J. Lawson Hester

For more than 36 years Lawson has concentrated his civil litigation practice in complex, high exposure matters.  He has served for many years as national trial counsel for multiple entities. His civil litigation practice includes multiple areas of litigation including commercial litigation, products liability, civil rights, insurance law and litigation, insurance law and coverage, employment law and litigation, and general litigation matters.

Lawson has tried more than 145 civil cases to verdict or judgment as first-chair or solo trial counsel, and currently maintains a success rate of more than 96% of civil cases tried to conclusion. Lawson’s litigated matters have been reported and featured nationally in the National Law Journal, Business Week, Forbes.com, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, ABA Journal, Mealey’s Litigation Reports, Law360, Kings of Tort, and through NBC, ABC and CBS affiliate media stations.

Lawson is a member of the Defense Research Institute, Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association, American Bar Association, Mississippi Bar, Tennessee Bar, North Carolina Bar, Capitol Area Bar Association, as well as the Bar Associations of the Fifth and Tenth Federal Circuits. He is a frequent lecturer in continuing legal education seminars on subject matter related to trial practice, inclusive of effective deposition practice, tort reform, corporate/private attorney-client privilege, civil rights, governmental liability, ethics, and the art of cross-examination. He is an active member of First Presbyterian Church and numerous civic organizations. He has served as an advocate for numerous non-profit civic organizations on matters of public concern.

Lawson obtained his B.A. Degree from the University of Mississippi I 1984 with a double major in English and political science, where he was selected for membership in Omicron Delta Kappa. He received his law degree from the University of Mississippi in 1986 and was the winner of the law school’s mock trial competition and chaired the appellate and trial divisions of the Moot Court Board.