MS SC631

Honors Mary Libby Payne, attorney with over 55 years of legal practice, on her 80th birthday (March 27, 2012)

Recognizes her as the founding Dean of Mississippi College School of Law in 1975, successfully guiding it to full American Bar Association accreditation

Acknowledges her election as one of the original ten judges on the Mississippi Court of Appeals when it was created in 1994, serving as the only woman on the bench until retirement in 2001

Notes her earlier career as the first Chief of Drafting and Research for the Mississippi House of Representatives (1970) and service as Executive Director of the Mississippi Judiciary Commission

Highlights numerous awards including The Mississippi Bar Lifetime Achievement Award (2004), Mississippi Women Lawyers Association Distinguished Woman Lawyer of the Year (1999), and Governor's Medal of Service (2012)