Member Highlight – Underwriter: Brad Jones
Brad Jones joined Mississippi Valley Title (a subsidiary of Old Republic National Title Insurance Company) in 2004 and serves as Claims Counsel for Mississippi and Alabama. Brad has been peer-rated AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell, which is the highest rating in both legal ability and ethical standards.
Where are you from? Where do you live now?
I grew up in Tylertown, a small town in southwest Mississippi. My wife and I live in Madison, Mississippi, where we’ve lived for the last 10 years.
What did you study in college, and why?
At the University of Mississippi, I earned a bachelor’s in accountancy and a master’s in taxation. I grew up working in our family business and always knew I wanted to study business. Accounting, as the language of business, came naturally to me.
After I finished my master’s, I decided to study law to further my education, especially with respect to business and tax matters. I earned my JD from the University of Mississippi and passed the Mississippi bar in 2000.
But somehow that still wasn’t enough education for me, so I took a big leap and applied to the LL.M (taxation) program at New York University. When I was accepted, I moved from small-town Mississippi to Manhattan. I lived in Greenwich Village and—after surviving the culture shock—had the time of my life. I received my Masters of Laws in taxation in 2001.
What are some of your notable achievements?
As a Certified Public Accountant, I earned the bronze medal for the third highest score in the state on the May 1997 CPA exam. After joining Old Republic, and working a few fraud and defalcation claims, I met the requirements and passed the exam to become a Certified Fraud Examiner.
Can you tell us a bit about your personal life?
I’ve been married to my wife, Marcie, for ten years. Despite growing up in towns less than 20 miles apart and the fact that she was friends with my brother, I met her online in true 21st-century fashion.
What kind of work did you do prior to joining Mississippi Valley Title?
After graduating from NYU, I returned to Mississippi and worked for two large law firms in their Tax and Corporate Law departments, where I learned from some of the best attorneys in the state.
What is the secret to leading a “good life”?
Whatever you’ve been called upon to do, you should strive to do your best at it. Martin Luther King, Jr. said it best:
“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”
To learn more about Brad Jones, visit his member profile.