Lucas, Jolly heading MSU legal team

Lucas

Joan L. Lucas is Mississippi State University’s new general counsel. Since June, the Jackson native has been interim leader of the campus office that advises president Mark E. Keenum, the vice presidents and other administrators on legal issues affecting the land-grant university and its operation.

Lucas, who succeeds the retired Charles L. Guest, also now holds the position of special assistant state attorney general for litigation issues involving MSU.

Jolly

Joining Lucas in the campus office is Brandon L. Jolly, newly appointed associate general counsel. A Houston native, he previously was in private practice with the Jackson firm of Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz.

Lucas also was with Baker Donelson before being named MSU’s assistant general counsel in 2009. She is a 2002 University of Mississippi graduate who went on to complete her law degree there in 2005.

While in law school, she was trial chairman of the Moot Court Board, member of Phi Delta Phi international legal fraternity and a selection for a number of competitive honors and scholarships.

Jolly is a 2002 graduate of Mississippi State, where he was a John C. Stennis Scholar in Political Science and Student Association attorney general. He also is a 2005 graduate of the Ole Miss Law School, where he was a member of the Mississippi Law Journal and a selection for two scholarships.