State of Mississippi Judiciary

Supreme Court reappoints three to Board of Bar Admissions

October 1, 2021

The Mississippi Supreme Court reappointed three members to the Mississippi Board of Bar Admissions. Attorneys J. William Manuel of Jackson, Walter Alan Davis of Oxford and Michael C. McCabe Jr. of Gulfport have been reappointed to three-year terms set to end Oct. 31, 2024.

Justices of the Supreme Court select members of the Board of Bar Admissions. Justice T. Kenneth Griffis reappointed Manuel, Justice Josiah D. Coleman reappointed Davis, and Justice David M. Ishee reappointed McCabe. Chief Justice Mike Randolph signed the appointment order on Sept. 28.

Davis and McCabe have served on the Board for six years. Manuel has served for three years.

The Board of Bar Admissions administers the rules and statutes governing admission to the practice of law in Mississippi. The Board oversees the preparation, administration and evaluation of two bar examinations each year. The Board also, in conjunction with its Committee on Character and Fitness, oversees the investigation and evaluation of the character and fitness of each person who applies to become a member of the Mississippi Bar.

Manuel is a partner in the Jackson office of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings. As a member of the firm’s Litigation Practice Group, he defends commercial and employment litigation. He is former President of Mississippi Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates and former President of the Capital Area Bar Association. He received the 2019 Law-Related Public Education Award from the Mississippi Bar Foundation for almost 25 years of involvement with the Mississippi High School Mock Trial competition. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mississippi State University, magna cum laude, as a Harry S. Truman Scholar. He earned a law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law.

Davis is a partner in the firm of Dunbar Davis, PLLC, in Oxford. His Chancery practice includes family law and estate litigation. His litigation practice includes business, employment and personal injury litigation for defense and plaintiffs. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mississippi State University, magna cum laude. He earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Mississippi School of Law, magna cum laude, where he served on the Editorial Board of the Mississippi Law Journal and worked with the Housing Law Clinic. He served as an intern with the Office of the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi. After he was admitted to the Bar, he worked as a judicial law clerk for U.S. District Judge Glen H. Davidson. He is a member of American MENSA, former President of the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council, former Chair of Lafayette-Oxford Foundation for Tomorrow and a member of the Board of Directors of the LOU Homeless Initiative.

McCabe, a member of the Butler Snow firm, focuses his practice on business litigation including business torts, real estate disputes and employment matters. Before his appointment to the Board of Bar Admissions, he served for three years on the Committee on Character and Fitness. McCabe was recently named Chair of the Mississippi Bar’s Ethics Committee for the 2021-2022 fiscal year. He serves on the National Conference of Bar Examiners’ Multistate Essay Examination /Multistate Performance Test Committee. He is former Chair of the Board of Directors of the Lynn Meadows Discovery Center. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, magna cum laude, from Mississippi State University, and his Juris Doctor from the University of Mississippi School of Law. He served as a law clerk to U.S. Magistrate Judge John M. Roper Sr.

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