Leslie Southwick
Judge Leslie H. Southwick was a member of the Mississippi Court of Appeals, District Four, from the court's creation in January 1995 through December 2006. In 2007, President George W. Bush nominated him to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which presides over Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.
In 2005, Judge Southwick served in Iraq as a member of the Mississippi National Guardâs 155th Brigade Combat Team. While on active duty, he served as Deputy Staff Judge Advocate from August 2004 to July 2005 and then as Staff Judge Advocate from July to January 2006. From 1992 to 1997, he served as a member of the Judge Advocate Generalâs Corps in the U.S. Army Reserves.
Professional Experience
Judge Southwick has served as a visiting professor at the Mississippi College School of Law, where he has been an adjunct professor since 1998. He also taught at the school from 1985 to 1989.
From 1989 to 1993, he served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the U.S. Department of Justiceâs Civil Division. His duties included supervising the Federal Programs Branch, which represents the United States in lawsuits, and the Office of Consumer Litigation, which enforces the countryâs consumer protection laws.
Judge Southwick had a general civil practice with the Jackson, Mississippi, firm of Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes, as an associate from 1977 to 1983 and as a partner from 1983 to 1989.
Background
Judge Southwick served as a law clerk for Judge Charles Clark of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and Judge John F. Onion, Presiding Judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. He is a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law (1975) and Rice University (cum laude, 1972).