William M. Beasley, Jr.
Associate
Will Beasley’s practice focuses on representing both plaintiffs and defendants in the areas of commercial and appellate litigation. He has represented corporate clients, businesses of all sizes and individuals in an array of breach of contract actions, professional malpractice claims, business tort suits, anti competition disputes and in various insurance defense cases at both the trial and appellate levels. He has authored numerous successful briefs submitted to Mississippi’s appellate courts and also has experience representing management in a variety of wrongful termination suits, including employment discrimination claims brought under Title VII, Section 1981 and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Prior to joining Phelps, Will worked as a research consultant for the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies in Arlington, Virginia and aided the development of the Biometrics Task Force for the Department of Defense in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and the Global War on Terrorism.
Experience
Reported Cases
- Cromwell v. Boa Vida Hosp. of Aberdeen, MS, L.L.C., No. 22-60109, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 6308 (5th Cir. Mar. 16, 2023) (affirming district court’s order granting summary judgment to defendant on plaintiff’s disability discrimination claim under Rehabilitation Act).
- McKnight v. Renasant Bank, CIVIL ACTION NO. 1:21-CV-00139-GHD-DAS, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 80835 (N.D. Miss. May 2, 2022) (holding plaintiff’s case of COVID-19 did not qualify as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act, as amended, and granting defendant’s motion to dismiss plaintiff’s disability discrimination claim as a result).
- Cromwell v. Williams, 333 So. 3d 877 (Miss. Ct. App. 2022) (holding in a case of first impression that Section 772(a) of the Restatement (Second) of Torts, which provides that truthful statements, even when made with intent to harm, cannot support a claim of tortious interference with contractual relations, is consistent with Mississippi law and affirming trial court’s order granting summary judgment on this basis).
- Begole v. N. Miss. Med. Ctr., Inc., 761 F. App'x 248, 251 (5th Cir. 2019) (upheld trial court’s order compelling arbitration of six separate claims against four separate defendants under narrow arbitration clause).
- Ne. Mental Health–Mental Retardation Comm'n v. Cleveland, 187 So. 3d 601 (Miss. 2016) (reversed chancellor and voided 99-year lease as a matter of law for binding successor political boards without statutory authority and saving client over $19 million in lease payments).