E. Farish Percy
Civil Practice & Procedure, Torts, Insurance & Evidence
E. Farish Percy, Professor and Jamie L. Whitten Chair of Law and Government at the University of Mississippi School of Law, joined the law faculty in 2001 and teaches Torts, Civil Procedure II, Complex Litigation, Insurance and Evidence. Professor Percy's law review articles in these fields have been published in the Mississippi Law Journal, the Iowa Law Review, the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, the Florida Law Review, the Villanova Law Review, the Oklahoma Law Review and the Baylor Law Review. Professor Percy received the Ben A. Hardy Faculty Excellence Award in 2013 for outstanding teaching, scholarship and service. Professor Percy served as a Reporter for the Mississippi Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Rules from 2006-2021 and became a member of the American Law Institute in 2021. Professor Percy frequently consults as an expert in insurance litigation. Before teaching, Professor Percy practiced law in Oxford, Mississippi for eight years and specialized in tort litigation and appellate practice. She tried numerous civil cases in state and federal courts in Mississippi and briefed and argued several appellate cases before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the Mississippi Supreme Court.
Deborah H. Bell
Family Law and Property
Deborah H. Bell joined the University of Mississippi law faculty in 1981. She taught Family Law, Property, Housing Law, Commercial Law, and Lawyering Skills. Her primary area of expertise is in family law and her treatise, Bell on Mississippi Family Law, is widely used by chancellors and family law practitioners. Professor Bell founded the law school's Civil Legal Clinic and Pro Bono Initiative. She served as the school's first Associate Dean for Clinical Programs from 2013 to 2018 and as Interim Dean from 2015 to 2017. After graduating from the University of Mississippi School of Law, Professor Bell clerked for the Honorable Elbert P. Tuttle, Sr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Before joining the Ole Miss faculty, she was an attorney for the Atlanta Legal Aid Society. As a Senior Faculty member, Professor Bell continues to teach Family Law and speak, write and consult on family law matters.
Benjamin Cooper
Ethics
Benjamin Cooper, Senior Associate Dean and Frank Montague Jr. Professor of Legal Studies and Professionalism at the University of Mississippi School of Law, joined the law faculty in 2007 and currently teaches Legal Profession and Civil Procedure. He writes, speaks and consults on legal ethics, and his articles have appeared in a variety of scholarly and professional publications. Professor Cooper co-authored a professional responsibility casebook now in its second edition. He is an American Bar Foundation Fellow and is a past Chair of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Section on Legal Ethics. Professor Cooper served on the Mississippi Bar's Ethics Committee and the Mississippi Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Rules. After graduating from the University of Chicago Law School, Professor Cooper clerked for the Honorable Anthony J. Scirica of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Before joining the Ole Miss faculty, he was a trial attorney in the Federal Programs Branch of the Civil Division of the United States Department of Justice and a partner at Kirkland & Ellis in New York and Pepper Hamilton in Philadelphia.
