Administrative Office of Courts
Judge
David Neil McCarty
District 4, Position 2
Mississippi Court of Appeals Judge David Neil McCarty was elected Nov. 27, 2018, and took the oath of office on Jan. 7, 2019.
Before he was elected to the Court of Appeals, he was a solo practitioner who focused on appeals and complex litigation. He was counsel in more than 80 state and federal appeals. He presented oral argument more than 30 times before the Mississippi Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals of Mississippi, the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Since 2005, he has been an adjunct professor at Mississippi College School of Law, where he has taught courses in trial practice, evidence, pretrial practice, appellate advocacy, and legal writing. He was honored as the Adjunct Professor of the Year for 2016-17. Judge McCarty is the author of the Evidence chapter of the Encyclopedia of Mississippi Law, and is a contributing author to the treatise Mississippi Civil Procedure. He also regularly presents continuing legal education topics on appellate advocacy and ethics.
Judge McCarty helped co-found the Appellate Practice Section of the Mississippi Bar, and from 2014 to 2015 was chair of the Section. In 2013, he was recognized by the Mississippi Business Journal as one of the state’s 50 Leading Attorneys. He is a Barrister in the Charles Clark Inn of Court.
He earned his J.D. from Mississippi College School of Law in 2004, graduating cum laude. He was Articles Editor on the Law Review and Competition Chair of the Moot Court. He previously received a B.A. in political science from Mississippi State University.
Judge McCarty served as law clerk to former Mississippi Supreme Court Presiding Justice James E. Graves, Jr., who is now a member of the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He also served as law clerk for former Presiding Justice Oliver E. Diaz, Jr.
Judge McCarty was born in Sandusky, Alabama. He lives in Jackson, Mississippi.
