Paul H. Stephenson, III was admitted to the Mississippi Bar in 1977.  He is also admitted to practice before all state and federal district courts in Mississippi, as well as the Supreme Court of the United States and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.  His practice has focused on business, commercial and financial disputes at the trial and appellate levels involving a wide array of subject matters.  Paul’s experience includes complex class actions, oil and gas controversies, and constitutional law principally related to the Fourteenth Amendment.  His cases of note include The Piney Woods Country Life School v. Shell Oil Co., 539 F. Supp. 957 (S.D. Miss. 1982), aff’d in part, rev’d in part, 726 F.2d 225 (5th Cir. 1984), cert. denied, 471 U.S. 1005 (1985); on remand, No. J74-0307(W) (S.D. Miss. April 24, 1989), aff’d in part, rev’d in part, 905 F.2d 840 (5th Cir. 1990); on remand, 1995 WL 917482 (S.D. Miss. 1995), aff’d in part, 116 F.3d 478 (5th Cir. 1997); on remand, 170 F. Supp. 2d 675 (S.D. Miss. 1999), aff’d, 218 F.3d 744 (5th Cir. 2000); Ayers v. Allain, 674 F. Supp. 1523 (N.D. Miss. 1987), aff’d en banc, 898 F.2d 1014 (5th Cir.1990), vacated and remanded, 505 U.S. 717 (1992); on remand, 879 F. Supp. 1419 (S.D. Miss. 1995), aff’d in part, rev’d in part, 111 F.3d 1183 (5th Cir. 1997), cert. denied, 522 U.S. 1084 (1998); on remand, 2002 WL 32127613 (N.D. Miss. 2002), aff’d, 358 F.3d 356 (5th Cir. 2004), cert. denied,537 U.S. 861 (2002); and Smith v. Tower Loan of Mississippi, Inc., 216 F.R.D.338 (S.D. Miss. 2003), aff’d,91 Fed. Appx. 952 (5th Cir. 2004), cert. denied., 534 U.S. 1089 (2005).

 Publications And Honors

• 2012 Benchmark Litigation: Recommended Mississippi Litigation Lawyer
• The Best Lawyers in America® (2009-2012, Commercial Litigation and Oil and Gas Law, Bet-the-Company Litigation)
• Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business (2009-2011, Litigation:  General and Commercial)
• Mid-South Super Lawyers (2006-2011, Business Litigation, Class Action/Mass Torts, Civil Litigation Defense)
• Martindale-Hubbell, AV rating

Education

• Bachelor’s Degree: Accounting, University of Mississippi, 1974
• Juris Doctor: University of Mississippi School of Law, 1977
  

Professional And Community Involvement

• American Bar Association, Litigation Section
• Mississippi Bar Association
• Mississippi Bar Foundation, Fellow
• Bar Association of the Fifth Circuit
• Defense Research Institute
• Past member of Board of Jackson Preparatory School (past President)
• Past member of Rotary Club of Jackson
• First Presbyterian Church (past deacon and Chairman of Diaconate; present member of Session)
• Mississippi Joint Committee on Campus Work for Reformed University Ministries/Mississippi