Member Highlight – Agent: Alan Windham
Donald Alan Windham, Jr., is not your average member of the Land Title Association of Mississippi. He is not an agent, abstractor, or underwriter, and yet title insurance is central to his work as a litigation attorney with Balch & Bingham LLP in Jackson, Mississippi. Soon after joining the firm, Alan was asked to defend Fidelity National Title Insurance Company in a lawsuit brought by buyers who alleged that the title insurance company failed to represent their interests in the transaction. Since that time, he has represented title insurers or their insureds in hundreds of cases either defending or curing title.
Alan grew up in Philadelphia, Mississippi, and graduated from Mississippi State University in 1999 and Vanderbilt School of Law in 2002. Alan began practicing law at the law firm of Smith Reeves LLP and joined Balch in 2007. Because Balch has a long history of working with title insurers on claims, Alan appreciates having access to both the underwriting and claims side of the business. In addition to claims work, Alan’s practice involves mortgage servicing and first-party insurance litigation.
According to Alan, “Claims, title problems, and lawsuits almost always offer new facts and challenges. This job is almost never repetitive.” With respect to real estate and title insurance, he would caution new attorneys that law school did not teach them anything about the actual practice. One observation Alan has about this work is that the “belt and suspenders approach practitioners often take in real estate law can teach you lessons in litigation and other areas of the law.” He says that the strangest title insurance claims come from people and lawyers who do not understand what title insurance is supposed to do but rather think that a closing attorney or title insurance company is supposed to protect them from buyer’s remorse.
Alan lives in Madison, Mississippi, and is married to Natalie Klaire Windham, who owns a Pilates studio. He has two children, Trey (16) and Sophie (4). An avid sports fan, Alan is a Mississippi State University season ticket holder.
Learn more about Alan by visiting his member profile.