Rick was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, where he lives with his wife and three children. Rick attended high school at Jackson Preparatory School and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Mississippi in 1996. Rick then attended the University of Mississippi School of Law where he graduated summa cum laude in 1999.
Rick began his legal career as a litigator at a regional law firm in Jackson. He later served as in-house counsel at a publicly traded company, where he managed much of the company’s litigation matters. Following his time as in-house counsel, Rick returned to private practice.
Rick has concentrated his career in complex civil litigation, primarily in the area of product liability. He has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America® as the 2014-2015 “Lawyer of the Year” for Jackson, Mississippi, in the area of Product Liability Law. He is also AV® Rated by Martindale-Hubbell®, which is the highest rating available.
Rick served in a leadership role in the consolidated products liability cases; In re: Welding Fume Products Liability Litigation (MDL 1535). This MDL was located in the Northern District of Ohio and the cases were consolidated before the Honorable Kathleen O’Malley. In this capacity, Rick served as co-lead trial counsel in numerous MDL bellwether trials where he obtained landmark verdicts against manufacturers of welding consumables for product liability claims. These trials resulted in approximately $30 million in jury verdicts, including the only two punitive damage verdicts in the history of that litigation.
Rick has the experience and skill to investigate, litigate and successfully take to trial the most complicated of cases.