Photography by Stephanie Rhea
RACHEL PIERCE WAIDE, Shareholder
A native of Aberdeen, Mississippi, Rachel Pierce Waide is a shareholder in Waide & Associates, P.A., where she focuses her practice on civil litigation, including employment law, personal injury, and medical malpractice. During her law practice, Rachel has tried cases in state and federal court, and she has handled appeals to the Mississippi Court of Appeals and to the Mississippi Supreme Court. Rachel also successfully argued before the Court of Federal Claims and the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. According to the Mississippi Jury Verdict Reporter, Rachel has tried more jury trials than any other lawyer in Mississippi for the past four years, with the exception of her husband.
Rachel graduated from Mississippi University for Women, summa cum laude, with a Bachelor of Arts in English and received her juris doctor, magna cum laude, from the University of Mississippi School of Law. While at the University of Mississippi School of Law, Rachel was chair of the Moot Court Board and executive editor of the Mississippi Law Journal. She also earned the American Jurisprudence Award in Torts and Legal Profession.
Rachel is licensed to practice in all state and federal courts in Mississippi. Rachel is also admitted to practice before the United States Court of Federal Claims, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Rachel is a current member of The Mississippi Bar Association and a past member of The Mississippi Bar Young Lawyers Division. During her time with the Young Lawyers Division, Rachel served as president; as president-elect; as secretary; as chair of the Nominations, Elections, and Awards Committee; as a director for the North East District; as president of Lee County Young Lawyers; as a member of the Law School Relations Committee; as a member of the Seminars Committee; and as chair of the 75th Anniversary Committee. Rachel currently serves as a member of the Executive Committee for both the Employment Law Section and the Litigation Section of The Mississippi Bar Association.
Rachel is past president of the Lee County Bar Association, the Lee County Young Lawyers Division, and the Young Lawyers Division of The Mississippi Bar Association. She is a past president of the Tupelo-Lee Humane Society. She has served as co-treasurer and secretary of the Tupelo Women’s Club. Rachel is a member of the Lamar Order at the University of Mississippi School of Law. She has served as a United Way fund distribution volunteer and was a member of the Tupelo Kiwanis Club from 2001 until 2005. She was a member of the Cellular South Community Board of Directors in 2006.
Rachel was a member of the Northeast Mississippi Leadership Class from 2003 until 2005 and is a graduate of Leadership Mississippi. She was named to the Mississippi Business Journal’s Top 40 Under 40 in 2006 and to the Top 20 Under 40 in Tupelo in 2010. She was named one of the Mississippi Business Journal’s Leaders in Law in 2011. She is a member of St. Luke United Methodist Church.
Rachel is married to Jim Waide, who is also a shareholder in the firm.