Meet Ronald C. Morton, J.D., LL. M., CELA

Attorney

Ronald C. Morton, LL.M., CELA, is the founding member of the Morton Law Firm, PLLC. His statewide practice is focused on estate planning, asset protection planning, elder law, business planning, and Medicaid planning. Mr. Morton graduated cum laude from Mississippi College in 1988 with a double major in public administration and applied sociology. In 1992 he earned a Juris Doctorate degree, magna cum laude, from Mississippi College School of Law. He was awarded a Masters of Law in Taxation with Honors from the University of Alabama School of Law in 2007, and has earned the designation of Certified Elder Law Attorney by the National Elder Law Foundation.

Mr. Morton is a respected legal scholar and has written numerous articles for various legal publications. He was a co-author of Mississippi Rules Annotated (Supp. 1994), and author of Rules, Rulemaking, and the Ruled: The Mississippi Supreme Court as Self-proclaimed Ruler, a law review article on the inherent power of Mississippi courts to make procedural rules, which was published at 12 Miss. C.L. Rev. 293 in 1992.

Mr. Morton has also written chapters on procedural discovery in West’s Mississippi Civil Procedure, and was a contributing author to the Civil Procedure chapter, as well as a chapter on Estate Administration and Probate, in West’s Encyclopedia of Mississippi Law. Additionally, he authored the chapters on Driving While Under the Influence, Limited Liability Companies and Partnerships for West’s Encyclopedia of Mississippi Law. Most recently he wrote a chapter on Clients with Disabilities in Mississippi Professional Responsibility, a treatise published by the Mississippi Law Institute press. He currently teaches Elder Law at Mississippi College School of Law as an adjunct professor.

While in law school, Mr. Morton served as Managing Editor of the Mississippi College Law Review. As a student, he was admitted as a Pupil, and later in practice as a Barrister, in the American Inns of Court, Charles Clark Inn. He is currently licensed to practice law in Mississippi and Louisiana. He has been an active member of the Mississippi Bar for 24 years, and is former Chairman of The Mississippi Bar’s Technology Committee. Morton currently serves on that Committee’s Executive Committee, as well as on the Bar’s Ethics committee. Ronald Morton was awarded the Mississippi Bar’s Distinguished Service Award in 2005 for his work in education and law office technology for members of the bar throughout the state.

Ronald Morton recognizes that education is a lifetime pursuit and has attended a minimum of 36 hours of continuing legal education each year since 2005, triple what is required by the Mississippi Bar. He is currently a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, a nationwide group of select attorneys dedicated to excellence in estate planning. He is also a member of the preeminent organization dedicated to the development of elder law and special needs planning, the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. Likewise, he is a longtime member of WealthCounsel, a group of over 2,000 estate planning lawyers around the country, as well as The Advisor’s Forum, an organization of lawyers and other estate planning professionals focused on interdisciplinary collaborative planning for clients.

Mr. Morton attends a Life Group class at his church, Morrison Heights Baptist Church. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Baptist Homes, Inc., a public charity that operates Son Valley, a residential community for the mentally retarded, and is a member of the board of directors of the Clinton Community Development Foundation. Ronald Morton has been married 25 years to the former Cynthia Sims of Meridian. The couple has twin boys, currently 20 years old, who attend The University of Mississippi. His family enjoys skiing, trips to the beach, personal watercraft, and bicycling.

Mr. Morton actively uses technology in his practice and is a frequent speaker on the subject. CaseMap, Summation, Trial Director, and WealthDocs are among the law office technology tools that he uses in his practice. His office also makes liberal use of scanners and Adobe Acrobat in an effort to reduce paper and improve efficiency. Mr. Morton operates a law office technology blog at www.techlawyerblog.com.

In addition to being a recognized expert in law office technology, Mr. Morton is a frequent speaker and educator to both the public and professionals in the field of estate planning, Medicaid planning, asset protection techniques, business planning, and other issues impacting the elderly. He blogs about the subject at www.elderblawg.com. Morton conducts frequent workshops for other estate planning professionals, including his popular 2-day Trusts, Estates, and Elder Law Boot Camp for Advisors.

Recent seminars conducted for the public include The 7 Big Medicaid Planning Lies, Why Your Living Trust May Not Work and What to Do About It, and Estate Planning Myths: Why Most Estate Plans Fail.

If you are interested in attending one of Mr. Morton’s upcoming seminars, or would like him to speak at a group in which you are involved, please contact us.