Governor Fob James of Alabama

Written by Michael D. Waters

Mike Waters has practiced law in Alabama since 1977 and is a partner in the Birmingham office of Jones Walker LLP.  A native of Cullman, Alabama, he graduated cum laude from Duke University in 1972 with a B.A. in history.  He received an M.A. in philosophy, politics and economics in 1975 from Oxford University, England, as a Rhodes Scholar, and received a J.D. from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1977.  His law practice centers on corporate and securities work, primarily for banks and financial institutions.  He served as Legal Adviser to Alabama Governor Fob James from January 1979 to July 1980.  He was a member of Governor Bob Riley’s Alabama Citizens Commission on Constitutional Reform chaired by Secretary of State Jim Bennett in 2002-2003 and a consultant to Governor Robert Bentley’s Alabama Constitution Revision Commission chaired by former Governor Albert Brewer, 2011-2014.

He is an instrument rated private pilot, and he raced formula cars with the Skip Barber Race series from 2008-2016, winning one race in the masters division (over age 40) at Carolina Motorsports Park in 2013 and finishing third in the 2011 Masters Season Championship.  He enjoys reading history and biography and plays bass guitar.