By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor NEW ORLEANS (LBM) – Attorney Michelle Stratton filed an amicus brief, Nov. 7, with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in the ongoing lawsuit of McRaney v. NAMB on behalf of “current and former Baptist leaders” in response to “a profound misunderstanding of Baptist polity” that she argues led to the dismissal of the case by Judge Glen H. Davidson of the U.S. District Court in Northern Mississippi. LOUISIANA BAPTIST TIES Stratton is the former Michelle Shamblin who graduated summa cum laude from Louisiana College (2006) and summa cum laude from the Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center (2009), according to her online profile. Additionally, she clerked for the Honorable Edith Jones of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (2009-2010); served as a Bristow Fellow in the Office of the Solicitor General of the United States (2010-2011); and was a law clerk to Associate Justice Clarence Thomas with the U.S. Supreme Court (2011-2012). She is a partner with Smyser, Kaplan and Veselka, which is described by various law websites as a Houston-based “litigation boutique” that enjoys a “big trial firm reputation” from its success in complex civil and criminal … [Read more...]