Vicki Gilliam

The Cochran Firm, with 26 locations nationwide

BACKGROUND AND EDUCATION
Ms. Gilliam was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on May 15, 1963 and was raised on a small farm in northeast Louisiana. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Northeast Louisiana University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Studies Education with a Business Education minor and was certified to teach in the State of Louisiana as a high-school teacher. She then was awarded a Teaching Assistantship in the Department of History and earned her Masters of Arts degree in History in 1990 from N.L.U. During this time, she served as President of Phi Alpha Theta history honor society and won the Outstanding History Graduate Student award. She also received the Overdyke Award, for Best Graduate Paper in 1989, presented by the North Louisiana Historical Society.

In 1992, Ms. Gilliam graduated from the University of Mississippi School of Law with a Juris Doctor degree, cum laude. She earned memberships on the Mississippi Law Journal, the University of Mississippi School of Law Moot Court Board, the Law School Honor Council and served as the first intern to the Hinds County Public Defender's Office in Jackson Mississippi. She was awarded the American Jurisprudence Award in Corporations and was ranked among the top ten in her law school class.

BAR ADMISSIONS
Ms. Gilliam is admitted to practice in all state courts in the States of Mississippi, Texas and Arkansas. She is also admitted to practice in the United States District Courts for the Northern and Southern District of Mississippi, the Eastern District of Texas and the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

AREAS OF PRACTICE
Ms. Gilliam has split her law career in two basic focus areas of law: Criminal and Personal Injury. She spent over seven years in Criminal litigation representing and defending the rights of the indigent accused of all felonies. She has tried multiple Capital Murder, Murder, Rape, Armed Robbery, Various forms of Theft and Drug criminal cases. She was also a full-time professor of Criminal Justice at Mississippi College for four years and taught various criminal law-related courses such as Arrest, Search and Seizure; Criminal Law; Interviewing and Interrogation; Criminal Evidence; History of Crime in America and Legal Rights of the Convicted and Victim. Her Criminal Appellate work includes authoring over 30 appellate briefs for the Mississippi Supreme Court and Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

During her civil litigation practice, Ms. Gilliam has focused and continues to handle Personal Injury claims including Nursing Home Abuse, Medical Malpractice, Products Liability, Catastrophic Automobile Accidents, Toxic Tort Injury and Premises Liability.

ORGANIZATIONS AND AFFILIATIONS
Ms. Gilliam is a member of the Mississippi State Bar association, the Texas State Bar Association and the Arkansas State Bar association. She is a Life-time member of the Mississippi Trial Lawyer's Association. She served as a former Board Member of the Mississippi Public Defender's Association and was a member and former officer of the Mississippi Attorneys for Constitutional Justice and National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. She has also been a member of the Dallas and Texas Trial Lawyers Associations and the America Trial Lawyers Association She served as Chairman to the Mississippi College Paralegal Advisory Board and as a Member of the Mississippi College Administration of Justice Advisory Board.

PRESENTATIONS AND LEGAL ARTICLES
Ms. Gilliam has frequently been asked to lecture and author legal articles regarding criminal and civil litigation, in particular issues involving trial and mitigation techniques. Her legal article, "The Role of the Defense Attorney in Mitigating the Nonviolent Youthful Offender and Locating the Appropriate Alternative Sentence" appeared in the Mississippi College Law Review in spring of 1999. She has also published her award-winning historical article "A Louisiana Steel Trap: The Death of Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker" in both historical journal and criminal justice textbooks. In 2002, she spoke and presented a paper at the summer ATLA convention entitled "Managing Product Liability Cases in the Small Firm: Surviving in a Small Boat on a Stormy Sea." She advised and lectured to the Mississippi Association of Legal Assistants in 2003 regarding "The Role of the Legal Assistant in the Voir Dire Process." In fall of 2000, she presented "Ethical Consideration in document Production in Mississippi State Courts" to Mississippi attorneys at the Mississippi Civil Litigation conference presented by Lorman Legal Education Services. In the Fall of 1998 and 1999, she presented lectures on "Alternative Sentencing for Nonviolent Youthful Offenders" to both the Mississippi Public Defender's Association annual meeting and the fall meeting of the Mississippi Attorneys for Constitutional Justice. Over the years, she has trained and lectured at the Mississippi Law Enforcement Training Academy on the issue of Police Liability, and conducted numerous workshops to Law Enforcement Officers regarding Police Liability.

COMMUNITY INVOLVMENT Ms. Gilliam has been active in founding a Mock Trial team at Mississippi College and also frequently serves as judge for both college and high-school Mock Trial competitions. She also has spoken as various civic and criminal justice organizations over the years regarding constitutional law issues, criminal rights issues, and police liability. She has taught "Parenting from a Distance" courses at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility and also held police liability workshops for local SWAT team. She has taught Sunday school classes and avidly supports the Clinton Futbol Club.

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