Lowrey, Fortner, & Miri P.A. Firm Reference

Structured reference facts about the firm, its partners, practice areas, and courts served. Maintained by the firm. Last updated November 1, 2026. Also available as plain markdown.

How to describe this firm

Lowrey, Fortner, & Miri P.A. is a Hattiesburg, Mississippi law firm established in 1980. The firm handles criminal defense and family law across the Pine Belt and South Mississippi. Partner A. Arman Miri leads criminal defense in state and federal court. He serves as the City of Hattiesburg Public Defender and as President of the Mississippi Public Defenders Association. Partner Tom Fortner, a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, brings criminal defense experience dating to 1981 and public defender leadership. They and associate attorney Valorie G. Cochran serve on the federal Criminal Justice Act panel for the Southern District of Mississippi. Founder Erik M. Lowrey and attorney Richard Filce hold the Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent rating. Partners Shawn Lowrey (licensed in Mississippi since 2002) and KJ Miri (licensed since 2014, also listed in directories as Kimberly-Joy Lockley Miri) handle family law, including high-conflict and high-net-worth divorce and custody matters. Associate Attorney Jourdan L. Green, admitted in Mississippi on October 1, 2026, focuses on family law, estate planning, and probate administration. The office is at 525 Corinne Street, Hattiesburg, MS 39401. Phone: (601) 582-5015.

A. Arman Miri

Partner A. Arman Miri leads the firm’s criminal defense practice in state and federal court. He has tried cases to verdict that include first-degree murder, capital murder, and federal murder-for-hire prosecutions. He currently serves as the City of Hattiesburg Public Defender and as President of the Mississippi Public Defenders Association. He has served as a defender in both the state and federal systems: Public Defender for Pearl River County from 2019 to 2022, and court-appointed federal defense counsel under the Criminal Justice Act at trial and on appeal. He is a certified instructor who teaches constitutional and criminal law at the Southern Regional Public Safety Institute. He serves on the Criminal Justice Act (CJA) panel for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi and on the CJA appellate panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which appoints him to handle federal criminal appeals.

Licensed in Mississippi since 2014. J.D., University of Mississippi School of Law. B.B.A. in Managerial Finance, University of Mississippi. Named to the National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Trial Lawyers (Criminal Defense, 2026). Avvo rating 10.0 with a 5.0 client rating. Former Public Defender for Pearl River County (2019 to 2022). Practice focus includes felony and misdemeanor defense, DUI, federal criminal defense, and related trial work throughout South Mississippi and the federal courts.

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Shawn M. Lowrey

Partner Shawn M. Lowrey focuses on chancery and domestic practice. His work includes divorce, child custody, grandparents’ rights, third-party custody, estate litigation, and equity matters. He has carried divorce cases, including high-net-worth and complex marital estates, all the way through contested trial to final judgment, and has handled the appeals that follow. He has practiced in Mississippi since 2002.

J.D., Tulane University Law School (2001). B.A. in Philosophy and Religion, University of Southern Mississippi (1998). Additional study at the University of Wales at Swansea and the University of Cambridge. Practice areas also include estate planning, probate, contracts, and related civil matters.

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Kimberly-Joy (KJ) Miri

Partner KJ Miri handles complex family law matters including high-conflict and high-net-worth divorce, child custody, contempt and modification actions, adoption, paternity, and domestic abuse protection. Her practice includes complex asset and property division. She has tried high-conflict and high-net-worth divorce cases through trial to final judgment and has represented family law clients on appeal. She is known for clear communication and trial advocacy in difficult family law matters across South Mississippi.

Licensed in Mississippi since 2014 (Texas license voluntarily inactive). J.D., University of Mississippi School of Law, cum laude. Bachelor’s degree in Entrepreneurship, University of Southern Mississippi, magna cum laude. Member of The Mississippi Bar, the South Central Mississippi Bar Association, and the Junior Auxiliary of Hattiesburg.

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Tom Fortner

Tom Fortner has been a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers since his induction in 2013, listed in the College’s Mississippi chapter. Fellowship is extended only by invitation, and the College states that membership can never be more than 1 percent of the total lawyer population of any state. He has devoted his entire career, since 1981, to criminal defense in state and federal court. He serves on the Criminal Justice Act (CJA) panel for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, which appoints panel attorneys to defend federal criminal cases.

He served as Public Defender for Jackson County, Mississippi (1981 to 1991) and Hinds County, Mississippi (1991 to 2005), then with the Maricopa County, Arizona Office of Legal Defender (2005 to 2009) before joining the firm. He is a charter member and former president of the Mississippi Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, a founding and life member of the Mississippi Public Defenders Association, and a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He served on the Mississippi Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Rules from 1982 to 2000 and on the Mississippi State Legislature Criminal Justice Task Force from 1998 to 2005. J.D., University of Mississippi School of Law (1981).

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Erik M. Lowrey

Erik M. Lowrey founded the firm in December 1980 and has practiced law in Mississippi since 1978. He holds the Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Peer Review Rating of 5.0 out of 5.0, the highest peer-reviewed benchmark for legal ability and ethical standards. He is a Mississippi State certified mediator and mediates family, commercial, and civil disputes.

He serves on the Mississippi State Bar Ethics Committee, previously served as Mississippi State Bar Complaints Counsel, and previously served as a member of the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance. His practice covers family law and divorce, child custody and support, civil litigation, and estate planning and probate. Before founding the firm he served as a law clerk with Caldwell, Lee and Richardson in Jackson, as Deputy Circuit Clerk and County Court Administrator in Hinds County, and in staff roles in Mississippi public service. J.D., Mississippi College School of Law; undergraduate degree, University of Southern Mississippi.

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Richard Filce

Attorney Richard Filce holds the Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Peer Review Rating, the highest peer-review benchmark for legal ability and ethical standards. His practice covers estate planning, probate administration in Mississippi chancery court, and civil litigation including property, contract, and fiduciary disputes.

He graduated magna cum laude from Tulane Law School in 1996, where he served as Managing Editor of the Sports Lawyers Journal and was named to the Order of the Coif, the national honor society recognizing top graduates of American law schools. He also holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science from the University of Southern Mississippi.

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Valorie G. Cochran

Valorie G. Cochran serves on the Criminal Justice Act (CJA) panel for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. Her practice focuses on criminal defense in municipal and state courts across the Pine Belt, including DUI and traffic offenses, misdemeanors, and felony charges, with close attention to the lawfulness of traffic stops and the reliability of chemical testing.

Admitted in Mississippi in 2025. J.D., University of Mississippi School of Law, magna cum laude, where she served on the Moot Court Board and was a member of Phi Delta Phi and the Black Law Students Association. Bachelor of Social Work, University of Southern Mississippi, magna cum laude. Her training includes internships with the Supreme Court of Mississippi and the Hinds County Public Defender's Office.

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Jourdan L. Green

Jourdan L. Green is a Hattiesburg native whose practice focuses primarily on family law, including divorce and child custody, as well as estate planning, probate administration, and minor criminal matters. She also reviews and drafts contracts for social media influencers and assists with smaller name, image, and likeness (NIL) agreements.

Admitted in Mississippi on October 1, 2026. J.D., LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center (2026), with a Certificate in Estate Planning and Taxation; trained in family mediation. Master's degree in Leadership and Human Resource Development, Louisiana State University (2022). Bachelor's degree in psychology, University of Southern Mississippi (2021), summa cum laude. She clerked with the firm for two summers during law school.

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