Rebecca Lee Wiggs

Practice Areas

Pharmaceutical, Medical Device & Healthcare Litigation

Career

Rebecca practices within Butler Snow’s pharmaceutical, medical device and healthcare group. Rebecca is an experienced trial attorney who now focuses her practice on pharmaceutical product liability litigation. She has tried over 40 cases to jury verdicts in state and federal courts in Mississippi. She has served on teams successfully defending the manufacturers of prescription and over-the-counter products from discovery through the appellate process. As a result of her work deposing sensitive witnesses, she is a frequent trainer for deposition practice and jury decision-making.

Rebecca has worked in every phase of litigation from document retention and review, preparation of company witnesses and sales representatives, expert witness development, motion practice, plaintiff and treating physician depositions, strategic planning, mock trials, and settlement negotiations, trial team and appellate advocacy. In addition to pharmaceutical and medical device litigation, her courtroom experience also includes consumer finance litigation, trust management disputes, protection of permits for new manufacturing and wastewater treatment plants, and medical malpractice claims.

Rebecca draws upon her 40-plus jury verdicts to inform both clients and seminar audiences on trial strategy and jury decision-making. Her work in the courtroom and as an appellate advocate resulted in her appointment to two Merit Selection Panels for U.S. Magistrate positions. Her questioning style and listening skills have led to assignments as an internal investigator, executive search committee member, performance evaluator and now as a mediator trained by the American Arbitration Association.

Rebecca previously served as Chair of the Litigation Section of The Mississippi Bar and served two terms as Commissioner of The Mississippi Bar. She is a Bencher in the Charles Clark Inn of Court, a Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and a Fellow of the Mississippi Bar Foundation.

She was recognized by The Mississippi Bar with the 2021 Susie Blue Buchanan Award, which honors women who have achieved professional excellence and advanced opportunities for women, and she received the 2016 Woman Lawyer of the Year award from the Mississippi Women Lawyers Association. She was named one of Mississippi’s Leading Businesswomen by the Mississippi Business Journal, and Portico Jackson Magazine recognized her as a Legacy Lawyer. She is listed by Chambers USA, Best Lawyers in America®, Super Lawyers®, and Benchmark Litigation (Top 250 Women in Litigation). She is AV® – Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell®.

Rebecca is a frequent author and speaker. She presented “Insights from Women Lawyer Trailblazers” at the Mississippi State Bar’s 2019 Evelyn Gandy Seminar. She is the author of the professionalism orientation materials used by both Mississippi law schools. She is admitted to practice in Mississippi and North Carolina.

Professional Memberships

American Bar Association (Litigation Section); Charles Clark American Inn of Court (Bencher); Fellow, Mississippi Bar Foundation; Mississippi Bar (Former Commissioner and Former Litigation Section Chair); Life Fellow, American Bar Foundation; Mississippi Women Lawyers Association; and Capital Area Bar Association

Publications

Speaker, “Insights from Women Lawyer Trailblazers,” 2019 Evelyn Gandy Seminar, Mississippi State Bar; Speaker, “Health Care Law Update, Mississippi State Bar, May 2017

Personal

Wake Forest University, B.S., 1979; University of Virginia School of Law, J.D., 1985; Clerkship, The Honorable Paul H. Roney, United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit