Channing J. Curtis
Associate
Clients facing high-stakes litigation and appeals turn to Channing J. Curtis for a strategic approach informed by experience on both sides of the bench. His work with four state and federal judges enables him to triangulate the interests of clients, the concerns of the court, and the legal necessities of the case to persuasively position complex matters for effective resolution at trial and on appeal.
Channing represents clients in Mississippi and federal courts and handles appeals in a wide variety of contexts, including civil rights, employment, corporate disputes, health care regulation, bankruptcy, and insurance matters. He has secured victories in four appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and has briefed three matters before the Mississippi Supreme Court. He also has supported an appellate litigation team in a merits appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Before joining Phelps, Channing served as a law clerk to Judge Jack L. Wilson of the Mississippi Court of Appeals and Judge Cory T. Wilson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. In law school, he also interned for judge on the Mississippi Supreme Court and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi.
While in law school, Channing served as executive notes and comments editor of the Mississippi Law Journal and the Federal Courts Law Review. His scholarship on judicial precedent, civil procedure and jurisdiction has been cited by litigants, state appellate courts, and legal scholars.
Experience
Appellate
- Won Fifth Circuit appeal affirming the dismissal of Title VII and Section 1981 discrimination claims against employer
- Obtained Fifth Circuit affirmance of summary judgment for an individual officer facing excessive-force claims.
- Secured Fifth Circuit affirmance of summary judgment for municipal defendants facing equal-protection, discrimination, and retaliation claims.
- Won a Fifth Circuit appeal reversing the denial of summary judgment for municipal defendants facing false-arrest, false-imprisonment, malicious-prosecution, and due-process claims.
- Secured Mississippi Supreme Court review of an order denying a motion to transfer venue in a corporate dissolution dispute.
- Briefed an interlocutory appeal before the Mississippi Supreme Court involving compliance with MSDH’s regulatory procedures for a behavioral health provider.
- Handled various emergency matters and petitions for extraordinary relief in the Fifth Circuit and Mississippi Supreme Court
Trial Court
- Obtained dismissal of civil rights and state-law claims against a corporate representative for lack of personal jurisdiction.
- Secured dismissal of unlawful termination claims against a municipal employer because the plaintiff lacked Article III standing.
- Won judgment on the pleadings for three municipalities and individual municipal defendants facing stigma-plus due-process, failure-to-intervene and Monell liability claims.
- Obtained dismissal of civil-rights claims against City for want of Article III standing to assert failure-to-prosecute or failure-to-investigate claim.