Joan Lucas

Joan L. Lucas serves as the General Counsel for Mississippi State University and as Special Assistant Attorney General for the state of Mississippi in litigation issues involving MSU. Ms. Lucas joined the University in April of 2009, as Assistant General Counsel and was selected as General Counsel in February 2011.

Prior to joining the General Counsel's office, Ms. Lucas was an attorney in the Jackson office of Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell and Berkowitz where she was a member of the Firm's Litigation Group. In private practice, she concentrated her practice in labor and employment, personal injury, and business tort litigation.

Ms. Lucas received her B.A. degree from the University of Mississippi in 2002 and her Juris Doctorate in 2005. While in law school, she was the trial chairman of the Moot Court Board and a member of Phi Delta Phi. She was the winner of the 2004 McGlinchey Stafford Oral Argument Competition, the winner of the 2003 Moot Court Board Oral Argument Competition, and a participant on the Vanderbilt National First Amendment Moot Court Competition team. She also was the recipient of the Hardy Law, Bowling Law, and Clayton Law Scholarships.

Ms. Lucas is a member of the Mississippi State Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Oktibbeha County Bar Association, serving as President, and the Golden Triangle Young Lawyers Division. She is also a member of the National Association of College and University Attorneys.