George R. Fair

George R. Fair joined Watkins & Eager in 1974.  During his legal career, he has had both a business and a commercial litigation practice.  His business practice has been primarily in the areas of banking, corporate, administrative and regulatory, and commercial transactions (including, mergers and acquisitions, commercial contracts, public finance, and public utilities).  His commercial litigation practice has been primarily in the areas of banking, fidelity and surety, construction, professional liability, and public utilities. 

He is admitted to practice before all state and district courts in Mississippi, as well as the United States Courts of Appeals for the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits.  Cases of note in his litigation practice include:  North Mississippi Savings and Loan Ass’n v. Hudspeth, 756 F.2d,1096 (5th Cir. 1985), cert den., 474 U.S. 1054 (1986); State v. Board of Levee Comm'rs for Yazoo Mississippi Delta, 932 So.2d 12 (Miss. 2006).

He served as President of the Mississippi Bar in 2009-10.  He also served on the Board of Bar Commissioners from 2004-07.  He is a Fellow of the Mississippi Bar Foundation, the Mississippi Young Lawyers Foundation, and the American Bar Foundation.  In 2010, he received the Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project’s Pro Bono Volunteer Award.  In 2017, he received the Capital Area Bar Association's Professionalism Award.

• The Mississippi Bar (President, 2009–10; Board of Commissioners, 2004-07)
• Mississippi Bar Foundation, Fellow
• Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Association - Pro Bono Volunteer Award
• Capital Area Bar Association - Professionalism Award
• Mississippi Young Lawyers Foundation, Fellow
• American Bar Association, Fellow
• Capital Area Bar Association, Past Director
• Jackson Young Lawyers Association (President, 1982)
• Mississippi Bankers Association (Bank Attorneys Committee, Past Chairman)
• The Best Lawyers in America (1987-2024, Administrative/Regulatory Law; Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships); Corporate Governance Law; Corporate Law; Financial Services Regulation Law; Litigation - Banking and Finance; Mergers and Acquisitions Law; Municipal Law and Utilities Law)
• The Best Lawyers in America, Lawyer of the Year - (2015, Administrative/Regulatory Law; 2014, Financial Services Regulation Law;  2013, Corporate Law; 2012, Financial Services Regulation Law; 2011, Banking and Finance Law)
• Chambers USA-America's Leading Lawyers for Business (2003-22, Corporate/Commercial; 2003-19, Corporate/Commercial: Banking & Finance)
• Mid-South Super Lawyers (Banking, 2006-19; Top 50 Mississippi, 2012-13)
• AV Preeminent Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell

• Law Alumni Chapter of University of Mississippi Alumni Association, Past Director
• Rotary Club of Jackson, Past Director
• Mississippi Museum of Art, Past Director
• Reformed Theological Seminary, Board of Trustees
• First Presbyterian Church, Elder
• First Presbyterian Day School, Past Chairman of Board of Trustees
• Young Life, Past Committee Chairman