the personal satisfaction of helping a family when their livelihood is at risk, and helping them get back on their feet.
He has had numerous successes in representing injured workers. In particular, Mr. Mestayer joins that small group of lawyers who has obtained a verdict over one million dollars. In 2010, Mr. Mestayer, along with one of his partners obtained a 1.5 million dollar verdict representing an injured retired veteran, who was injured at a VA Medical Center.
He is an active member of the Harrison County and American Bar Associations; The Mississippi Bar; Harrison County Young Lawyers Association, and his local community serving on a number of local boards including the YMCA Board, various community boards in Ocean Springs and as well as being a leader in his church.
Mr. Mestayer has a large supportive family and is married with four small children.
