Contact: Sammy McDavid
STARKVILLE, Miss.--The chief justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court is the 2009 selection for Mississippi State's annual judicial recognition.
Judge William L. "Bill" Waller Jr. of Jackson accepts the university Pre-Law Society's Distinguished Jurist Award Oct. 9 during a luncheon in the Colvard Student Union.
In a later public portion of the Homecoming weekend event, the MSU alumnus will deliver prepared remarks on a topic of his choosing. His presentation begins at 2 p.m. in the John Grisham Room of Mitchell Memorial Library.
The campus organization for future law school students created the award three decades ago to recognize and honor both sitting and retired jurists of distinction at all levels of service.
A Jackson native and the son and namesake of Mississippi's 55th governor, Waller is a Murrah High School graduate who went on to receive an MSU business information systems degree in 1974 and a University of Mississippi Law School degree three years later.
In addition to practicing law with the Waller and Waller firm for more than two decades, he served for a number of years as a municipal judge for the City of Jackson. He was elected to the Mississippi Supreme Court in 1996 and re-elected in 2004.
Waller was the high court's presiding justice 2004-08 before assuming the top position of chief justice earlier this year.
Waller actively has sought to bring various reforms to the legal system, including adoption of mediation rules for civil litigation. As chair of the Mississippi Public Defender Task Force 2000-05, he was the principal architect behind legislation creating the offices of Capital Post Conviction Counsel and Indigent Appeals, as well as the Comprehensive Electronic Court Systems Fund.
Among several professional honors, he received the Chief Justice Award in 2005 for his work as chairman of a special study committee to develop a statewide e-filing and docket management system.
He also serves on the adjunct faculty of the Mississippi College School of Law and is a member of the John C. Stennis Institute of Government's advisory board at MSU.
In addition to judicial service, Waller devoted much of his professional life to service in the Mississippi National Guard. Presently assigned to the Retired Reserve, he attained the rank of brigadier general while leading the 66th Troop Command in Jackson.
(Additional biographical information available at www.mssc.state.ms.us/appellate_courts/sc/bios/justicewaller.html.)
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: While the noon luncheon for Chief Justice Waller is not a public event, members of the media are welcome to cover the award presentation. News reporters and others interested in attending the luncheon are requested to contact Pre-Law Society adviser Whit Waide, in advance, at 662-325-7860 or wwaide@ps.msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.