Gordon “Sandy” Sanford joined Adams and Reese in 2011 as Special Counsel in the Special Business Services Group and the firm’s Governmental Relations team, practicing in the Jackson office.
Sandy has been practicing law since 1998 and is a former special counsel to AT&T Mississippi. Most recently, he was a lobbyist and of counsel at the Willoughby Law Group in Ridgeland, Mississippi.
Sandy’s principal areas of practice are governmental relations, business litigation, and business counseling.
Sandy’s representative experience includes:
- Successfully advocating for the passage of various pieces of legislation.
- Providing legislative analysis to a Fortune 100 Company for more than seven years.
- Creating and executing on legislative plans for various clients.
- Maintaining a strong network of elected officials and public bodies to support the firm’s Governmental Relations team.
- Authoring numerous articles in legal magazines, encyclopedias, journals and other publications.
Sandy is the Past President of the Mississippi Corporate Counsel Association, a member of Young Business Leaders, and has served as a member of several committees within the Mississippi Bar Association, including the Long Range Planning Committee, Young Lawyers Division, Chairman of the Law School Relations Committee and Nominating Committee. He served as Southeastern Editor of the Defense Research Institute’s The Business Suit.
A Pascagoula native, he holds a bachelor’s of accountancy degree from the University of Mississippi and graduated summa cum laude and first in his class from Mississippi College School of Law.
Sandy is an adjunct professor at Mississippi College School of Law, where he most recently served from 2003-2005, teaching the courses of Sales and Leasing and Remedies. He is still involved as an alumnus of the law school, and has actively served on the school's Building Campaign Committee.
Sandy is a member of the University of Mississippi Hall of Fame, and served as a member of the Young Alumni Council and as a board member of the Alumni Association for the University of Mississippi Central District.
In his spare time, Sandy enjoys coaching kids’ sports, playing golf, hunting and traveling.
Articles and Publications
- July 2011: Moderator, “Social Network: Legal, Business and Ethical Considerations of Social Media” – Summer School for Lawyers
- June 2011: Speaker, “Trademarks and Copyrights –When and How They Can Help A Small Business” – Gulf Coast Patent Association Workshop
- Anatomy of the Underground Utility Lawsuit, multi-installment series in Mississippi 811 Magazine
- Gordon U. Sanford, III & Martin E. Willoughby, Jr., 7 Key Areas of Intellectual Property Every Business Lawyer Should Know, The Mississippi Lawyer, July-September 2004 at 23.
- Encyclopedia of Mississippi Law, Agency (2000, 2001)
- An Intellectual Property Roadmap: The Business Lawyer’s Role in the Realm of Intellectual Property, 19 Miss. C.L. Rev. 177 (1998).
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