Associate
William M. Beasley, Jr.
Will practices in LGWM’s Labor and Employment Practice Group. He has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in the areas of employment, commercial and appellate litigation. He has extensive experience representing management in wrongful t... Read More »
880 Montclair Road, Suite 100, Birmingham, AL 35213
Full Bio
Will practices in LGWM’s Labor and Employment Practice Group. He has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in the areas of employment, commercial and appellate litigation. He has extensive experience representing management in wrongful termination suits; discrimination and retaliation claims under Title VII, ADEA, ADAAA, Rehabilitation Act; and the Fair Housing Act. He has represented corporate clients, businesses of all sizes, public bodies and individuals in a wide array of breach of contract actions, professional malpractice claims, business tort suits, anti-competition disputes, class actions and in various insurance defense cases at both trial and appellate levels. He has authored numerous successful appellate briefs submitted to both state and federal appellate courts and has advised quasi-public bodies outside the courthouse.
Prior to entering the litigation field, Mr. Beasley worked as a research consultant with the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies in Arlington, Virginia where he performed analytical work for the Department of Defense in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and the Global War against Terrorism.
Professional Profile
- Member, Mississippi State Bar
Admitted
- All Mississippi State Courts
- The United States District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Mississippi
- The United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Education
- University of Mississippi School of Law, J.D., magna cum laude (2009)
- Rank: 18/142
- Editorial Board, Mississippi Law Journal
- University of Mississippi, M.A. (Modern Military History) (2009) B.A. (History) , magna cum laude (2004)
- Phi Beta Kappa
- Recipient, Larry Given Scholarship Award
Reported Cases
Cromwell v. Boa Vida Hosp. of Aberdeen, MS, L.L.C., No. 22-60109, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 6308 (5th Cir. Mar. 16, 2023) (affirming district court’s order granting summary judgment to defendant on plaintiff’s disability discrimination claim under Rehabilitation Act).
McKnight v. Renasant Bank, CIVIL ACTION NO. 1:21-CV-00139-GHD-DAS, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 80835 (N.D. Miss. May 2, 2022) (holding plaintiff’s case of COVID-19 did not qualify as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act, as amended, and granting defendant’s motion to dismiss plaintiff’s disability discrimination claim as a result).
Cromwell v. Williams, 333 So. 3d 877 (Miss. Ct. App. 2022) (holding in a case of first impression that Section 772(a) of the Restatement (Second) of Torts, which provides that truthful statements, even when made with intent to harm, cannot support a claim of tortious interference with contractual relations, is consistent with Mississippi law and affirming trial court’s order granting summary judgment on this basis).
Begole v. N. Miss. Med. Ctr., Inc., 761 F. Appx. 248 (5th Cir. 2019) (upheld trial court’s order compelling arbitration of six separate claims against four separate defendants under narrow arbitration clause).
Ne. Mental Health–Mental Retardation Commission v. Cleveland, 187 So. 3d 601 (Miss. 2016) (reversed chancellor and voided 99-year lease as a matter of law for binding successor political boards without statutory authority and saving client over $19 million in lease payments).
Epperson v. Southbank, 93 So.3d 10 (Miss. 2012) (reversed Court of Appeals on certiorari and upheld client’s ability to restrict certificate of deposit withdrawals).
Perkins v. Star Transp., Inc. 75 So.3d 1065 (Miss. Ct. App. 2011) (upheld trial court’s denial of sanctions for not admitting liability until trial).
Lawson v. Southern Components, Inc., 410 Fed.Appx. 833 (5th Cir. 2011) (upheld trial court’s dismissal of case alleging race discrimination under Title VII following submission of evidence at trial).
Winborne v. Sunshine Health Care, Inc., 402 Fed.Appx. 875 (5th Cir. 2011) (reversed jury verdict and secured judgment as a matter of law for employer in case alleging disability discrimination under Americans with Disabilities Act).
Howell v. Ashley Furniture Industries, Inc., 2010 WL 3731116 (N.D. Miss. 2010) (secured summary judgment for employer in case alleging race discrimination under Section 1981).
