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Hugh D. Keating is Vice-President/Treasurer, Director and Shareholder of Dukes, Keating, Hatten, McRaney and Blum, with an office in Gulfport, MS. He received his B.A. from the University of South Alabama, 1974; Juris Doctorate, Mississippi College School of Law, 1979; and Master of Science in Real Estate and Urban Development, The American University, Washington, D.C., 1981, pursuant to a National Highway Institute graduate fellowship awarded by the US Department of Transportation. Additionally, in 2004, Hugh earned the prestigious SR/WA designation awarded by the International Right of Way Association.

Hugh served as President of The Mississippi Bar for the July 2011-July 2012 term. Within The Mississippi Bar, Hugh has served on the Board of Bar Commissioners, 2003-2006, and its Executive Committee; Chairman, Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee and member, Fee Dispute Resolution Committee. In 2005, Hugh was inducted as a Fellow into The Mississippi Bar Foundation and served as a member of the Board of Trustees, 2006-2009, and on Awards and IOLTA Grants Committees. Hugh was inducted as a Fellow into the American Bar Foundation in 2011.  He served as a member of the Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project (MVLP) Board of Directors, 2012-2016.  Hugh was appointed by Governor Phil Bryant to serve on the Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee for the Second Supreme Court District in 2017.

Memberships in professional associations include the Harrison County Bar Association, The Mississippi Bar, American Bar Association, Mississippi Municipal Attorneys Association, American Inns of Court, American Land Title Association and Mississippi Land Title Association.

Hugh’s practice areas cover general civil litigation, municipal law, corporate and contract law, commercial and residential closings and transactions, commercial litigation, debtor/creditor relations, bankruptcy, real property, eminent domain, land use planning and zoning, gaming, hospitality and administrative law. Hugh is certified as a Mediator by The Mississippi Bar and approved by the American Arbitration Association and U.S. District Court, Southern District, Mississippi, and has served on the Court Annexed Mediation Committee created by the Mississippi Supreme Court.

Efforts by Keating to contribute to our communities through servant leadership include involvement as Vice-President, Gulfport Redevelopment Commission; Chairman, Blue Ribbon Commission on Public Trust Tidelands; President, Board of Trustees, Leadership Gulf Coast; Executive Committee Member, President and General Counsel for Pine Burr Area Council, and District Chairman, Spanish Trail District of the Boy Scouts of America; Assistant Scout Master, Troop 301;  President, Mississippi Coast Crime Commission; Gulfport School District Strategic Planning Committee; Board of Directors, Mississippi Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce; Board of Directors and Treasurer for the University of South Alabama National Alumni Association; Gulf Coast Business Council, Land Use Committee; Finance Committee Member for Governor Barbour’s Commission on Recovery, Rebuilding and Renewal following Hurricane Katrina; Gulfport Rotary Club; Charter Member and Grand Marshal (2001) of the Hibernia Marching Society (Irish Heritage Society); Youth baseball coach for over 25 years; Commissioner, Mississippi District 6 Babe Ruth Baseball for 15 years;  President, Gulfport Youth Sports Association, Inc.;  and selected to the Babe Ruth League, Inc., Southwest Region, Hall of Fame (2013).

In years past, Hugh has been appointed by the Chancery Court of Harrrison County to serve as a Receiver and by the County Court of Harrison County to serve as a Court Ordered Mediator. Hugh has overseen the acquisition of more than 400 parcels of property for public improvement projects and has tried, to a successful conclusion, more than two dozen eminent domain cases.

Hugh has been an instructor at the University of Mississippi, Jackson branch; Jackson State University; William Carey Univeristy, Gulf Coast campus; and for the International Right of Way Association. He has also been a guest speaker for seminars and classes sponsored by the Mississippi Trial Lawyers Association, National Business Institute, Lorman Education Services, Southern Gaming Summit, and Tulane University.

Keating has been recognized as a Mid-South Super Lawyer, Mississippi Business Journal Leadership in Law Top 10 finalist, South Mississippi’s  Business Community Leader over 40, Outstanding Lawyers of America, Who’s Who Worldwide of Global Business Leaders, and Outstanding Young Men of America for contributions to his profession and community.

He was recognized by Boy Scouts of Americal, Pine Burr Area Council, Distinguished Citizen of the Year in 2018 and awarded the Silver Beaver Award in 2017.  Hugh is recognized by his peers as possessing the highest possible rating in both legal ability and ethical standards by achieving the “AV” rating issued by Martindale Hubbell.

In 2006, Hugh completed the Education for Ministry (EFM) program sponsored by the University of the South, School of Theology. He is a former Sr. Warden, Jr. Warden and Vestryman at St. Marks Episcopal Church, Gulfport, Mississippi.

Hugh and his wife, Donna, are blessed to have three children, a son-in-law, two daughters-in-law, and six grandchildren. Daughter, Erin Whitaker and husband, Jeff, and their three children, Isabelle Grace Whitaker, Curran Edward Whitaker and Hughes Elizabeth Whitaker; and sons, Staff Sgt. Hugh Dennis Keating, Jr., USMC (IRR), 2 tour veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and wife, Janin, and their son and daughter, Hugh Dennis Keating, III (Tripp) and Anna Poem Keating; and son, Daniel Dexter Keating and his wife, Kayleigh, and daughter, Daisy Jane Keating.

Year Joined Firm

  • 1982

Litigation Percentage

  • 20% of Practice Devoted to Litigation

Certified Legal Specialties

  • Mediator,  The Mississippi Bar

Honors and Awards

  • National Highway Institute Graduate Fellowship, US Department of Transportation
  • SR/WA, International Right of Way Association, 2004
  • Fellow, Mississippi Bar Foundation
  • Fellow, American Bar Foundation
  • Leadership Gulf Coast
  • Eagle Scout, BSA
  • NESA Outstanding Eagle Scout Award
  • Silver Beaver Award, BSA
  • Distinguished Citizen of the Year, Pine Burr Area Council, BSA
  • Mid-South Super Lawyer
  • Mississippi Business Journal Leadership in Law Top 10 Finalist
  • Sun Herald South Mississippi’s Community Leader over 40
  • Outstanding Lawyers of America
  • Outstanding Young Men of America
  • Who’s Who Worldwide of Global Business Leaders
  • Babe Ruth League, Inc., Southwest Region, Hall of Fame (2013)
Areas of Practice
  • Bankruptcy
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Commercial Transactions
  • Corporate and Contract Law
  • Debtor/Creditor Relations
  • Eminent Domain
  • Gaming
  • General Civil Litigation
  • Hospitality and Administrative Law
  • Land Use Planning and Zoning
  • Municipal Law
  • Real Property
Bar Admissions
  • Mississippi, 1980
  • U.S. District Court Southern District of Mississippi
  • U.S. District Court Northern District of Mississippi
  • U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit
Professional Associations and Memberships
  • Harrison County Bar Association
  • Mississippi Bar
  • American Bar Association
  • Mississippi Municipal Attorneys Association
  • Mississippi Bankruptcy Conference
  • American Inns of Court
  • American Land Title Association (ALTA)
  • Mississippi Land Title Association (MSLTA)
  • Gulf Coast Business Council
Education
  • Mississippi College School of Law, Jackson, Mississippi
    • J.D. - 1979
  • University of South Alabama
    • B.A. - 1974
  • The American University, Washington, District of Columbia
    • Master of Science- 1981
      • Real Estate and Urban Development Planning
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