Steve Begley joined Wells Marble & Hurst in 1986, after serving four years as a judge advocate in the United States Air Force. Steve has extensive litigation experience in state and federal courts, having tried approximately eighty cases, including a trial that lasted three weeks. He has also argued cases at the appellate level. Currently, his practice is devoted to life, health, accident, disability and property insurance, ERISA, insurance coverage, arson, insurance "bad faith,” premises liability, personal injury, and products liability.

Steve earned his Bachelor of Science degree from University of Southern Mississippi in 1979, graduating with "Highest Honors,” and his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1982. While in law school, Steve was a member of the Moot Court Board and clerked for a Mississippi circuit court judge. He was also selected into the Graduate Law Program of the U.S. Air Force.

Current Employment Position:

 

Member

 

Areas of Practice:

 

Insurance Defense

Life, Health, Accident, Disability Insurance and ERISA

Premises Liability

Property Insurance

Products Liability

Litigation

 

Litigation Percentage:

 

95% of Practice Devoted to Litigation

 

Bar Admissions:

 

Mississippi, 1982

U.S. District Court - Northern District of Mississippi, 1982

U.S. District Court - Southern District of Mississippi, 1982

U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit, 1982

Education:

 

University of Mississippi School of Law
   Oxford, Mississippi
   1982, J.D., Doctor of Jurisprudence

 

University of Southern Mississippi
   Hattiesburg, Mississippi

   1979, B.S., Bachelor of Science
   Honors: With Highest Honors

Selected Published Cases:

Williams v. Hartford Life Ins. Co., 243 F. App'x 795 (5^th Cir. 2007)

Pharmacists Mut. Ins. Co. v. Hardy, 213 F. App'x 363 (5^th Cir. 2007)

Drinkard v. Hartford Life and Accident Ins. Co., 2009 WL 198470 (N.D. Miss., January 26, 2009)

Chapman v. Hartford Life and Accident Ins. Co., 520 F.Supp.2d 844 (S.D. Miss. 2007)

Jones v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 2007 WL 2782880 (N.D. Miss., September 24, 2007)

Buckley v. Hartford Life and Accident Ins. Co., 2007 WL 2701397 (S.D. Miss., September 11, 2007)

Singley v. Hartford Life and Accident Ins. Co., 497 F.Supp.2d 807 (S.D. Miss. 2007)

 

Regency Hosp. Co. of Meridian, LLC v. Gilsbar, Inc., 2006 WL 3375252 (S.D. Miss., November 21, 2006)

 

McBride v. CNA Ins. Co., 463 F.Supp.2d 613 (S.D. Miss. 2006)  

 

Braddock v. Baker Hughes Inc. Long Term Disability Plan, 461 F.Supp.2d 490 (S.D. Miss. 2006)  

 

Heagy v. Hartford Life Ins. Co., No. 1:05CV112-DD, 2006 WL 1778921 (N.D. Miss., June 26, 2006)

 

Dowdy v. Hartford Life & Accident Ins. Co., 458 F.Supp.2d 289 (S.D. Miss. 2006) 

 

Jones v. USAble Life, 432 F.Supp.2d 673 (S.D. Miss. 2006)

 

Lewis v. CNA Group Life Assurance Co., 414 F.Supp.2d 652 (S.D. Miss. 2006) 

 

Pharmacists Mut. Ins. Co. v. Hardy, No. 1:04CV112-D-D, 2005 WL 2445903 (N.D. Miss., October 3, 2005) 

 

Hutton v. Am. Gen. Life & Accident Ins. Co., 909 So.2d 87 (Miss. Ct. App. 2005)

 

Haley v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., 189 F.Supp.2d 567 (S.D. Miss. 2001) 

 

Skinner v. USAble Life, 200 F.Supp.2d 636 (S.D. Miss. 2001)

 

Nowell v. Cent. Serv. Ass’n, 106 F.Supp.2d 888 (S.D. Miss. 2000)

 

Lawrence v. Jackson Mack Sales, Inc., 837 F.Supp. 771 (S.D. Miss. 1992)

 

Lyons v. Miskelly, 759 F.Supp. 324 (S.D. Miss. 1990)

 

Moore v. Interstate Fire Ins. Co., 717 F.Supp. 1193 (S.D. Miss. 1989)

 

Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. v. Thompson, 968 F.Supp. 312 (S.D. Miss. 1997)

 

Gann v. Fruehauf Corp., 52 F.3d 1320 (5^th Cir. 1995)

 

C & D Inv. Co. v. Gulf Transp. Co., 526 So.2d 526 (Miss. 1988)

 

Professional Associations and Memberships:

 

Hinds County Bar Association

The Mississippi Bar

Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel

The Defense Research Institute

The Bar Association of the Fifth Federal Circuit

Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association

 

Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association