Paul M. Franke, Jr. was born in Gulfport, Mississippi. He attended the University of Mississippi and graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi with a bachelor of Science Degree in 1961. He served in, and was honorably discharged from the United States Marine Corps. Paul attended the University of Mississippi School of Law and Mississippi College Law School and was admitted to the Mississippi State Bar in 1966, after being awarded his law degree.
In 1966, he was named as an Administrative Judge with the Mississippi Worker’s Compensation Commission, and in March 1969 he was appointed to serve a six year term as one of its three Commissioners.
In 1974, Paul was selected to serve as a Commissioner on the Mississippi State Port Authority and served fifteen years. For three of those years he served as the Board’s President. In addition, he was appointed to a two-year term on the National Seashore Commission in March 1975. He served as a member of the Gulfport – Biloxi Foreign Trade Zone Inc., and was elected President for one term. He was appointed by the Governor to a State Commission to study and rewrite the Mississippi Constitution of 1980. He was appointed to a five year term on the Mississippi Development Bank (Bond Bank), serving as the Board’s Chairman. The Mississippi Supreme Court appointed Paul to serve as one of the judges on the Supreme Court Complaint Tribunal. Subsequently, the Court re-appointed him to serve an additional term. He is a member of the Harrison County Bar Association, the Mississippi State Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, the American Bar Association, and the American Inns of Court. In the past, he was actively involved with the Maritime Law Association of the United States, Southeastern Admiralty Law Institute, Mississippi Bar Foundation, and Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association, for which he served as Vice-President.
A founding partner in the firm, he has been engaged in the private practice of law since he resigned as a Commissioner of the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission.
Paul and his wife have two children. The family resides in Gulfport, Mississippi. He is a 32nd Degree Scottish Rite Mason, Shriner, and Baptist. He belongs to various civic organizations and his biography appears in the Personalities of the South, and Who’s Who in the South and Southwest.
