A Little About Me
I have a double name – John Forrest – which can often throw some people off. I also share the same initials as John F. Kennedy, and my friends call me JFK sometimes. Unlike the famous president, I grew up in Saltillo, a town outside Tupelo, Mississippi, where I enjoyed playing sports such as baseball and football. Being from a politically active family, I was involved in politics and campaign activities from the time I was a young teenager. While politics didn’t seem like the right career path for me, I believe my experience in these early years contributed to my development as a lawyer.
I’m a family-oriented person, and I deeply value frequent visits to those close to me. . I am the oldest of two other siblings, a brother and sister. Our extended family is very close as well, meaning birthday parties and get-togethers often take up many weekends of the year.
I enjoy playing golf in my free time and am a passionate Ole Miss Rebels fan, going to as many games as I can. I’m also an avid reader. While I do enjoy fiction and the occasional John Grisham novel, I also appreciate informative books that give practical advice. Books on finance and business techniques such as negotiation have been my interest as of late.
Journey to the Law
Although my journey to the law began when I was young, it wasn’t until I was in college at the University of Mississippi that I realized my skills suited the profession. I was a business major with an emphasis on management, and I excelled in classes that required writing papers and developing an analysis based on extensive research.
While at Ole Miss, I stayed involved with political campaigns as I had been in my earlier years. I contributed to congressional campaigns and district attorney campaigns in my free time, organizing campaign efforts on a tactical level with others from Ole Miss also interested in politics. While the experiences were greatly beneficial to me, I began to understand that I did not want a career in politics.
To decide on whether a career in law was right for me, I took a job with a general practice law firm in Oxford, Mississippi while still in college. Being able to work closely with an attorney at this firm, I saw how I could use my skills to help others in real-life situations. I take pride in identifying legal issues. There’s a certain sense of accomplishment seeing a document you drafted being used to help a client with their problem. Once I was able to see the difference I could make in someone’s life, I was confident that the legal profession was the right choice for me.
My Accomplishments
I graduated from Saltillo High School and attended Ole Miss for my undergraduate degree, where I received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Business Management in 2017. I took a job with Tollison & Webb in May of 2017 and worked as a law clerk until I graduated magna cum laude from Ole Miss Law in 2021. While in law school, I was also a member of the Mississippi Law Journal where I further refined my research and writing skills. Being on Journal was significant to me because of the amount of work it took to be a member and the opportunities for self-development it provided.
From 2017-2021, I worked on a variety of cases at Tollison & Webb ranging from complicated business disputes and constitutional violations to probate and matters involving divorce. The common theme I found most important in all these cases was the fact that I was helping people with problems they couldn’t otherwise handle themselves. My employment at Tollison & Webb was integral in my development as a lawyer because it demonstrated I could make a notable difference in people’s lives while balancing my other responsibilities with school and Journal.
I joined Crow Estate Planning & Probate in August 2021 after graduating law school. My practice revolves around estate planning, probate, and business planning.