Jackson Free Press

"I believe in the rule of law and in using it to achieve justice across the board," Carlton Reeves says.

A founding partner in the Jackson law firm of Pigott, Reeves, Johnson and Minor, P.A., Reeves expresses this belief with an honest voice and apparent sincerity. Reeves' long list of pursuits seeking to preserve justice within the law confirms his genuineness.

A Yazoo City native, Reeves, 43, attended Jackson State University. After graduating from JSU in 1986, Reeves moved to the East Coast, attending the University of Virginia School of Law, where he received his J.D. in 1989.

But Reeves is a Mississippi boy at heart. "I always knew I wanted to come back to Mississippi," he says. Immediately following law school graduation, Reeves did just that.

For the next 12 years, Reeves continued to build an impressive resume of experience in the justice system. He served as a law clerk and staff attorney for the Mississippi Supreme Court from 1989 to 1991, a litigation attorney for the Phelps Dunbar law firm from 1991 to 1995, and as civil division chief of the U.S. attorney's office for the southern district of Mississippi from 1995-2001.

In 2001, Reeves and three colleagues founded Pigott, Reeves, Johnson and Minor. "We came together with the notion of opening a different kind of law firm," Reeves says. "We've made a distinct effort to let people know that we are fully integrated, and believe in the same kind of justice for everyone."

Reeves carries these kinds of ambitions with him when he steps off the front porch of his law office on Congress Street. He serves as a board member for the Mississippi Center for Justice, the Mississippi Workers Center for Human Rights and the Community Foundation of Greater Jackson.

"Mississippi has made great strides over the years, but we still have a lot of growing up to do," Reeves says.

Reeves has helped with that growth as the past president of the Magnolia Bar Foundation, a non-profit organization of the Magnolia Bar Association—of which he is now president—whose mission is to improve citizens' quality of life and invests much time with youth in the community. For Thanksgiving most recently, the foundation provided 200 full dinners and 100 turkeys to Metro-area families in need.

I'm not totally convinced that Reeves is just your everyday Mississippian—that is until JSU Tiger football is mentioned. "It's the thing Chandra and I love to do together," he says of attending JSU games with his daughter. Odds are Chandra has picked up more than just Tiger football from her dad.

Previous Comments

ID

82654

Comment

Great Article for a Great Person!

Author

Bell

Date

2007-12-07T14:59:17-06:00