Late Friday afternoon, Mayor Paul Winfield walked into newly appointed City Attorney Lee Davis Thames Jr.’s office looking for some advice — but not of the legal sort.

“What do you think of these shoes, man?” asked the mayor, dressed in a black tuxedo and preparing to attend the Miss Mississippi Pageant. “They’re horrible, right?”

Thames agreed, and walked with the mayor across the third floor of City Hall to Winfield’s office to see the other pair of shoes he was considering.

“This guy knows fashion,” said Winfield, who’s rarely seen without a suit and tie on, his shoes always well-shined. “He’s my fashion adviser.”

After closely comparing the two pairs, the two decide on Winfield’s choice: a pair of black shoes that — with a little polish — the untrained eye might mistake for the pair he’s already got on. When asked if his choice for city attorney knows the law as well as he knows shoes, slacks, shirts and jackets, the mayor smiles.

“Oh yeah, maybe even better,” he said.

Thames and Winfield have much in common, and they’ve known each other for years. The Vicksburg natives are both lawyers with Ole Miss Law School degrees. While Winfield was taking his undergraduate courses and playing football in Oxford, Thames — who is just three years older than the 35-year-old mayor — was working on his juris doctorate. And like Winfield, Thames had been a private practice attorney before joining the City Hall staff.

Thames admitted having reservations about taking on the city attorney job, which pays less than his private practice job and is requiring him to learn more municipal law than he’s ever studied before. Ultimately, he said it was the opportunity to work as a civil servant that led him to take up Winfield’s offer.

“I just thought it would be a fun change, and a way I could do my civic duty; a way to give back to the community,” said Thames, who was sworn in on July 10, after being appointed by the board of mayor and aldermen by a 2-1 vote. “It’s going to be a great experience.”

Also like Winfield, Thames has been an active member in a variety of community organizations and civic clubs for years. He’s a member of the city’s art association, historical society, Kiwanis Club, Chamber of Commerce and heritage foundation. He’s also vice chairman of the Warren County Democratic Party executive committee and president of Vicksburg Family Development, a non-profit group that helps teenage mothers learn parenting skills and encourages them to stay in school.

“I just think it’s a duty everyone should do,” Thames said of his community involvement. “If you want your community to strive and thrive, then you’ve got to commit to actively making it a better place. It’s a lot of fun, too. You meet a lot of good people and help them do positive things for the community. My generation doesn’t seem to be as involved in their communities, and that’s a shame.” 

Thames worked for 12 years at Varner, Parker & Sessums, a Vicksburg firm, before being selected as city attorney. Essentially, he’s traded in the courtroom for the boardroom. He’s now responsible for sitting in on the Board of mayor and Aldermen’s meetings and providing legal advice on all matters before them. While he said he’s gotten a general working knowledge of municipal law and local ordinances through his private practice experience, Thames knows he’s got his work cut out for him as he takes on his first full-time municipal job.

“I’m going to be taking Title 21 home with me and doing a lot of after-hours reading in the next few months,” he said of the Bible-thick book that contains Mississippi’s municipal laws. “There are also a lot of projects going on and a lot of contracts that I need to get up to speed on.”

Thames has the law in his blood. He’s a fourth-generation Warren County attorney. His father, Lee Davis Thames Sr., practices  with a Jackson firm. His grandfather, the late James Thames, was a Vicksburg city judge, and his great-grandfather was once the local district attorney. The youngest of his parents’ seven children, he also has a sister who practices law in Washington, D.C.

While Thames said he’ll miss the action in the courtroom, he’s excited about working for the community that has been so good to his family for so long.

“I’ll miss the litigation; being in the courtroom — that’s what gets the juices flowing,” Thames said. “Pushing papers isn’t going to be quite as fun, but working to help the city is going to be exciting, too.”

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Contact Steve Sanoski at ssanoski@vicksburgpost.com