Biography

Ed is an officer, director and shareholder in the Mississippi law firm of Dukes, Keating, Hatten, McRaney, Blum, P.A.  He has over 33 years of experience in litigation throughout Mississippi, and his primary areas of practice include Construction Litigation, Professional Liability Defense, Automobile and Trucking Liability Defense, Premises Liability Defense, and Products Liability Defense.

His undergraduate degree was obtained from the University of Southern Mississippi, where he majored in Construction Engineering Technology and was a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity.  Ed has served on the Industry Advisory Council for both the Construction Program and the Center for Logistics, Trade and Transportation at USM.

Ed attended the University of Mississippi School of Law in Oxford, where he served as a Member of the Moot Court Board and obtained his Juris Doctor degree in 1990.  He has since been admitted to practice before all state and federal courts in Mississippi, as well as the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.  Prior to joining the firm in 1995, he served as Special Assistant Attorney General for the State of Mississippi until 1993, and thereafter began his career in civil litigation while in private practice in Jackson.

Professional memberships that Ed has held include The Mississippi Bar; The Harrison County Bar Association; the Russell-Blass-Walker Chapter of the American Inns of Court; the Defense Research Institute (DRI); the Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association (MDLA); the Claims and Litigation Management Alliance (CLM); and the Professional Liability Defense Federation (PLDF).  He has also served on the Board of Directors of the International Alumni Association of the University of Southern Mississippi (2000-2003).

Ed and his wife have three children. They have all been actively involved in Trinity Methodist Church in Gulfport, MS, where Ed has served on the Board of Trustees, Church Council, and several committees.

Education

• University Of Southern Mississippi, Bachelor’s Degree
• University Of Mississippi, Juris Doctor

Admissions/Licenses

• Bar Admissions: MS