Deborah Hodges Bell
A product of Indianola, Debbie Bell is a shining example of education and the legal profession within the state. She graduated as valedictorian of her class at Indianola Academy. She then went to Mississippi College where she was elected Student Body Association Chief Justice. In 1975, she graduated from Mississippi College with special distinction and then made her way to the University of Mississippi School of Law. There, she served as Editor-in-Chief of the Mississippi Law Journal. In 1979, she received her J.D., magna cum laude.
Bell clerked for Elbert P. Tuttle, Sr., Senior Judge of the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. From there she worked as a staff attorney for the Atlanta Legal Aid Society. At the age of 27, she was hired as a member of UM law school’s faculty where she served for more than 40 years. She founded and directed the school’s civil clinical programs, which began in 1992 with the Housing Law Clinic. Bell developed the school’s clinical education program into the multi-unit program that exists today. She obtained grants and gifts that fully funded the entire clinical program from 1992 through 2009. Bell was the first Associate Dean for Clinical Programs, a position she held through 2018. She founded the Pro Bono Initiative that developed numerous pro bono clinics covering a variety of legal issues. In 2015, she accepted a two-year appointment as the school’s interim dean. During this brief period, she guided the school through a strategic plan engaging the entire law school community. During difficult fiscal times, she developed a three-year financial plan for administration and scholarships. She founded the Bessie Young Council, which engages and supports non-traditional law students. She strengthened and better defined the relationship between the law school and the Mississippi Judicial College.
Following the 2005 devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, Bell organized and directed the Hurricane Katrina Mississippi Legal Manual Project, which earned her the 2006 Mississippi Bar President’s Award. In 2005, she was awarded the UM Law Faculty Public Service Award. She was named Outstanding Woman Lawyer of the Year in 2006 by the Bar. She received the Mississippi Center for Justice 2007 Champion of Justice, the 2009 Susie Blue Buchanan Award, the 2011 Mississippi Volunteer Lawyer’s Project Pro Bono Award, the 2017 Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice Award and was named the 2017 University of Mississippi Law Alumna of the Year.
Most attorneys know her for her book, Bell on Mississippi Family Law, considered the definitive treatise on family law in Mississippi. Appellate courts have cited her work more than 200 times in their recorded decisions.
Outside of the classroom, the clinics and her research, Bell could be considered an artist. For a time, she was the organist for her church. She is also a prolific poet, receiving a national award from the National Poetry Association for one of her poems. A faithful member of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Oxford, Bell resides in rural Lafayette County. She and her husband, Neil White III share three children and three grandchildren.
William M. Dalehite, Jr.
Born in Clarksdale, Bill Dalehite grew up in Jackson. After high school, he went to Marion, Alabama where he began his relationship with the United States military by enrolling in Marion Military Institute, the nation’s oldest military junior college. His next stop was in Oxford as an undergraduate. During his time at Ole Miss, he was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, Omicron Delta Kappa honor society and the Army ROTC. He earned his B.A. in English in 1965 and on the day of his graduation, accepted a Regular Army commission. He was commissioned as an infantry officer taking on a three-year commitment and attaining the rank of Captain. He served two tours of duty in Vietnam, which extended his commitment to four years. His gallantry in battle earned him a Silver Star for valor. In 1969, just 18 days removed from the end of his second tour of duty, Dalehite entered the classroom as a law student. In law school, he was a member of Delta Theta Phi professional law fraternity. His last year, he was chairman of the Moot Court Board.
He obtained his J.D. in 1972 and took a position with the Jackson law firm of Wise, Carter, Steen, and Caraway. There, he had the opportunity to study civil trial work under the tutelage of Jerome Steen, one of the most prominent trial lawyers in the state. They later would form the firm of Steen Reynolds Dalehite and Currie. During his 200 plus trials to verdict, he was known as being a highly prepared litigator who is genuine and authentic. His service to the legal profession includes a term as Secretary of the Young Lawyers Section of the Mississippi Bar. He was also a Fellow of the Young Lawyers Section. He is a Past President of the Mississippi Bar Foundation and from 1991-2007 served on the Mississippi Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Rules. He has been a member of the Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association and the American College of Trial Lawyers. He has provided leadership as Past President of the Mississippi Bar Foundation, Director of Trial Academy for the International Association of Defense Counsel and President of the Mississippi chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA).
Dalehite is well known as a champion of preparing law students for the courtroom. In 1982, he and his partners formed the Steen, Reynolds, Dalehite Trial Competition, which is still going strong after more than 40 years. In addition, he personally funded the Dewees/Walsh Moot Court Scholarship. He has worked with Mississippi’s chapter of ABOTA to teach trial practice to Ole Miss law students. He also spent several years traveling from Jackson to Oxford to speak to undergraduates in the Chancellor’s Leadership Class, an evening gathering. His talk on what it means to be a lawyer and the importance and need for good attorneys helped recruit many bright students to law school.
He is a past member of the UM Foundation board of directors. One of his financial gifts to the law school is through his membership in the Lamar Order, an organization he chaired in 1992. His hard work has been recognized with the UM Law Alumni Chapter’s Alumnus of the Year in 1993. In 2012 the Mississippi Business Journal named him Attorney of the Year. That same year, the Mississippi Bar awarded him its Distinguished Service Award. In 2014, the Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association presented him with their Lifetime Achievement Award.
Dalehite resides in Jackson and has two children, Robert and Kimberlin, and two grandchildren.
George R. Fair
George Fair is a product of Louisville High School. Despite its proximity to Mississippi State University, Fair chose to attend Ole Miss. There, he was an officer in the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. He also took on the responsibilities of editor of The Daily Mississippian, served as an Associated Student Body class representative, and was president of Omicron Delta Kappa honor society. He was selected to Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities and was a member of the Ole Miss Student Hall of Fame. In 1971, Fair earned his B.A. in English and immediately enrolled in the Ole Miss law school. His work ethic transitioned from his undergraduate days as he was selected to the Mississippi Law Journal, serving as both note and comment editor. He was inducted into Phi Delta Phi, an international legal honor society. During his time at Ole Miss, he was involved with Army ROTC. In 1973, he earned his J.D. and became an officer in the United States Army, reaching the rank of Captain.
Since 1974, Fair has been a practicing member of the Mississippi Bar. At the law office of Watkins & Eager, his primary focus has been on corporate and commercial matters. His successes in his field have earned him recognition in multiple publications. This includes listings in The Best Lawyers in America; Chambers USA, the world’s leading legal data and analytics provider; and Mid-South Super Lawyers.
Fair has also taken time to give back to his profession. In 1980-81, he did double-duty by serving as president of the Jackson Young Lawyers Association and as director of the Hinds County Bar Association, now known as the Capital Area Bar Association. He began service in 2004 as a member of the Board of Bar Commissioners for the Mississippi Bar. During that time, he was also a member of the University of Mississippi Law Alumni Chapter’s board of directors. His professional memberships include the Mississippi Bar Foundation, the Mississippi Young Lawyers Foundation and the American Bar Foundation. In 2009, Fair was elected president of the Mississippi Bar. In his community, he is a long-time member of the Rotary Club of Jackson, where he has been a director and a Paul Harris Fellow. He has served on the board for the Mississippi Museum of Art, on the Secretary of State’s Business Law Advisory Group and as a member and chairman of the Bank Attorney’s Committee of the Mississippi Bankers Association. He is also an elder and past chairman of the board of deacons at First Presbyterian Church of Jackson as well as a chairman of the Board of Trustees for the First Presbyterian Day School. He was chairman of the Young Life Committee in Jackson and has been on the board and executive committee of Reformed Theological Seminary for the past thirty-nine years.
Fair’s service has earned him numerous awards, including the 2010 Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project’s Pro Bono Volunteer Award, The 2017 Capital Area Bar Association’s Professionalism Award and the 2023 Mississippi Bar Foundation Professionalism Award.
George and his wife of fifty-one years, Bette, reside in Jackson and have three grown children. All five members of this Fair family are proud Ole Miss alumni!
Robert L. Gibbs
A native of Jackson, Gibbs received his B.S. degree in 1976 in Political Science from Tougaloo College. From there, he went to the University of Mississippi School of Law. He received his J.D. in 1979 and later went to Reno, Nevada, where he attended the National Judicial College. Gibbs is a senior partner with Gibbs Travis PLLC, emphasizing mass tort litigation, business litigation, product liability and alternative dispute resolution. Prior to starting his firm, he spent 12 years as a partner with a large, regional firm. He also served for seven years as a Circuit Judge for the Seventh Judicial District of Mississippi. His success in the legal field earned him recognition in some of the industry’s top publications, including The Best Lawyers in America and Super Lawyers. He is among the less than one percent of attorneys named to Chambers USA. The Mississippi Business Journal recognized him in their Leadership in Law awards category.
His history of service to his community includes terms as board chair for the Capital Area United Way, a Fellow of the American Bar Association, a board member for Hope Enterprise Corporation, board member for First Commercial Bank of Jackson, past board president for Hope Federal Credit Union, chairman of the Court Liaison and Judicial Administration Committee of the Mississippi Bar, Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, Past President of New Life for Women, Past President of Arts Alliance, past board member and 1998 festival chair for Jubiliee! Jam, trustee for Leadership Jackson and past president of the Jackson Convention and Visitors Bureau. Gibbs has volunteered with the William Winter Institute on Racial Reconciliation as well as Mission Mississippi. He is past president of the Bar Association for the Fifth Circuit and past president of the Charles Clark Chapter of the American Inns of Court. He served on the Commission on Bar Admission Review and has taught Trial Practice at Mississippi College Law School. He is past president of the Mississippi Bar Foundation, a Fellow of the Mississippi Young Lawyers and in 2021 became the 116th president of the Mississippi Bar. At the University of Mississippi, he has served on the Black Alumni Advisory Council, the Ole Miss Alumni Association’s board of directors, the UM Foundation’s board, the Law Alumni Chapter board and was the first African American chair of the Lamar Order.
Gibbs has been honored with the NAACP’s Thurgood Marshall Judge Award and the Jack Young, Sr. Attorney Award. He is a recipient of Tougaloo’s Outstanding Leadership Award and the Black Women Political Action Forum’s Community Service Award. In 1998, he received the Magnolia Bar’s Outstanding Leadership, Service and Dedication Award. In 2004, the Mississippi Bar awarded him its Distinguished Service Award. That same year, Goodwill Industries named him Volunteer of the Year. He was the 2007 recipient of the R. Jess Brown Lawyer of the Year, the Magnolia Bar’s award for outstanding achievement. He won the Tourism Visionary Award for work with the Jackson Conventions and Visitors Bureau. New Horizons Church honored him with the Community Servant Award, and he is a recipient of the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Image Award. In 2021, he was named the University of Mississippi Law Alumnus of the Year.
Gibbs and his wife, Circuit Court Judge Debra Gibbs, reside in Jackson. Their two children, Ariana Gibbs and Justice Gibbs are both Ole Miss Law alumni!
Alfred G. Nicols, Jr.
Known in certain circles as “Nicky,” Alfred Nicols graduated from Morton High School in 1959. During his undergraduate years at Ole Miss, he was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity and Omicron Delta Kappa honor society. He was a University Scholar, the precursor to today’s Honors College program. In 1963 he earned his B.A. in history and started law school. As a law student, he was associate editor on the Mississippi Law Journal. During his final year of law school, his lifelong friend, Landy Teller, and he won the moot court competition which was judged by all nine justices of the Mississippi Supreme Court. At Ole Miss, Nicols participated in ROTC. After law school, he served two years active duty with the United States Army, reaching the rank of Captain. In 1967, following a year of military service in Korea, Nicols returned to Mississippi to practice law in Hinds and Rankin Counties. Many of his cases were high profile civil and criminal cases, several of which were in federal court. A milestone from this period of his career was when he represented a group that successfully incorporated the City of Richland, which was being vigorously opposed by Jackson and Pearl. In the early 1970s, he took another professional step by serving as president of the newly formed Rankin County Bar Association.
In 1980, he was appointed Circuit Judge for the 20th Judicial District when the untimely death of Judge Rufus Broom left the seat vacated. Situated in two of the state’s fastest growing counties, he was the sole circuit judge. It wasn’t until 1983 when the state legislature added a second position. During the mid-1980s, he presided over six capital murder cases, two of which resulted in death penalty jury verdicts. As a judge, he crafted a letter of appreciation to every juror who served before him thanking them for their service and reminding them of their importance. The National Center for State Courts in Reno, Nevada caught wind of this letter and included it in materials they used in their orientation course for new state judges. In 1991, Nicols accepted another appointment when the U. S. Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of Mississippi seat opened. He finished his legal career here, retiring from the bench in 2006.
Over the course of six decades, he fed his artistic passion for painting, producing more than 1,000 original landscapes. One of his works won an award in an International Artist landscape painting competition, resulting in his invitation to do a 10-page feature on his painting technique. With an international circulation, his work became quickly known. His original landscapes can be found in public, corporate and private art collections throughout the nation. One can view his art in public spaces such as federal court buildings, the National Advocacy Center, the Mississippi Supreme Court, the Mississippi Bar Center, the Mississippi Library Commission, the University of Mississippi and its Medical School, The Inn at Ole Miss, Mississippi College School of Law, Mississippi Public Television, River Hills Club as well as numerous banks, hospitals, and companies throughout the state.
Nicols and his wife, Mary, met at Ole Miss when he was in law school and she in pharmacy school. Their time is divided between their place in Jackson and a farmhouse on their 450-acre farm in Copiah County. They have two sons, Lee and George. Lee is a graduate of the University of Mississippi Medical Center, and George has an undergraduate and law degree from Ole Miss.