About Us


Sweet and Associates has earned a national representation and won the respect of both national media and legal scholars across the country for their courtroom savvy and vigorous representation of their clients.  Most notably in November, 2003, Court TV featured the trial of Washington v. YMCA, et al. in the Circuit Court for the First Judicial District in Hinds County, Mississippi.  The family of nine-year old Perrize Washington brought suit against the I.S. Sanders YMCA and other defendants.  Dennis Sweet was noted by commentators as displaying exemplary skill and a textbook performance that gave his clients the edge throughout the proceedings.  The defendants apparently agreed.  The trial ended in a confidential settlement before Sweet was able to finish presenting his case.  This was the first Mississippi civil trial aired before a national audience. 

Dennis Sweet has won by either verdict or settlement several multi-million dollar awards for his clients in a variety of case types.  These include: 

$145 million dollar products liability verdict against Ford Motor Company for the wrongful death of a man thrown from a Ford Ranger after it rolled over three times; 

$23 million dollar medical malpractice verdict against HMA, Inc., the parent company of Central Mississippi Medical Center in favor of a couple whose child suffered irreversible brain damage when shortly before birth her heart rate plummeted and physicians weren’t called; 

$150 million dollar products liability verdict against American Home Products for five clients who traced their health problems to the diet drug cocktail called fen-phen which was set aside for a settlement as the jury was deliberating over punitive damages;  

$29 million dollar premises liability verdict against Mid-America Apartments, owner of Advantage Apartments, whose employees were found to have failed to complete background criminal background checks on and respond to complaints about an employee who killed one resident and injured the victim’s friend; 

And a $4.5 million dollar wrongful death verdict against Hospice Ministries in the death of a woman who, improperly diagnosed with cancer, was given an overdose of painkillers which killed her. 

The work of Sweet and Associates doesn’t just take place in the civil arena.  Dennis Sweet has taken on and won a bevy of felony criminal cases and pursued justice and freedom for clients accused of a variety of crimes. 

Noteworthy of those pursuits is the case of Rodalton Hart.  Mr. Hart, once the largest African-American farmer in the nation, was chief among those complaining about racism on the part of the United States Department of Agriculture’s handling of loans, policies and procedures.  After receiving a judgment in his favor, Mr. Hart became a target of the federal government and was wrongly accused of bribery and lying to get loans he never even received.  Sweet tried the case twice, even arguing before the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, before securing Hart’s freedom and clearing his name. 

“The black farmers are an important part of our history and the history of this nation.  To see them treated so horribly was unacceptable to me,” Sweet says.  “I had to do my part to see justice in this particular case, even though it took years to accomplish.”   

Sweet has also successfully defended Dr. Ellen McCune who was accused of Medicaid fraud.  He prevailed in his assessment that improprieties alleged by the government did not exist and that McCune administrated her clinic within the law.  Jackson Police Department officers, Robert McRee and Larry Bingham were accused of stealing drugs from a bust that had taken place at the Jackson-Evers International Airport.  In fact, Sweet was able to prove that the two officers were not involved with any theft of or tampering with the evidence.  Obie Clark, then-President of the Mississippi branch of the NAACP, faced charges of mail fraud and turned to Sweet for help and was acquitted of the charges.  These clients and hundreds more have benefited from Sweet’s skill and strong work ethic in a never-ending pursuit of justice on their behalf.   

“When a person is accused of a crime by the state or federal government, the whole system is brought to bear upon them,” Sweet explains.  “Police or federal agents investigate. Dozens of attorneys examine the law, prepare cases and prosecute.  Even with all the manpower at their disposal, the government often gets the case wrong or can’t prove what they suspect.  That is why experience and persistence are important.  That’s what I give my clients.  We do not cave in to the government.  I use the law to defend my clients every step of the way.  That is how we win” 

Sweet’s love of the law is not new.  His legal career began as a public defender in the nation’s capital.  That position is one highly sought after, even by more experienced lawyers.  Eager to display his talent, Sweet demonstrated his ability to talk to a jury and knowledge of the law to win many cases.  With hundreds of trials under his belt, Sweet decided to move on and use his gift to make a difference for African Americans in the United States.  He left his high profile position in Washington D.C. and became a staff attorney at the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Alabama.   

Work at the SPLC focused on civil rights violations, capital cases and other issues minorities and the poor are more likely to face because of their race and economic status. One such case was that of Bobbie Simpson, accused of voter fraud.  Sweet worked with Attorney Rose Sanders and proved in this and other cases that such charges were designed to intimidate certain voters and keep them from the polls.   Jurors agreed, acquitting Simpson.   

Sweet also fought to save the lives of black defendants who are more likely to be convicted and executed in capital cases.  He re-tried the case of Caldwell v. Mississippi in which the death penalty sentence had been reversed by the United States Supreme Court.  The court found that the closing arguments, which helped secure the death penalty for Bobby Caldwell, were improper.  In the retrial, Sweet and Attorney Rob McDuff successfully argued for a life sentence in lieu of execution in the case, sparing Caldwell’s life. 

After years of developing and honing his legal abilities, Sweet brought those skills home to make a difference for those in his home state.  But his work extends beyond Mississippi to a nation in need of a fair shake from the legal system.  

Sweet is part of the legal team seeking damages for victims of the Tulsa Race Riots of 1921.  In that case, white residents deputized by local government became a mob which killed scores, perhaps hundreds of residents of the African-American Greenwood district when residents sought to protect a man wrongly accused of a crime and soon to be lynched. In addition to causing death, virtually all homes, businesses and churches were burned, looted and destroyed. No charges were filed or compensation offered.  

Sweet is also working with Harvard Law School Jesse Climenko Professor of Law and longtime friend, Charles Ogletree, Randall Robinson of Trans Africa and a host of other national and international lawyers and experts who have opened the discussion of reparations for African-Americans who have been adversely affected by slavery and its continuing consequences. 

“There are no small cases, just small lawyers,” Sweet is often quoted as saying.  Political winds shift and the legal system evolves, but Sweet says there will always be people who need help protecting their freedoms or getting the compensation they deserve.  Sweet and Associates plans to defend those clients for years to come.