Meet Our Attorneys
Waide & Associates, P.A.
About The Firm
Waide & Associates, PA is a law firm located in Tupelo, Mississippi. The firm focuses on jury trials, with an emphasis on civil rights and employment discrimination cases. The firm also handles medical malpractice claims, personal injury cases, products liability, criminal defense, suits over non-compete agreements, and anti-trust claims. James Waide is a liberal Vietnam vet, Rachel Waide is a Reagan-loving conservative; together, they are Mississippi’s most dynamic legal couple. According to The Mississippi Jury Verdict Reporter, the Waides are the state’s most prolific trial attorneys.
Jim Waide
Founder & Shareholder
Jim Waide, a native of Clay County, Mississippi, is the founder and a current shareholder of Waide & Associates, P.A. A graduate of West Point High School and Millsaps College, Jim spent three years in the United States Marine Corps, including one year as a forward observer in Vietnam. Jim was awarded the Bronze Star for his service in combat. After discharge from the Marines as a Captain, he graduated from Tulane Law School. While at Tulane Law School, Jim earned the American Jurisprudence Award in Corporations. After graduation, Jim worked for one year as a law clerk to United States Court of Appeals Judge J.P. Coleman. Shortly thereafter, Jim formed his own law firm, practicing first in Weir and West Point, before moving the firm to Tupelo in the mid-1980s.
Jim’s law practice emphasizes employment discrimination and civil rights cases. He is licensed to practice law in all state and federal courts in Mississippi, as well as the western district of Tennessee. He is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Federal Claims, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He is also a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates.
Six of Jim’s cases have been accepted by the United States Supreme Court, and he has never lost a case before that Court. Jim considers the most significant of those cases to be Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Products, Inc., which limited the authority of federal judges to overturn jury verdicts and Wyatt v. Cole, which abolished immunity provided to parties in cases brought under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983. Jim’s other Supreme Court cases are as follows:
Polk v. Dixie Ins. Co., 501 U.S. 1201 (1991)
Garner v. Ashley Furniture Industries, Inc., 48 U.S. 923 (2006)
Gibson v. Kilpatrick, 134 S.Ct. 2874 (2014)
Johnson v. City of Shelby, MS, 135 S. Ct. 346 (2014)
Jim’s efforts to change laws unfair to employees resulted in a well-known decision, McArn v. Allied-Bruce Terminix, Inc., 626 So. 2d 603 (Miss. 1993), which established a public policy exception to the employment-at-will doctrine.
According to the Mississippi Jury Verdict Reporter, Jim has tried more jury trials than any other Mississippi lawyer for each of the past five years.
Jim is a member of Mission Mississippi, a volunteer for the Salvation Army, a Tupelo-Lee Humane Society foster parent, and attends First United Methodist Church in Tupelo.
Jim is also a member of the Lee County Bar Association, the Mississippi Bar Association, the Fifth Circuit Bar Association, and the American Bar Association. Jim was the recipient of the NAACP Legal Award in 2006, was the recipient of the Unifest Humanitarian Award in 2007, received the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame Unsung Heroes Award in 2008, received the Committee for King Community Service Award in 2012, was named to the Top 10 in the Mississippi Business Journal’s Leadership in Law in 2010, and received The Mississippi Bar Association’s Lawyer Citizen Award in 2014. Jim is listed in “Best Lawyers in America.”
Jim is married to Rachel Pierce Waide, who is also a shareholder in the firm.
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.
Yance Falkner
Attorney
A native of Houston, Mississippi, Yance Falkner is a practicing attorney with Waide & Associates, P.A. Yance earned an Associate's degree from Itawamba Community College before finishing his Bachelor's at Mississippi State University and continuing to the University of Mississippi School of Law where he earned his juris doctorate. While at the University of Mississippi School of Law, Yance served as Executive Articles Editor for the Mississippi Law Journal and Chair of the Moot Court Board. He was awarded the Moot Court Board Member of the Year by his peers during his tenure as Chair.
Before joining Waide & Associates, P.A., Yance served for three years as a term law clerk to Magistrate Judge Roy Percy in the Northern District of Mississippi.
Yance is a member of the Mississippi Bar Association and licensed to practice in all state and federal courts in Mississippi and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
