Attorneys

Daryl A. Dryden is a lifelong resident of Jackson County, Mississippi, and has practiced law for 40 years. His practice is general civil litigation with an emphasis in real estate litigation. He also handles commercial transactions. He probates estates and handles estate planning as well. Mr. Dryden obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of Mississippi and his Juris Doctorate from the University of Mississippi Law School. After receiving his Juris Doctorate, he served as Ocean Springs Municipal Prosecutor for eight years, Ocean Springs Municipal Judge for six years, and was a Jackson County Youth Court Judge pro tem. Later, Mr. Dryden became an assistant district attorney in the 19th Circuit Court Judicial District (Jackson, George, and Green counties) and prosecuted felonies for eight years before joining the firm in 2000. He is admitted to practice before all Mississippi State Courts. Mr. Dryden is a member of the Mississippi Bar Association, past president of the Jackson County Bar Association, and a former member of the Mississippi Prosecutor’s Association.

David has more than 40 years of widely diverse legal experience, having worked with two of the world’s largest energy firms as well as having been a partner in two of Mississippi’s regional law firms. His practice is concentrated in commercial real estate transactions, banking and mortgage law, estate planning and probate administration. Since his graduation from the University of Mississippi School of Law in December 1977, he has continued the pursuit of educational goals, receiving an MBA from Tulane University in 1989 and an LL.M. in Taxation from the University of Alabama in 2010. David is a Fellow in the American College of Mortgage Attorneys, has been selected by his peers since 2012 for inclusion in “Best Lawyers” and is the author or co-author of several business-related articles.

James H. Heidelberg is a lifelong resident of Pascagoula, Mississippi, and he has practiced law in Pascagoula since his admission to the Bar in January 1978. His practice primarily involves trial and appellate litigation in the fields of personal injury, governmental law, and professional liability. Mr. Heidelberg has briefed or argued over eighty cases to the Mississippi Supreme Court, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Heidelberg represents several Mississippi governmental agencies and political subdivisions and is an approved attorney for the Mississippi Tort Claims Board. He is an approved arbitrator for both the Mississippi Bar’s Court Annexed Mediation Project and the National Association of Security Dealers (NASD). Mr. Heidelberg maintains an active mediation/arbitration practice and provides governmental and policy consultation to state and national clients, as well as advice to governmental entities and public officials. Jimmy received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Political Science and Finance from the University of Southern Mississippi and his Juris Doctorate Degree from the University of Mississippi. He holds the distinction of being the first legal intern to present oral argument before the Mississippi Supreme Court in 1977, which resulted in the reversal of a capital murder conviction. He is also a founding member of the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) Law Society. As a dedicated alumnus of USM, Jimmy has served in various positions with the Alumni Association, as well as the USM Foundation. He is also a member of USM’s Hall of Fame. Jimmy is a member of the Mississippi Bar, the Mississippi Bar Foundation, the Jackson County Bar Association, the Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association, Mississippi Claims Association, The Defense Research Institute, American Inns of Court, the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, and the International Association of Defense Counsel. He has served on numerous committees of the state and local bar associations as well. Mr. Heidelberg has held an “AV” rating in Martindale-Hubbell since 1994 and has been listed in “The Best Lawyers in America” since 1999. In 2003, he received the Mississippi State Bar Distinguished Service Award. He is listed annually in the publication “SuperLawyers – Mid-South Edition.” He is also included in “Best Lawyers in America” in seven fields of practice, such as Appellate Practice, Environmental Law, Legal Malpractice (Defense), Medical Malpractice (Defense), and Personal Injury (Defense). In 2013, he was selected as “Lawyer of the Year” in the area of Medical Malpractice, and in 2016, he was selected as “Lawyer of the Year” for the Mississippi Gulf Coast in the area of Personal Injury Litigation. Jimmy has been appointed by three Lt. Governors as member of the Mississippi Oil & Gas Board since 2012, having previously served as its Chairman. In 2022, the Governor appointed Jimmy to the Jackson County Port Authority. That same year, Jimmy was recognized as one of Mississippi’s Top 50 Most Influential Citizens.

Karl R. Steinberger has over 45 years of experience practicing law. Mr. Steinberger’s practice is general but primarily consists of Federal and State workers’ compensation, employment law, insurance defense, personal injury, automobile, products and premises liability, environmental law, and wills and estates. Mr. Steinberger attended the University of Mississippi, receiving a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1973. He received a Juris Doctor Degree from the University of Mississippi in 1976 and was admitted to the Mississippi Bar in the same year. After an internship in the Jackson County Public Defender’s Office, he was a general practitioner in Pascagoula, Mississippi, until he joined the firm in 1984. Mr. Steinberger is a past president of both the Jackson County Young Lawyers Association and the Jackson County Bar Association, of which he remains a member. He is also a member of the Mississippi Bar Association (Bar Commissioner, 2001-2004; Executive Committee, 2003-2004; Co-Chairman, Professionalism Committee, 2006; Chairman, Professionalism Committee, 2007-2009; Ethics Committee, 2011-2014), Lawyers and Judges Assistance Program (2020-2023), Mississippi Bar Foundation (Fellow, President 2016-2017), Fellows of Young Lawyers of Mississippi Bar, Mississippi Defense Association, and the American Bar Foundation (Fellow). For over twenty years Mr. Steinberger served as Vice-President and member of the Executive Board of Mississippi Legal Services and its predecessor. He is a member of the Mississippi Claims Association, the Gulf Coast Human Resource Association, the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce (Board of Directors, 2014- present), and the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM). Mr. Steinberger has also served on the Board of Directors for the University of Mississippi Law Alumni Chapter (2010-2013). Mr. Steinberger holds an AV rating from Martindale Hubbell. In 2008, Mr. Steinberger received the prestigious Distinguished Service Award from the Mississippi Bar Association for his decades of service to the legal profession in Mississippi. Also, he has been recognized as an Outstanding Lawyer of America. He has been selected every year since 2013 as a Mid-South Super Lawyer® in the field of employment law or workers’ compensation. In 2018, he was named the Lawyer of the Year by the Mississippi Business Journal. Mr. Steinberger has been married for over 45 years and has two adult children who work and reside in Pascagoula. He is a member of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Pascagoula where he has served as Senior Warden, Vestry person, Sunday School Superintendent, a member of the choir, and other various commissions in the church. He enjoys music, walking, fishing, boating, and attending Ole Miss sporting events.

Myra A. Cunningham is a lifelong Jackson County resident and practices in estate planning and probate and general civil litigation.  Ms. Cunningham attended Millsaps College where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a Minor in Peace and Justice Studies.  From there, she received a full academic scholarship to attend Mississippi College School of Law where she obtained her Juris Doctor Cum Laude.  Following her admission to the Mississippi Bar Ms. Cunningham joined Heidelberg, Steinberger, Burrow & Armer as an associate attorney. She is a member of the Young Lawyers Division of the Jackson County Bar Association; the Jackson County Bar Association; and the Mississippi Bar Association and 2024 Graduate of Leadership Jackson County. In her free time Ms. Cunningham enjoys being on the water, listening to live music, and spending time with her family.

A life-long resident of Jackson County, Stephen obtained his Bachelor’s Degree from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in 1988, where he received a Certificate in German Public and International Affairs with Distinction. In 1993, Stephen graduated from Tulane University’s School of Law, acquiring both a Juris Doctor Degree and a Certificate in European Legal Practice. While at Tulane, he served as Law School President, an extern clerk for U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman of the Eastern District of Louisiana, and a member of the Journal of International and Comparative Law. Rated “AV‘ by Martindale and a Mid-South SuperLawyer for business litigation, Stephen is admitted to practice law in Mississippi and Alabama, all federal appellate and district courts for those states, and the U.S. Supreme Court. From 2007-2016, he served as a judge pro tern for Pascagoula’s Municipal Court. In 2017, he served as a City Councilman for Pascagoula, and as Acting Mayor in 2019. Later that same year, the Chief Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court appointed Stephen to the Mississippi Ethics Commission, which administers and enforces our state’s Ethics in Government Act, Open Meetings Act, and Public Records Act. Stephen’s practice is general, with an emphasis on Business Law, Business Development, Commercial Transactions, Business and Commercial Litigation, and Medical Malpractice Defense. He has given lectures and continuing education classes for professionals on such topics as, “Business Law for the Practicing Physician/ Provider;” “Practitioner Responsibilities under HIPAA;’ and “Privacy of Peer Review Records: Stephen has also given multiple seminars on the formation and operation of LLCs, and on Mississippi’s 2010 Revised Limited Liability Company Act. Finally, Stephen has taught continuing education seminars on “Walking the Ethical Line in representing Business Organizations,” “2014 Legislative Update and Select Issues in Business Entity Operations” and most recently, “LLC Charging Orders: The quiet shield of asset protection.” In his career, Stephen has participated in some of Mississippi’s biggest cases at both the trial and appellate levels, including, Mississippi’s tobacco litigation, large products liability cases, etc. As lead counsel, Mr. Burrow has successfully defended physicians and other defendants before juries and the state’s highest courts, all of which sought millions of dollars in damages. Some of Mr. Burrow’s reported cases are: -Russell Energy, Inc. v. Rubrecht, 2018 U.S. Dist. Lexis 137902 (S.D. Miss. 2018) -Lee v. Jackson County, Miss., 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 295 (S.D. Miss. 2017); -Knights Marine & Ind. Services v. Gulfstream Ent., 216 So.3d 1164 (Miss. Ct. App. 2016); -Glaskox v. George County Hospital, 2016 US Dist. Lexis 100223 (S.D. Miss. 2016); -Gray v. Dimitriades, Frieze, et al., 211 So.3d 738 (Miss. Ct. App. 2016); -Georgia Pacific Corp. v. Cook Timber Co. 194 So.3d 118 (Miss. 2016); -Greenwich Ins. Co. v. Miss. Windstorm Underwriting Ass’n, 803 F.3d 652 (5th Cir. 2015); -Marie v. North, 180 So.3d 624 (Miss.2015); -Rodwell v. Chrisman, 149 So.3d 566 (Miss. Ct. App. 2014); -Lemon Drop Properties, LLC. v. Pass Marianne, LLC 73 So. 3d 1131 (Miss. 2011); -Figueroa v. Orleans, 42 So.3d 49 (Miss. Ct. App. 2010); -Hood ex rel. State Tobacco Litigation v. Governor Haley Barbour, 958 So.2d 790 (Miss. 2007); -Morris v. Ford Motor Company & Texas Instruments, 936 So.2d 432 (Miss.Ct.App. 2006); -Scruggs, Millette, Bozeman & Dent, P.A. v. Merkel & Cocke, P.A., 910 So.2d 1093 (Miss. 2005). On the business/ commercial side of his practice, Stephen has negotiated and closed multi-million dollar company/ asset acquisitions. From 2008-2009, Stephen served as a member of the LLC/Partnership Committee, charged by Mississippi’s Secretary of State with updating and substantially revising Mississippi’s statutory regime for limited liability companies and partnerships. Through their combined efforts, the Secretary and Committee were able to pass the first overhaul of Mississippi’s LLC Act in almost 20 years. In May 2010, Mississippi’s Secretary of State again appointed Stephen as the Vice-Chairman for the Corporation Laws Study Group. This committee was charged with revising Mississippi’s laws regarding corporations. The Committee completed its work in 2011, with the vast majority of its recommended changes to Mississippi’s Business Corporation Act being approved by the Legislature. The Secretary of State again tapped Stephen, this time naming him to the 2013 Business Organizations Study Group. The group’s purpose was to address new or outstanding issues in Mississippi’s statutes regarding business organizations (e.g. corporations, LLCs) and other business-related issues, such as adopting laws to facilitate conversions of businesses to a different type of entity. The group made recommendations which were passed into law by the Mississippi Legislature during its 2014 session. Finally, Stephen is very active in the community. He has been a baseball umpire, a manager, and coach with youth soccer for 14 years. Stephen coached the Mock Trial team for Resurrection Catholic High School for four years. Also since 2011, Stephen has been the voice of the Resurrection Eagles football team on WPMO FM and AM. Finally, Stephen has helped found, lead or serve in many local community organizations.

Tristan R. Armer has twenty-five (25) years experience representing businesses, employers, insurance companies and public entities in liability and workers’ compensation claims. He has tried many cases in state and federal court but resolved or settled many more quickly without incurring excess costs and fees to his clients. His background is in finance and he served on the board of a brake manufacturing company so he understands litigation costs do not serve the bottom-line. His goal is to provide cost-efficient representation to his client. In addition to the civil defense practice, Mr. Armer defends criminal/regulatory violation cases and handles bankruptcy matters. He has developed expertise in employment related drug testing, admissibility of drug tests and other intoxication issues. He practices regularly in both Mississippi and Alabama. He is past-president of the Jackson County Bar Association and was selected for inclusion in Super Lawyers® Mid-South Edition in the workers’ compensation practice area. Mr. Armer received his B.B.A. from James Madison University and his J.D. from the Cumberland School of Law of Samford University. His community service includes serving as Judge Pro Tem for the City of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, as past-Jackson County Harbor Commissioner, past-Vestry of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Ocean Springs, past-City of Ocean Springs Civil Service Commissioner and past-president of CCA-Horn Island Chapter. When not working or raising his children he enjoys fishing with his wife, Hon. Stacie (Armer) Zorn and homebrewing.