John G. Corlew, 80, died in his sleep on December 6, 2023.
John’s colorful life began on July 13, 1943, in Dyersburg, Tennessee. At an early age he moved with his family to Pascagoula, where he spent a happy childhood with a brother and a fun-loving group of Jackson County friends. Their rowdy adventures later became hilarious stories in John’s fond re-telling. His mother, a teacher, made sure he studied, and he became a star student. His father operated a popular grocery store, Town Market, where he instilled a strong work ethic in John, who helped out after school and on weekends.
John’s brilliant intellect and hard work earned him a four-year scholarship to Ole Miss. He graduated with a journalism degree in 1964 after a memorable college career. He served as Editor of the Daily Mississippian. In that role and also on behalf of the Associated Press, he covered pivotal events in the state’s civil rights struggles of the 1960’s. He was a lifetime devoted member of the Sigma Nu fraternity. His first political campaign, which he won, was for Student Body President at Ole Miss. He was later named to the Ole Miss Hall of Fame.
John returned to the state of his birth to attend Vanderbilt University Law School where he graduated as one of the top two students in his class. Once again he established a fine academic record. He was Managing Editor of the Law Review in 1967-1968. In 1967 he married Lee Scott, whom he had met at Ole Miss. After law school, John turned down offers from respected law firms in Nashville, and he and Lee decided to return home to Mississippi. He served as law clerk to the Honorable Walter Nixon in 1968-69, and joined the law firm of Megehee, Brown, and Williams in 1970 (later Megehee, Brown, Williams and Corlew). After a brief interim of solo practice, he became a senior partner at Corlew, Krebs and Hammond. John was active in local civic and community life through the Jaycees and the Methodist Church. He quickly became the go-to lawyer for major industries on the coast and nationwide— but he also served clients with little to offer in payment. If he believed they had a worthy case, he was as passionate about representing clients who could never pay him as he was in arguing for national and international industrial giants.
In 1974 Jackson County elected John to the Mississippi Senate. He served in the Legislature from 1974-1980. Friends remember him packing his clothes in a pillowcase every Monday for the weekly trip to Jackson during the legislative session. It was an important time of legislative progress, and despite his young age, he was an important player. He and a group of other young progressive legislators, with help from allies like “Miss Evelyn” Gandy, organized to pass significant legislation which permanently reformed and modernized Mississippi law. They steered passage of Open Meetings, Open Records and other laws which increased transparency and public access to public proceedings. John presided as Chairman of the Appropriations Committee in 1979, served on the Legislative Audit Committee in 1978, and the Constitution Committee from 1975 to 1979. Appointed by Governor Winter, John served as Chairman of the State Board of Public Welfare from 1980 to 1984.
In 1984 Jackson lawyer Bill Goodman, impressed with John’s legal skills as a courtroom opponent, persuaded John and Lee to move to Jackson so John could join Bill at the Watkins & Eager law firm. John was a leading partner there until 2009 when he again established a small independent firm, Corlew Munford & Smith. He continued there until 2021, when he joined the Oxford-based law firm of Mayo Mallette until retirement.
John’s professional accolades were many. He was a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, the American College of Trial Lawyers, and the Mississippi Bar Foundation. He was a member of the Order of the Coif, an honor society for United States law school graduates. He received the Professionalism Award from the Hinds County Bar Association in 2007, and also from the Mississippi Bar Foundation in 2013. He was a Member of the Charles Clark Inns of Court. John was recognized in The Best Lawyers in America for bet-the-company litigation and his commercial, mass tort, environmental, and banking and finance litigation work. He was also listed as one of Mississippi’s top 50 lawyers by Mid-South Super Lawyers and was recognized by Chambers USA as a leading lawyer for commercial litigation and environmental work. He was the author of two books on Mississippi trial practice: The Mississippi Jury: Law and Practice and Damages Law for Mississippi Trial Practice. John also served on the Lawyers Advisory Committee for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit from 2001 to 2004, the Governor’s Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee from 2004 to 2012, and the Committee on Judicial Elections Campaign Intervention from 2014 to 2015.
For a person of such accomplishment, there was nothing self-important about John Corlew. His inherent respect for people and his sense of humor endeared him to his fellow workers regardless of station. Never the cocktail-lunch type lawyer, he was known for skipping lunch or munching nabs with a diet coke. On business trips, he sometimes turned down clients’ offers of luxury hotels in favor of more modest accommodations convenient for early morning work sessions at the courthouse.
In addition to his career, John was a lifelong prodigious reader on eclectic subjects including American history, biographies, and regional literature. He was a passionate sports fan, especially soccer in recent years. He took his family to Europe for the World Cup soccer games in 2006 and was a devoted fan of professional soccer, especially Lionel Messi. He coached each of his children’s soccer, basketball, and softball teams and maintained relationships with many of those young players as they grew up and faced adult challenges. His ability to encourage his own children and other young people to believe in themselves led to a wide circle of lifelong devoted family and friends from diverse backgrounds. Despite his demanding professional schedule, his door was always open to those in trouble who needed compassionate and practical advice. He was known as a problem solver. He worked hard to find a solution to difficult issues without encouraging litigation. He shared with Lee an intense devotion to their many dogs, who were as welcome at his office as at his home.
While John loved the practice of law and his other professional endeavors, he considered his greatest achievement to be his family. His marriage to Lee lasted until his death and together they raised three children, all of whom survive him: Scott Corlew (wife Melanie), a lawyer in Pascagoula; Heath Corlew, a coach and teacher in Asheville, North Carolina; and Carey Bhalla (husband Sonu), an attorney in Corrales, New Mexico. Other survivors are John’s five beloved grandchildren: Jac, Meg, Ann Scott, Latham, and Emily. He was immensely proud of all of them, and their adventures supplied him with fresh stories to tell his friends.
Visitation for John Corlew will be held on Monday, December 11, at 11:00 a.m., followed by a service at noon, at St. James Episcopal Church in Jackson.
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