About Howard
Howard Manis built a legal career that touches several courtrooms across the Southeast. He has combined courtroom work, association involvement and firm leadership into a steady professional path. Colleagues see him as a familiar presence in regional legal circles.
Manis earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia, completing a B.A. in 1989 with study in risk management and estate planning. He continued his legal studies at the University of Memphis, receiving his J.D. in 1993. Those academic years framed what became a practice tied to litigation and professional networks across multiple states.
He later joined the Cochran Firm - Mid South and rose into firm leadership. In 2016 he was named managing partner of the Mid South office. That role expanded his responsibilities beyond litigation. He oversees aspects of practice management, case development and local operations while remaining active on casework.
Manis is admitted to practice in Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee. He belongs to each state’s bar and maintains memberships that reflect a range of interests. He is listed as a current member of The Mississippi Bar, the Arkansas State Bar and the Tennessee Bar Association. He also participates in local and national organizations that shape trial practice and criminal-defense issues.
His roster of professional affiliations is broad. On the defense and trial side, he holds memberships in the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the National Trial Lawyers, the National Police Accountability Project, the Tennessee Association for Justice, the Mississippi Association for Justice and the Arkansas Association for Justice. He also belongs to the American Bar Association and the Memphis Bar Association. Alongside trial-oriented groups, he participates in financial and planning organizations, including the Society of Financial Service Professionals and the Financial Planners Association.
Those memberships reflect a mix of litigation and financial interests and indicate regular engagement with both trial practice and professional education. In his practice he handles cases that require courtroom preparation, motions practice and coordination with expert resources. He is known for bringing institutional knowledge of regional courts to the teams he leads.
As managing partner at Cochran Firm - Mid South, Manis combines supervisory duties with active litigation work. He maintains an active presence in the three states where he is licensed and continues to focus his practice on civil litigation, police accountability and trial work.
