Gerald “Jess” Waltman III joined Gordon Arata in 2023 and represents clients in banking, energy, and environmental litigation matters. Before joining Gordon Arata, Jess litigated complex pharmaceutical and medical device cases in mass tort proceedings across the country. He is admitted to practice in Alabama, Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas; in all federal courts in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas; before the United States Courts of Appeals for the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits; and before the United States Supreme Court.
Jess graduated, magna cum laude, from the University of Mississippi School of Law and was awarded the Robert C. Khayat Award for Outstanding Service to the Mississippi Law Journal by his peers and the 2016 Outstanding Law Student Award by the faculty. He served as president of the Student Bar Association and as the executive online editor and alumni coordinator for the Mississippi Law Journal. A 2013 graduate of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College and the Patterson School of Accountancy at the University of Mississippi, Jess was inducted into Phi Kappa Phi and the University of Mississippi Hall of Fame during his senior year.
Jess served as the president of the Young Lawyers Division of the Mississippi Bar for the 2022-2023 bar year, and he has served in leadership roles with the American Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, the New Orleans Bar Association, the University of Mississippi Alumni Association, the American Cancer Society, and the Human Rights Campaign. In 2023, the Mississippi Association for Justice honored Jess the New Lawyer of the Year by .