Chief Executive Officer: Dennis W Miller Senior
Shareholders: William F Winter, John Hampton Stennis
- Number of shareholders: 54
- Number of non-shareholders: 26
FIRM OVERVIEW: Founded in 1905, Watkins Ludlam Winter & Stennis, P.A. has grown into a comprehensive, business-oriented law firm. The firm is one of the largest and most established full-service law firms in the State ofMississippi,with 80 attorneys, licensed in 12 states and the District of Columbia, and graduates of 38 different law schools, colleges and universities. The firm is a member of Meritas, the world's largest affiliation of business law firms.Meritas member firms provide business clients worldwide access to sophisticated legal advice and exceptional service.The firm is also a member of the State Capital Law Firm Group, an organization comprised of leading domestic and international law firms occupying leadership positions in their respective states and countries.
MAIN AREAS OF PRACTICE:
Antitrust, Business Tort & Commercial Litigation: For many decades the firm has litigated substantial matters involving business disputes of virtually every nature, ranging from antitrust to business torts and RICO.The firm’s litigation attorneys also have indepth knowledge of industries including computers and information technology, finance, financial institutions, communications, advertising, mining, oil and gas and agricultural products.
Bankruptcy & Creditors’ Rights: The general practice of the firm includes extensive representation of local, regional, national, and international companies in a full range of bankruptcy matters and creditors’ rights.
Construction Law: The group’s attorneys have extensive experience in drafting construction contracts in both the private and governmental arenas and in representing owners, contractors and insurers in construction contract disputes and litigation. The group’s attorneys have advised clients concerning and preparing fixed, design/build, unit price, construction management and cost plus contracts.
Environmental: The firm’s work includes the performance of environmental due diligence in connection with financing,mergers and acquisitions, industrial and municipal development and real property transfers. Federal, State &Local Taxation:Members of the firm’s Tax Practice Group concentrate on federal, state and local tax matters of all types, including income and estate tax planning, administrative controversies and appeals (including employment and excise tax matters), litigation of tax cases in federal and state courts, and legislative counseling and representation on industry and client-specific issues.
Financial Institutions: The firm represents numerous financial institutions (including commercial banks, savings institutions and small loan companies) throughout the Southeast.The firm also represents holding companies owning financial institutions and helped establish many of these holding companies.
Gaming & Resort: The firmrepresents businesses and individuals in all aspects of gaming licensing, process and related approval processes and regulatory compliance.Because of the firm’s diversity of experiences and backgrounds, it is able to work with its gaming clients to address the entirety of their regulatory, corporate, finance, taxation and litigation needs.
Insurance Litigation: The firm undertakes, both statewide and regionally, insurancebased representation of manufacturers, financial institutions, retailers, public entities and officials, medical professionals, healthcare facilities, common carriers, utilities, and individuals, as well as various entities engaged in interstate and intrastate transportation, commerce, gaming, agribusiness, construction and specialized industries. Labor & Employment: The attorneys in the L&E Group are among the most experienced in the nation in labor and employment law matters, such as NLRB matters and litigation, OSHA investigations and litigation, complex EEO litigation, and counseling employers and litigating issues such as wage and hour, FMLA, ADA and employment contract issues. Firm attorneys regularly provide employers with training on harassment, workplace violence, and overall human resource policies.
Legislative & Governmental Relations: The firm’s attorneys help clients to formulate well adapted strategies that will be clearly understood; provide monitoring, tracking and analysis of legislative and regulatory developments; help clients to develop legislative and regulatory relationships; serve as registered lobbyists when required; and generally assist clients in communicating more effectively their viewpoints with respect to issues.
Mergers & Acquisitions: The firm has extensive experience in buying, selling and combining companies across a broad spectrum of industries, including banking, insurance, gaming, telecommunications, manufacturing, retail and healthcare. It has represented both buyers and sellers of family owned businesses to publicly traded companies in all types of transactions, including stock acquisitions, asset acquisitions,mergers, going private transactions, corporate spin offs, bids, leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations and restructurings.
Public Finance: In the 1960s the firm became Mississippi’s first nationally recognized bond counsel. The firm served as underwriter’s counsel for the first industrial development revenue bonds issued in Mississippi in 1961, and public finance has been a central part of the firm’s practice ever since.The Public Finance Practice Group is supported by the firm’s Tax and Securities Practice,which is the largest in Mississippi.
Real Estate & Commercial Finance Transactions: The firm has extensive experience in real estate development and commercial finance transactions of all descriptions and has represented developers and lenders in some of the most substantial and sophisticated projects in Mississippi.
Securities: The Securities Practice has handled billions of dollars of equity and debt offerings, including initial public offerings and other SEC registered securities offerings, as well as private placements and other exempt offerings. The firm has guided public and private companies, underwriters and securities owners through securities law compliance issues.