Sponsored by the Mendenhall Area Chamber of Commerce
Wesla Sullivan Leech is a well known lawyer in Simpson County and surrounding counties. She has been in practice ever since graduating from The University of Mississippi Law School in 1987.
Wesla’s roots run deep in Simpson County. Her mother Aleita is part of the Magee family who founded the town of Magee. She married Wesley Sullivan, whose family dates back to the Sullivan’s Hollow era. Wesley moved to the Jupiter community and graduated from Mendenhall High School before enrolling at Ole Miss. Aleita graduated from Magee High School and went on to Mississippi State University. The couple married while still in college.
Aleita moved to Oxford and enrolled in the Ole Miss Law School, one of only two women in her class. After their children were born in Oxford the family returned to Simpson County in 1965 and Aleita opened her own law office in Mendenhall while Wesley raised cattle and was a pharmaceutical salesman.
Wesla began practicing law in Simpson County 20-plus years ago, assuming the reigns of her mother’s office and practice.“She was a trail blazer for women in law. She practiced for 50 years!” Aleita was recognized by the Ole Miss Law Alumni Association serving as a lawyer for 50 years at the time Wesla was the organization’s president. “It was a special time,” she added.
While Wesla continued her private practice in Jackson, she assumed her mother’s chancery practice. In 2017 she gave up her practice in Jackson and returned to Simpson County, retaining only her law office in Mendenhall.
Besides licensure in the State of Mississippi, Wesla is also licensed in the federal courts in Mississippi, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. “Justice Roberts (Chief Justice) performed the ceremony. Justice Scalia read the latest opinion that day. I was on the front row. He read a bankruptcy opinion and I understood everything he was saying! It was a beautiful ceremony,” Wesla recalled. In addition, Justice Scalia and Aleita were friends. She maintains contact with his wife.
“I thought when I stopped the commute and moved back down here it would get me off the road,” Wesla said. “I have been busier since I moved back. I am all over the place! But it’s great; I enjoy it.” She stays primarily in Central and South Mississippi from Hinds and Rankin to Harrison counties, plus the five in the chancery court district: Simpson, Smith, Covington, Lawrence and Jefferson Davis. Wesla was also appointed by the Mendenhall Mayor and Board of Aldermen to serve as a municipal judge, and Sshe serves as a Youth Court Referee in Jefferson Davis County. Wesla was recently hired as the City Attorney for the Magee Mayor and Board of Aldermen.
“I really enjoy my clients. I really do,” Wesla commented. “And I am very fortunate that I have a fabulous staff. Jonna does the bankruptcy, she handles the disability, she does my youth court work. Betty handles all the chancery matters. They’re so good and so loyal and genuinely care. I am very, very blessed.”
Wesla continued, “One thing I try not to do is say ‘I have heard it so many times.’ When I get to the point where I don’t really care about what they’re saying (clients) and I pray that I never do that – but if you get to the point where ‘I’ve heard it all before and let’s just be done’ – that’s not what they want. They want somebody that genuinely cares about what they feel. It makes a difference. A lot of times as a judge I’ve noticed, at times, some people just need you to hear their side of the story.”
“It’s funny— you tell God this is what I’m going to do and the Lord might have a different path for you,” Wesla stated. “It may not have been what you chose but once you get in it you can look back and say, okay I see why. The life experiences you go through that lead you to the point at which He has you. I see why God had some things He orchestrated so that He would have me here. Part of the reason is that in representing people I kind of understand what they’re feeling on the other side of this desk because I’ve actually walked in their shoes in certain areas. I think that’s something you can’t be taught in law school.”
