David W. Mockbee—President

E-mail address: dmockbee@mhdlaw.com
Phone: 601-353-0035

David W. Mockbee is the President of Mockbee Ellis, P.A. He was born in Brookhaven, Mississippi on December 2, 1949. Mr. Mockbee is a U.S. Army Reserve veteran who reached the rank of captain. He has been successfully practicing law for over 44 years as of June 2018.

Areas of practice

  • Construction law & litigation
  • Government contracts law & litigation

Admitted to practice

  • Mississippi, 1974

Education and educational achievements

  • B.A., Davidson College, 1971
  • J.D., University of Mississippi, 1974, with honors
  • Editor-in-Chief, Mississippi Law Journal
  • Phi Delta Phi Award – outstanding senior law student
  • Mississippi Valley Title Insurance Company Award
  • West Publishing Company Awards
  • Frederick P. Hamel Memorial Award
  • Am. Jur. Awards

Honors and awards

  • American College of Construction Lawyers, Fellow
  • American College of Trial Lawyers, Fellow and former State Chair
  • American Board of Trial Advocates, Associate and former State President
  • National Board of Trial Advocacy, Certified Trial Advocate
  • College of Master Advocates & Barristers, Senior Counsel
  • Mississippi Bar Foundation, Fellow
  • AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Ratedsm by Martindale Hubbell®
  • Repeatedly selected to:
    • The Best Lawyers in America in the categories of Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation and Construction Law; and repeatedly selected as the Jackson, MS Construction and Litigation-Construction Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers in America;
    • The International Who’s Who of Construction Lawyers;
    • Chambers USA America’s Leading Lawyers for Business in Litigation: Construction, Band 1; and
    • Mid-South Super Lawyers (top 50 in Mississippi)

Professional activities

  • Former Adjunct Professor, Mississippi State University School of Architecture (legal aspects to fifth-year students)(38 years)
  • Former General Counsel, American Subcontractors Association of Mississippi
  • Member, ABA Public Contract Section
  • Member, ABA Forum on the Construction Industry
  • Certified Mediator, State of Mississippi
  • AAA Construction Industry Arbitration Panel Member

Articles and publications

  • Mississippi Construction Law (1st – 4th Edition)(4th Edition – 420 page treatise)
  • The Measure of Malpractice – There is a Place for the Threshold Approach in Evaluating Design Errors and Omissions, 7 ACCL Journal, p. 153 (2013) (co-authored by Jud R. Jones)
  • Architect/Engineer Expert Witnesses: Professionals or Prostitutes? 5 ACCL Journal, p71 (2011)
  • Engineer’s Legal Exposure for Facilities Built on Expansive Soils, American Society of Civil Engineers Technical Council on Forensic Engineering, Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities (Vol. 25, No. 1, p. 7 (2001)) (co-authored by Jud R. Jones)(awarded Outstanding Paper of 2011 by the American Society of Civil Engineers Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities)
  • Mississippi law contributor to State-By-State Guide to Construction Contracts and Claims (From A Contracting And Claims Perspective), Aspen Publishers, Inc. (2006, supplemented annually)
  • Mississippi law contributor to Lien and Bond Claims in the 50 States, American Subcontractors Association, Inc. and the Foundation of the American Subcontractors Association, Inc.
  • Anatomy of a Construction Defect Case (University of Mississippi, 2007)
  • Mississippi Contract Law for Professional Engineers and Mississippi Construction Contracts for Professional Engineers (Jackson), 2006 (Half Moon, LLC)
  • Mold and Mildew Problems in Buildings (Jackson), 2002 (Lorman Education Services)
    • Construction Contracting for Public Entities in Mississippi (1999) (Lorman Education Services)
    • Mississippi Construction Law (October 3, 1994) (Construction Education Management Corporation)
    • Mississippi Construction Law: What Do You Do When . . . ? (1990 and 1993) (National Business Institute)
  • Mississippi Construction Law (1981)
    • Mississippi law contributor to “Economic Loss Doctrine,” American Bar Association, Committee on Construction Litigation, Mississippi Section
    • Mississippi law contributor to “No Damage for Delay, American Bar Association, Committee on Construction Litigation
    • Authentication: A Comparison of Mississippi Procedure and the Federal Rules of Evidence, 49 Miss.L.J. 151 (1977) (co-author)
    • Municipal Annexation in Mississippi, 45 Miss.L.J. 393 (1974) (co-author)
    • Conflicts of Laws – Statutes of Limitations – Substantive Foreign Statute Commencing at Time of Discovery Governs (analysis of the 5th Circuit’s decision in Alabama Great Southern Railroad v. Allied Chemical Corp., 44 Miss.L.J. 27 (1973)

Biography