Jimmy Faircloth
| Jimmy Ray Faircloth, Jr.
(Louisiana attorney and former gubernatorial counsel) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Born | July 18, 1964 Place of birth missing Resident of Alexandria-Pineville | ||
| Political Party | Republican | ||
| Spouse | Kelly Marie Boisvert Faircloth One son: | ||
| Religion | Christian | ||
Jimmy Ray Faircloth, Jr. (born July 18, 1964), is an attorney from Alexandria and Pineville, Louisiana, who is a former executive counsel to Republican former Governor Bobby Jindal.
Background
In 1987, Faircloth graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in business management from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston. He obtained his law degree in 1990 from Georgia State University College of Law in Atlanta, Georgia.[1] He is the founder and managing partner of the firm Faircloth, Melton & Keiser, LLC, in Alexandria. He holds a master's degree in litigation, which he earned in 1991 from Emory University, also in Atlanta.[1] His practice involves governmental relations, commercial litigation, and labor mediation. He is certified in civil trial advocacy by the National Board of Trial Advocacy, rated "AV" or pre-eminent by Martindale-Hubbell and qualifies as a "Super Lawyer."[2]
In law school, Faircloth received the American Jurisprudence Awards for academic achievement in constitutional law, workers' compensation, and trial practice. He is the author of “Prosecutorial Misconduct in Closing Argument," published by the State Bar of Georgia in the summer of 1990.[1]
Faircloth is married to the former Kelly Boisvert (born October 21, 1965), a chiropractor who also studied at Louisiana Tech.[3] The Faircloth's son, Zachary Alexander "Zack" Faircloth (born December 1993), is a 2012 graduate of Pineville High School and the 2016 student body president at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. He was elected student body president on a platform of "Forward." [4] He is a 2020 graduate of the Dedman School of Law at Southern Methodist University near Dallas, Texas.
Faircloth's father, Jimmy, Sr. (born 1941) resides in Montgomery in Grant Parish north of Alexandria.
Career
In 1998, Faircloth was retained by Republican Mayor-elect Leo Deslatte of Pineville and three incoming members of the Pineville City Council, Joe Bishop, Carol Jeukens Cunningham, and Clarence Fields, to obtain in the Louisiana 9th Judicial District Court in Alexandria a temporary restraining order against lame duck Mayor Fred Baden and three defeated council members, regarding efforts to unionize Pineville municipal employees. Just prior to his defeat by Deslatte in a bitter general election campaign, Baden met with a representative of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees and committed to a collective bargaining agreement between the union and city employees which he wanted formulated before he left office. Never before had Baden encouraged union activity. This time he did so during business hours at City Hall. The court ordered that Baden and three defeated city council members, Charles O'Banion, George Hearn, and Lemon "Billy" Coleman, Jr. (1935-2015), the first African American to have served on the city council, must halt their efforts for unionization.[5]
Faircloth is considered the legal architect of the ethics reform package passed by the state legislature in a special 2008 session on ethics reform. He guided the Jindal administration through the aftermath of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. After nearly two years as Jindal's executive counsel, Faircloth resigned to run for the District 4 seat on the Louisiana Supreme Court. He was narrowly defeated by fellow Republican Marcus R. Clark, a state court judge from West Monroe. Clark and Faircloth evenly split the twenty parishes in the district. Clark prevailed with 28,521 votes (53 percent) to Faircloth's 25,495 (47 percent). Clark's strongest turnout was in his home base of Ouachita Parish, where he defeated Faircloth, 14,253 to 5,322. While Faircloth won his home base of Rapides Parish, his turnout there was insufficient to overcome Clark's districtwide lead. Rapides Parish voted for Faircloth, 8,461 to 2,193.[6][7] From 2005 to 2007, Faircloth advised the Coushatta Indian Tribe of Louisiana in the investment of $30 million in MainNet, an Israeli technology company which later went bankrupt.[8]
On June 3, 2009, the legislature approved, 64-33, a bill by then Representative Jim Morris, a Republican, later Independent, from Caddo Parish, to permit motorcyclists to decide for themselves whether they will wear helmets. Thereafter, the measure was shelved for the second consecutive year by the Health Committee of the state Senate. Opponents of the measure said that safety considerations trump the freedom of choice. The bill had a provision that cyclists have health and liability insurance before they could have been exempt from wearing helmets. In the debate on the bill, Faircloth likened motorcycle riding to skydiving, hunting, mountain climbing, and other sports with a risk in participation. State senators unimpressed with the legislation equated the helmet requirement to the state’s strict seat belt law designed to protect people from avoidable injuries.[9]
After leaving the Jindal administration, Faircloth earned $1.1 million on no-bid contracts.[10] Jindal subsequently named Faircloth to the Louisiana Tax Commission, but he resigned after three months because of a question over whether he could serve because he had left the Jindal administration less than a year earlier.[8]
The Louisiana Board of Ethics later fined Faircloth $1,000 for not having waited for at least one year as required by state law but suspended payment with the understanding that Faircloth remain in accord with the law. As of July 2015, legal fees paid to the Faircloth law firm for its work on more than twenty-five cases for the state surpassed $1.5 million. Further fees were paid to the Faircloth firm since that time.[11]
In 2012, Jindal named Faircloth to represent the administration in legal challenges to the state's educational laws.[12] Faircloth hence defended the statewide educational voucher program and the rewriting of teacher tenure and pay policies.[10]
Faircloth described Jindal, accordingly:
moral, hard-working, brilliant, tough as nails. ... He is really a bright, good, decent family man. There's not an ounce of scandal with Bobby Jindal.
We are living under the legacy of Huey Long in this state. That's a very long reach, and it served the state well in a lot of respects, and it served a lot of folks well, but at some point Louisiana has to break from that model in order to keep up with the rest of the country. And Bobby Jindal, I think in history, will be viewed as someone who came in and was determined enough to do that. It's hard to do."[11]
I think his policies were really good. ... He has laid the foundation for some important changes in Louisiana. ...
In the summer of 2020, Faircloth was retained as counsel by a group of bar owners who object to state-mandated closings during the coronavirus pandemic while casinos are unaffected by such restrictions.< The mandate was issued by Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards.[13]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Jimmy Faircloth (JD '90), executive counsel to Louisiana governor, to speak April 7. gsu.edu (April 2, 2009). Retrieved on July 8, 2020.
- ↑ Jimmy R. Faircloth, Jr.. superlawyers.com. Retrieved on July 20, 2015.
- ↑ Kelly Faircloth. intelius.com. Retrieved on July 8, 2020.
- ↑ Leigh Guidry (March 30, 2016). Pineville grad named student body president at LSU. The Alexandria Town Talk. Retrieved on July 8, 2020.
- ↑ Pineville Mayor-elect Leo Deslatte et al vs Mayor Fred Baden et al. scribd.com (1998). Retrieved on July 8, 2020.
- ↑ "Clark wins Supreme Court post," The Concordia Sentinel (Ferriday), October 22, 2009.
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, Special election returns for state Supreme Court, October 17, 2009.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lamar White (July 29, 2013). Jimmy Faircloth- Bobby Jindal’s Former Executive Counsel- Makes a Fortune in No-Bid Contracts. cenlamar.com. Retrieved on July 8, 2020.
- ↑ "Senate Panel Rejects Cycle Helmet Repeal," The Natchez (Mississippi) Democrat, July 11, 2009.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Melinda Deslatte (July 24, 2013). Jimmy Faircloth, Ex-Bobby Jindal Aide, Runs Law Firm Drawing No-Bid State Contracts. The Huffington Post. Retrieved on July 8, 2020.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Richard P. Sharkey (January 8, 2016). Faircloth appreciates opportunity as Jindal's attorney. The Alexandria Town Talk. Retrieved on July 8, 2020.
- ↑ "Pineville attorney Jimmy Faircloth joins state education debate," The Alexandria Town Talk, June 24, 2012.
- ↑ The Moon Griffon Show, August 4, 2020.
