MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2024 Regular Session

To: Rules

By: Senator(s) Boyd, McCaughn, Thompson, Suber, Sparks, Whaley, Hopson

Senate Resolution 80

(As Adopted by Senate)

A RESOLUTION COMMENDING THE EXTENSIVE JUDICIAL CAREER AND SERVICE OF MISSISSIPPI COURT OF APPEALS JUDGE JIM GREENLEE OF OXFORD, MISSISSIPPI, ON THE OCCASION OF HIS RETIREMENT.

     WHEREAS, we join the Mississippi Bar and legal community in recognizing the honorable judicial career and governmental service of Honorable Judge Jim Greenlee of Oxford, Mississippi, on the occasion of his retirement on June 30, 2024; and

     WHEREAS, in January 2016, Governor Phil Bryant appointed Judge Greenlee to the Mississippi Court of Appeals, succeeding James D. Maxwell II, who had been elevated to the Supreme Court of Mississippi.  Greenlee was elected without opposition to a full eight-year term in November 2016; and

     WHEREAS, Judge Greenlee graduated from the University of Mississippi with a Bachelor of Engineering in 1974 before joining the United States Navy.  He served active duty for four years and continued service in the Naval Reserve, retiring in 1997 at the rank of Captain.  During his naval service, he was commanding officer of a Reserve Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) Unit; and

     WHEREAS, Judge Greenlee earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1981 and entered private practice in North Mississippi.  He was hired as Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of Mississippi in 1987, working in the Civil Division, where he became the lead civil fraud attorney trying bankruptcy, tort, employment rights, eminent domain and white collar criminal cases; and

     WHEREAS, in 2001, he was nominated to be United States Attorney by President George W. Bush and was confirmed by the United State Senate, serving until January 31, 2010.  After leaving the U.S. Attorney's office, he joined the law firm Holcomb Dunbar in Oxford, Mississippi, practicing white collar and criminal law, governmental enforcement defense and litigates in federal and state courts; and

     WHEREAS, Judge Greenlee is a member of the Mississippi State Bar, the Lafayette County Bar Association and is a former member of the Federal Bar Association, having served the Federal Bar as Northern District vice president.  A bencher in the William C. Keady Chapter of American Inns of Court, he is also a fellow of The Litigation Counsel of America, an honorary of attorneys in trial practice.  Greenlee was inducted as a fellow of the Mississippi Bar Foundation in 2010; and

     WHEREAS, Judge Greenlee has served as a leader and mentor in the administration of justice in Mississippi, and consistently lectured on the professional standards of the practice, including ethics, integrity, civility, courtesy and adherence to the Golden Rule.  Judge Greenlee's career has honored both the Mississippi Bar and this great state that he served:

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That we do hereby commend the extensive judicial career and service of Mississippi Court of Appeals Jim Greenlee of Oxford, Mississippi, on the occasion of his retirement and extend the best wishes of the Senate to Judge Greenlee, his wife, Ann, and their children for future success.

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to Judge Jim Greenlee and his family, forwarded to the Mississippi Court of Appeals and the Mississippi Bar and made available to the Capitol Press Corps.