State of Mississippi Judiciary

Baria, Teeuwissen elected to leadership of Board of Bar Admissions

November 21, 2018

Attorney Marcie Fyke Baria of Bay St. Louis recently became chair of the Board of Bar Admissions.

Attorney Pieter Teeuwissen of Jackson was selected by the Board as vice-chairman. The Board of Bar Admissions elected officers on Nov. 15 at its meeting in Jackson.

Attorney Jeffery A. Styres of Jackson completed a three-year term as chairman of the Board of Bar Admissions. At the Nov. 15 Board meeting, Chief Justice Bill Waller Jr. thanked Styres for his leadership and nine years of service on the Board. Chief Justice Waller presented Styres with a certificate of appreciation signed by the nine members of the court. Styres also previously served on the Committee on Character and Fitness from September 2005 to November 2009.

Styres said, “It’s been an honor and pleasure to serve both you and this Board.”

The Board of Bar Admissions administers the rules and statutes governing admission to the practice of law in Mississippi. The Board oversees the preparation, administration and evaluation of two bar examinations each year. The Board also, in conjunction with its Committee on Character and Fitness, oversees the investigation and evaluation of the character and fitness of each person who applies to become a member of the Mississippi Bar.

Baria was vice-chair of the Board for the past three years. She has extensive litigation and appellate experience in state and federal courts. She represented businesses and individuals in employment, insurance, business, construction and accident litigation.

She works extensively with community and non-profit organizations. She founded Live Oak Alliance Mississippi, which is dedicated to the strategic use and management of Gulf Coast natural resources. She also founded Recycle Hancock, which operated recycling programs in six Hancock County schools, teaching students about resource management. The Hancock County Chamber of Commerce named her its Outstanding Citizen in 2007. She was selected Parent of the Year for Bay Waveland Middle School in 2010. Baria received the 2013 Outstanding Mississippi Women Award. She attended Parsons School of Design at The New School in New York. She graduated from Millsaps College and earned a law degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law.

Teeuwissen has served previous terms as chairman and vice-chair of the Board of Bar Admissions. He was vice-chair 2005-2009, and chairman 2009-2013. He has been a member of the Board of Bar Admissions since March 25, 2002.

He has served for the past five years as Board Attorney to the Hinds County Board of Supervisors. He served for more than four years as City Attorney for Jackson, and previously worked as a special assistant to the city attorney. The Supreme Court in 2008 appointed him as a special circuit judge for Hinds County. He was a staff attorney for the Department of Human Services from December 1990 to September 1991. His private practice experience includes medical negligence, consumer, products liability, wrongful death, accident and personal injury litigation as well as domestic law. He has extensive private practice experience at the trial and appellate level.

Teeuwissen earned his law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Tougaloo College, majoring in history and political science with a minor in English. He did post-graduate study in pre-medicine at Tougaloo.

Styres serves as senior counsel in the Legal Department of Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company. He is active in the Company's litigation and privacy functions, as well as providing legal support to SFBLI's Agency, Claims, Human Resources, Information Systems, Pensions, Policy Service, and Underwriting Departments. He previously served as president of the Mississippi Corporate Counsel Association. He served as corporate vice-chair of the Defense Research Institute's Life, Health, Disability and ERISA Committee 2010-2012. He is a Fellow of the Life Management Institute. Before rejoining Southern Farm Bureau in 2005, he was in private practice in Mississippi and Alabama specializing in life, health, disability and ERISA claims litigation.

Styres previously served as an adjunct professor in the School of Business at Mississippi College, and is a nationally recognized continuing legal education speaker regarding legal ethics and professional responsibility. He is licensed to practice law in Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting, cum laude, from Samford University, a Masters of Business Administration, cum laude, from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and a law degree from Mississippi College School of Law.

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