Mark Edwards is a member in the firm and practices primarily in the Products Liability Practice Group and in the area of construction law. He has tried products liability cases to defense verdicts in difficult jurisdictions. He has handled thousands of complex litigation cases for the firm’s clients. He also represents businesses of different sizes as well as individuals in commercial, insurance and personal injury cases. Using the insight gained through many years of practice in multiple states to understand and overcome his clients’ legal challenges and provide them with the highest level of legal counsel and professionalism is Mark’s principle objective.

Practice Areas

• Construction defect, sick building and drainage issues
• Insurance defense and professional malpractice
• Premises liability
• Products liability
• Commercial litigation, including corporate and shareholder derivative actions
• Trucking and transportation liability
• Toxic tort and environmental litigation

Experience

Mark has over 20 years of experience in the products liability area. His expertise includes :

• Evaluation, preparation for trial, trial and settlement/mediation of various products liability cases
• Insurance bad faith
• Corporate shareholder disputes
• Mass tort/toxic exposure cases
• Vehicle accidents
• Construction issues
• Drainage issues

The mass tort cases in which Mark has been involved include: asbestos exposure; free silica exposure; occupational hearing loss; benzene exposure; isocyanate exposure, legionnaire’s disease, mold exposures and pneumoconiosis dust cases.

He has secured over 30,000 voluntary dismissals for clients in toxic exposure cases. He has tried products liability cases involving respiratory protection equipment, personal protective equipment, tire failures and pneumatic tools.

He also has experience in the trial of shareholder derivative actions, premises liability, breach of contract, construction and vehicle accident cases.

He has served as national coordinating counsel for a silica defendant and has been extensively involved in very large insurance disputes following Hurricane Katrina.

Publications and Speaking Engagements

Mark is a frequent guest speaker for local bar associations, civic groups and presents at continuing education seminars, a few of which include: “Overview of Toxic Mold Exposure,” Barristers Educational Service 2005; “Strategies and Developments in Mississippi Silica Litigation,” Defense Research Institute 2005; “Ethical Obligations of Defense Counsel,” Mississippi Bar 1999.

Author: Comment, Uninsured Motorist, the Second Class Insured, and Harris v. Magee: A Modest Proposal for Change, 61 Mississippi Law Journal 171, Spring, 1991, Darby Publishing Co.

Education

• University of Mississippi, Juris Doctor, cum laude, 1991
• University of Mississippi, Bachelor of Arts, 1988

Professional and Civic Involvement; Recognitions

Professional Associations:

• Jackson County Bar Association
  • President, 2000
  • President, Young Lawyers Section, 1995-1996
• American Bar Association
  • Member, Torts and Insurance Practice Section
• Mississippi Bar Association
• American Inns of Court
• Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association
• Defense Research Institute
  • Member, Young Lawyers Committee
  • Member, Railroad Committee
• Leadership Jackson County, 2008

Representative Cases

• May v. Pulmosan Safety Equipment Corp., 948 So. 2d 483 (Miss. App. 2007) (silica)
• Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. v. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co., 728 So.2d 573, 1999 WL 12794, Miss. January 14, 1999 (asbestos)
• Barnes v. Clark Sand Co., Inc., 721 So. 2d 329, 198 WL 681261, 23 Fla. L. Weekly D2270, Prod. Liab. Rep. (CCH0 P 15,379, Fla. App. 1 Dist., October 5, 1998 (silica)
• Roberts v. Grafe Auto Co., Inc., 701 So. 2d 1093, 1997 WL 349009, Miss., June 26, 1997 (products liability)
• Williams v. CSX Transp., Inc., 925 F.Supp. 447, 1996 WL 233681, S.D. Miss. February 21, 1996 (federal railroad preemption)
• Hester v. CSX Transp., Inc., 61 F.3d 382, 1995 WL 461593, C.A.5 (Miss.), August 21, 1995 (federal railroad preemption)
• Fellon v. City of Pass Christian, 658 So. 2d 1391, 1995 WL 509194, Miss., July 27, 1995 (sovereign immunity)

Outside of the office

When not in his office, Mark is an avid amateur Labrador Retriever trainer and is the President of the Bay Area Hunting Retriever Club. He also is very involved in First Presbyterian Church and its disaster assistance ministries.