Sharon Bridges is a Partner at Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes in Jackson, MS. She practices in the areas of labor and employment, healthcare law and commercial litigation representing national and local corporations. Attorney Bridges draws her litigation expertise from experiences as in-house counsel and a former plaintiff’s attorney. She served as Associate General Counsel for Tulane University Medical Center.

A native of Las Vegas, Nevada, Attorney Bridges received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing, with Honors, from Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Georgia, and a Juris Doctorate from Loyola University School of Law in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Attorney Bridges is a leader both in her community and within the legal profession. She currently serves as Vice President of the National Bar Association; Advisory Board Member for the National Bar Association Commercial Law and Health Care Law Sections; Executive Board for the American Association of Nurse Attorneys, National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL) Advisory Board Member and Board Member for the Mississippi Nurses Association Foundation. In 2007, Attorney Bridges was named Mississippi Woman Lawyer of the Year by the Mississippi Women Lawyers Association.

Representative Matters

• Obtained summary judgment with Lane Staines for a major retail company. The plaintiff in the state court action alleged negligence contributing to a slip and fall. Bridges and Staines were successful in obtaining dismissal of all claims.
• Obtained a Certificate of Need for Community Place for the Construction, Replacement, and Relocation of its existing 60-bed Nursing Home from Hinds County to Rankin County, Mississippi.  Sharon Bridges and Jonathan Werne assisted Community Place in obtaining approval from the Department.  Community Place is a Mississippi non-profit corporation established in 1934 and presently operates a 60-bed Medicare and Medicaid certified long-term care nursing facility in Hinds County, Mississippi.
• Obtained a defense verdict along with Johnny Wade on behalf of Select Speciality Hospital in a medical negligence case. In that case the plaintiff alleged that the hospital was negligent resulting in the development of a Stage 4 pressure sore, protein malnutrition, dehydration and weight loss. The one week jury trial was in Hinds County Circuit Court before Judge Tomie Green.
• Obtained a directed verdict along with Johnny Wade and Jonathan Werne on behalf of St Dominic-Jackson Memorial Hospital in a lawsuit filed by Elizabeth Martin in Hinds County Circuit Court.
• Obtained a defense verdict on behalf of St Dominic Jackson Memorial Hospital in a medical malpractice case filed by David Barham.The jury trial lasted one week in Hinds County Circuit Court.
• Obtained dismissal along with Karen Howell for corporate client. United States District Judge Henry Wingate granted a motion to dismiss filed by Sharon Bridges and Karen Howell in a breach of contract, fraud, and defamation action brought against a corporate client. The case was filed by Eduardo Flechas.
• Obtained Summary Judgment on February 27, 2009 along with Shunda Pounders in Hinds County Circuit Court. Judge Swan Yerger granted summary judgment to Defendants in a personal injury action brought against a retail client, which was represented by Sharon Bridges and Shunda Pounders. The case was filed by Don Evans. Bridges and Pounders also obtained summary judgment on behalf of this retail client in a malicious prosecution and false arrest action brought by J. Patrick Frascogna. United States District Judge Tom S. Lee granted summary judgment and dismissed the case with prejudice on December 4, 2007.
• Obtained a Defense Verdict along with Jonathan Werne and John Wade in Hinds County Circuit Court in a suit brought against St. Dominic-Jackson Memorial Hospital.  The plaintiff in the case alleged St. Dominic breached the minimum duty of reasonable care, skill, and diligence and was negligent, grossly negligent, and reckless in their performance of medical procedures on Plaintiff.  On appeal, the Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the defense verdict obtained in this case (See Bobbie Johnson v. St. Dominic-Jackson Memorial Hospital, No. 2006-CA-01696-SCT).
• Achieved dismissals in separate cases of CEO Defendant in State Court in Mississippi.
• Achieved over 10 dismissals on behalf of healthcare client in complex litigation in State Court in Mississippi.
• Achieved several hundred dismissals on behalf of  pharmaceutical client in State and Federal Court in Mississippi.
• Achieved dismissal on behalf of oil and gas client in the Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Mississippi.
• Achieved dismissal on behalf of client in product liability case in the Circuit Court of Orleans Parish, Louisiana.
• Obtained a defense verdict on behalf of a healthcare client in a jury trial in state court in 2006.
• Obtained a $36 million dollar verdict in a jury trial as co-lead trial counsel in a bad faith insurance case in state court in 2006.
• Achieved dismissal of Parent Corporation in a general liability case pending in a state court in Mississippi in 2007.
• Obtained Summary Judgment on behalf of Gulf Guaranty Insurance Company in a state court action in Louisiana in 2007.
• Obtained Summary Judgment on behalf of healthcare client in the Circuit Court of Hinds County, Mississippi in 2007.

Speeches & Publications

• "2007 MS Nurse Practitioner Update" Mississippi Nurse Practitioner Association
  
• “Diversity: A Corporate Counsel and Corporate Executive Perspective” Seminar Chair, Hinds County Bar Association (2006)
• “Effective Closing Arguments” The American Association of Nurse Attorneys Litigation Meeting (2006)
• “Defending the Healthcare Provider in Medical Malpractice Cases” The American Association of Nurse Attorneys Teleseminar (2006)
• “2006 Medical Malpractice Update” Mississippi Physicians and Surgeons Annual Meeting
• “2006 Nursing Home Litigation Update” Magnolia Bar Association Annual Convention
• “Defending the Nursing Home Case” PESI Lecture Series (2005)
• “ Mississippi Nursing Home Negligence Update” PESI Lecture Series (2005)
• “Applying Medical Research to Prove What Causes and What Does Not Cause Compromise in Skin Integrity and Dehydration” DRI Nursing Home Seminar (2005)
• Preparing Nursing Home Employees for Deposition  Lorman Educational Series (2005)
• Visiting Professor, Dillard University School of Nursing (1995-1998)

Community & Professional Activities

• Vice President of the National Bar Association (2009-2010)
• National Association of Women Lawyers Advisory Committee
• American, Mississippi, Louisiana and Magnolia Bar Associations
• Executive Board Member for The American Association of Nurse Attorneys
• Executive Board for the Mississippi Women Lawyers Association
• Executive Board for the Hinds County Bar Association
• Executive Board Member of MS Nurses Association Foundation
• Litigation Counsel of America Fellow
• International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC)
• Defense Research Institute