Phone: (228) 762-6631
PRACTICE AREAS & QUALIFICATIONS
Practice Areas
Admissions
Mississippi (1991)
Alabama (1992)
District Court, Northern and Southern Districts of Mississippi
District Court, Northern, Middle, and Southern Districts of Alabama
Court of Appeals, Fifth and Eleventh Circuits
Education
University of Southern Mississippi, B.S.B.A., 1988
University of Mississippi, J.D., 1991
Phi Alpha Delta
Member, Moot Court Board
ABOUT BEN
Ben Mullen, a graduate of the University of Mississippi School of Law and native of Pascagoula, Mississippi, concentrates his practice in civil trial and appellate litigation. His trial practice is focused mainly on the defense of insurers, their insureds, corporations, and other businesses covering a wide range of practice areas from personal injury, products liability, bad faith insurance claims, tobacco, errors and omissions, trucking accidents, and maritime matters in State and Federal Court. During his career, he has tried in excess of 100 jury and non-jury trials to verdict or judgment. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Mr. Mullen was lead and co-lead trial counsel for a major property and casualty insurer handling many complex litigation issues arising from that disaster over a multitude of lawsuits. He was also co-lead counsel with one of his partners for that same insurer trying one of the only Katrina jury cases to proceed through both the contract and punitive damages phases of the case on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and garnering a successful verdict on the contract phase and a defense verdict on the punitive damages phase. He has also argued cases before the Court of Appeals of Mississippi and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
In addition to his trial practice, Mr. Mullen has also successfully handled hundreds of cases involving the approval of minors’ injury claims and wrongful death settlements in Chancery Court, many involving the determination of complex lien and distribution claims. He has lectured and provided guidance on this process to insurance groups assisting them with proper claim handling and file development as well as how to avoid major pitfalls with these types of claims.
Mr. Mullen is licensed to and practices law in the State and Federal Courts of both Mississippi and Alabama. He served as a board member on the Board of Bar Commissioners of the Mississippi Bar from 2010 to 2013. He is also a member of the Jackson County Bar Association, the Defense Research Institute, the Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association, and the American Bar Association, and the Alabama State Bar.
Mr. Mullen is married to Marie Mullen, and they reside in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Together, they are actively involved in their community annually acting as co-zone captains for the Mississippi Coastal Cleanup as well as annually working to raise funds for the American Heart Association, Susan G. Komen Run for the Cure, Memory Walk (Alzheimer’s), and other groups. He and his wife attend St. Paul United Methodist Church in Ocean Springs.
REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS & DECISIONS
Representative Matters
Obtained summary judgment for a major insurance carrier in a workers compensation bad faith case; affirmed on appeal–Fairley v. Crowell, et al, Docket Number 06-60884 (5th Cir.)
Orchestrated favorable resolution of several other workers compensation bad faith cases for a major insurance carrier
Obtained defense verdicts in numerous automobile collision personal injury cases.
Obtained low damage verdicts in multiple admitted liability cases where causation was contested
Obtained defense verdicts in numerous premises liability cases
Orchestrated favorable resolution of multiple post-Katrina lawsuits alleging bad faith insurance claim handling for a major property and casualty insurer
Along with partner, obtained summary judgment in a complex life agents E&O bad faith case for a major insurance carrier
Representative Reported Decisions
Rudd v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 2018-CA-01390-COA (Miss. Ct. App. May 5, 2020)
West v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., et al., 282 So. 3d 1223 (Miss. Ct. App. 2019)
Crossley v. Moore, 182 So.3d 462 (Ct. App. Miss. 2015)
Chapman v. Coca-Cola Bottling Co., 180 So.3d 676 (Ct. App. Miss. 2015)
Minnesota Life Ins. Co. v. Columbia Cas. Co., 164 So.3d 954 (Miss. 2014)
Downs v. Ackerman, 115 So.3d 785 (Miss. 2013)
Thompson v. Nguyen, 2012 Miss. LEXIS 195, No. 2009-CT-01147-SCT
Kuehn v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 74691
Milyanovich v. Feeley, 10 So.3d 529 (Ct. App. Miss. 2009)
Bossier v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., Civil Action No.: 1:08-CV-00408-LTS-RHW
Stallworth v. Ashbritt, Inc., 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11312
Realty Trust Group, Inc. v. Ace American Ins. Co., 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91331
In re State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 254 Fed. Appx. 408 (5th Cir. 2007)
Fleming v. Floyd, 969 So.2d 868 (Miss. 2007)
Fairley v. Crowell, 231 Fed. Appx. 316 (S.D. Miss. 2007)
McIntosh v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., Civil Action No.: 1:06-CV-01080-LTS-RHW
Paulk v. Balboa Ins. Co., 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 48126
Burton v. Continental Cas. Co., 431 F.Supp.2d 651 (S.D. Miss. 2006)
Williams v. Fornett, 906 So.2d 810 (Ct. App. Miss. 2004)
Knight v. Brooks, 881 So.2d 294 (Ct. App. Miss. 2004)
Mitchell v. Brown, 835 So.2d 110 (Ct. App. Miss. 2003)
Gulf City Seafoods, Inc. v. Ludwig Shrimp Co., 296 F.3d 363 (5th Cir. 2002)
Clark v. Deakle, 800 So.2d 1227 (Ct. App. Miss. 2001)
White v. Mills, 735 So.2d 428 (Miss. 1999)
State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Ford Motor Co., 736 So.2d 384 (Ct. App. Miss. 1999)
MEMBERSHIPS & COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES
Jackson County Bar Association
American Bar Association
Federal Bar Association
The Mississippi Bar
Alabama State Bar
Defense Research Institute
Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association