Brunini Law

Brunini Law

Best Lawyers Releases “Best Law Firms 2023”

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U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers®, for the 13th consecutive year, collaboratively announce the release of the U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” rankings. Brunini Law Firm has been recognized in the following categories.

  • Metropolitan Tier 1
    • Jackson-MS
      • Administrative / Regulatory Law
      • Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law
      • Bet-the-Company Litigation
      • Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships)
      • Closely Held Companies and Family Businesses Law
      • Commercial Finance Law
      • Commercial Litigation
      • Commercial Transactions / UCC Law
      • Communications Law
      • Construction Law
      • Corporate Law
      • Elder Law
      • Employment Law – Management
      • Energy Law
      • Environmental Law
      • Land Use & Zoning Law
      • Legal Malpractice Law – Defendants
      • Litigation – Antitrust
      • Litigation – Banking & Finance
      • Litigation – Bankruptcy
      • Litigation – Construction
      • Litigation – Environmental
      • Litigation – ERISA
      • Litigation – Labor & Employment
      • Litigation – Land Use & Zoning
      • Litigation – Real Estate
      • Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants
      • Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants
      • Mergers & Acquisitions Law
      • Mortgage Banking Foreclosure Law
      • Oil & Gas Law
      • Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants
      • Product Liability Litigation – Defendants
      • Professional Malpractice Law – Defendants
      • Real Estate Law
      • Tax Law
      • Trademark Law
      • Trusts & Estates Law
    • Tupelo
      • Commercial Litigation
      • Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants
      • Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants
      • Product Liability Litigation – Defendants
  • Metropolitan Tier 2
    • Jackson-MS
      • Appellate Practice
      • Eminent Domain and Condemnation Law
      • Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law
      • Energy Regulatory Law
      • Litigation – Health Care
      • Litigation – Intellectual Property
      • Litigation – Securities
      • Litigation – Trusts & Estates
      • Natural Resources Law
      • Nonprofit / Charities Law
    • Tupelo
      • Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants
  • Metropolitan Tier 3
    • Jackson-MS
      • Corporate Governance Law
      • Health Care Law
      • Labor Law – Management
      • Workers’ Compensation Law – Employers

Brunini Welcomes Treva McInnis

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Treva McInnis joins our firm with 16 years of experience.  She has represented clients in commercial transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, entity formation, purchase and sale of real estate, commercial loans, as well as giving clients day to day business counsel.

“We are excited to welcome Treva to our team,” said Charlie Penick, Corporate Division Chairman.  “She is an outstanding attorney with significant experience that will add to the depth and expertise of our Firm’s commercial practice.”

Treva is a graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi and received her J.D. from Mississippi College.

Solar Farms in Mississippi

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by Gene Wasson

Several solar farms have been built in Mississippi, and several solar companies are in Mississippi contacting landowners now to lease land for many more solar farms.

Existing solar farms are scattered across Mississippi in locations such as Hattiesburg, Sumrall, Ruleville, Jackson and Louisville and on lands ranging from Delta cropland to pastureland and gently rolling forested lands in other areas.

Many additional solar farms are in the planning or leasing stages.  Solar companies are busy contacting landowners across Mississippi about leasing land, particularly lands located near high voltage transmission lines, electric substations and highways.

If you are a landowner who has been contacted about leasing your land for a solar farm, the revenue can be enticing.  Typically, solar leases involve a three to five year option period and, if the company exercises its option, a potential 25 to 50 year lease term.  During the option period, the solar company pays a small amount per acre per year (typically, $30/acre or more) while it studies the suitability of the property for a solar farm and while the solar company seeks to obtain power purchase agreements with buyers of the electricity and an interconnection agreement with a local utility to transmit the electricity from the solar farm.

If the solar company exercises the option, the landowner would grant a lease to the solar company at a rent of several hundred dollars per acre.  The solar company would construct a solar farm of up to several hundred acres that might be located on one or several properties and then commence operation of the solar farm to generate electricity for many years.

Due to the option period and the length of any resulting solar lease, there are many issues for a landowner to consider when negotiating a solar lease, such as the landowner’s use of and access to the property not occupied by the solar farm, insurance against liability if someone is hurt on the solar farm, removal of the solar farm when the lease ends, etc.

Our experience with several solar farms to date is that each situation presents many similar issues but also issues unique to that particular land and landowner including price, risk tolerance and protection of that particular land and land owner.

 

Gene Wasson has been practicing energy, environmental and real estate law in Mississippi for over thirty years.

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BRUNINI ATTORNEYS RECOGNIZED IN THE BEST LAWYERS IN AMERICA© 2023 EDITION

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We are pleased to announce that 34 Brunini attorneys have been recognized in the 2023 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America©. Congratulations to:

Lawyer of the Year 2023

  • Sheldon G. Alston – Land Use and Zoning Law
  • William D. Drinkwater – Litigation – Real Estate
  • John M. Flynt – Administrative / Regulatory Law
  • John M. Flynt – Commercial Transactions / UCC Law
  • Karen E. Howell – Trademark Law
  • Samuel C. Kelly – Eminent Domain and Condemnation Law
  • James A. McCullough II – Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law
  • James A. McCullough II – Mortgage Banking Foreclosure Law
  • James A. McCullough II – Litigation – Bankruptcy
  • William C. Penick IV – Nonprofit / Charities Law
  • William C. Penick IV – Closely Held Companies and Family Businesses Law
  • Joseph E. Varner III – Trusts and Estates
  • Joseph E. Varner III – Mergers and Acquisitions Law
  • Gene Wasson – Natural Resources Law

Ones To Watch – 2023

    • Alston F. Ludwig(2021)
      • Alternative Dispute Resolution
      • Commercial Litigation
      • Construction Law
    • R. Lane Bobo (2021)
      • Commercial Litigation
      • Construction Law
      • Health Care Law
    • Jacob A. Bradley (2021)
      • Commercial Litigation
      • Construction Law
      • Litigation – Construction
    • Drew C. Bigelow (2021)
      • Corporate Law
      • Real Estate Law
      • Trusts and Estates

 

  • Jackson, MS
    • John M. Flynt (2011)
      • Administrative / Regulatory Law
      • Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships)
      • Commercial Finance Law
      • Commercial Transactions / UCC Law
      • Corporate Law
      • Elder Law
      • Mergers and Acquisitions Law
      • Real Estate Law
    • James L. Halford (2007)
      • Administrative / Regulatory Law
      • Communications Law
      • Energy Law
      • Energy Regulatory Law
    • John E. Milner (1993)
      • Administrative / Regulatory Law
      • Environmental Law
      • Government Relations Practice
      • Litigation – Environmental
    • Gene Wasson (2018)
      • Administrative / Regulatory Law
      • Energy Law
      • Environmental Law
      • Litigation – Environmental
      • Mining Law
      • Natural Resources Law
      • Oil and Gas Law
      • Real Estate Law
    • William Trey Jones III (2003)
      • Appellate Practice
      • Commercial Litigation
      • Litigation – Environmental
      • Litigation – Labor and Employment
      • Litigation – Trusts and Estates
    • R. David Kaufman (2003)
      • Appellate Practice
      • Bet-the-Company Litigation
      • Commercial Litigation
      • Legal Malpractice Law – Defendants
      • Litigation – Antitrust
      • Litigation – Securities
      • Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants
      • Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants
      • Product Liability Litigation – Defendants
      • Professional Malpractice Law – Defendants
    • M. Patrick McDowell (2012)
      • Appellate Practice
      • Commercial Litigation
      • Litigation – Securities
      • Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants
      • Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants
      • Product Liability Litigation – Defendants
      • Trade Secrets Law
    • Samuel C. Kelly (2006)
      • Arbitration
      • Commercial Litigation
      • Construction Law
      • Eminent Domain and Condemnation Law
      • Litigation – Construction
    • William D. Drinkwater (2020)
      • Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law
      • Commercial Litigation
      • Land Use and Zoning Law
      • Litigation – Banking and Finance
      • Litigation – Bankruptcy
      • Litigation – Land Use and Zoning
      • Litigation – Real Estate
      • Mortgage Banking Foreclosure Law
    • James A. McCullough II (2012)
      • Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law
      • Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships)
      • Commercial Finance Law
      • Commercial Litigation
      • Energy Law
      • Litigation – Bankruptcy
      • Litigation – ERISA
      • Litigation – Health Care
      • Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants
      • Mortgage Banking Foreclosure Law
    • Ken Harmon (2018)
      • Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships)
      • Oil and Gas Law
      • Real Estate Law
    • William C. Penick IV (2016)
      • Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships)
      • Closely Held Companies and Family Businesses Law
      • Corporate Law
      • Mergers and Acquisitions Law
      • Nonprofit / Charities Law
      • Tax Law
      • Trusts and Estates
    • Warren Ken Rogers (2015)
      • Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships)
      • Commercial Finance Law
      • Commercial Transactions / UCC Law
      • Corporate Governance Law
      • Corporate Law
      • Mergers and Acquisitions Law
    • Walter S. Weems (1999)
      • Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships)
      • Commercial Finance Law
      • Commercial Transactions / UCC Law
      • Corporate Law
      • Mergers and Acquisitions Law
      • Tax Law
    • Lynne K. Green (2003)
      • Closely Held Companies and Family Businesses Law
      • Commercial Litigation
      • Elder Law
      • Tax Law
      • Trusts and Estates
    • Matthew W. Allen (2016)
      • Commercial Litigation
      • Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants
      • Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants
      • Product Liability Litigation – Defendants
    • Sheldon G. Alston (2016)
      • Commercial Litigation
      • Eminent Domain and Condemnation Law
      • Land Use and Zoning Law
      • Litigation – Labor and Employment
      • Litigation – Land Use and Zoning
      • Litigation – Real Estate
      • Litigation and Controversy – Tax
      • Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants
      • Product Liability Litigation – Defendants
    • Norman E. Bailey (2016)
      • Commercial Litigation
      • Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants
      • Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants
      • Product Liability Litigation – Defendants
      • Trademark Law
    • Cody C. Bailey (2020)
      • Commercial Litigation
      • Construction Law
      • Litigation – Construction
      • Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants
    • R. Richard Cirilli Jr (2016)
      • Commercial Litigation
      • Health Care Law
      • Legal Malpractice Law – Defendants
      • Litigation – Health Care
      • Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants
      • Product Liability Litigation – Defendants
      • Professional Malpractice Law – Defendants
    • Karen E. Howell (2018)
      • Commercial Litigation
      • Copyright Law
      • Corporate Law
      • Eminent Domain and Condemnation Law
      • Land Use and Zoning Law
      • Litigation – ERISA
      • Litigation – Land Use and Zoning
      • Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants
      • Trademark Law
    • John E. Wade (2008)
      • Commercial Litigation
      • Land Use and Zoning Law
      • Litigation – Health Care
      • Litigation – Land Use and Zoning
      • Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants
      • Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants
      • Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants
    • Ron A. Yarbrough (2007)
      • Construction Law
      • Litigation – Construction
    • Stephen J. Carmody (2009)
      • Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law
      • Employment Law – Management
      • Labor Law – Management
      • Litigation – ERISA
      • Litigation – Intellectual Property
      • Litigation – Labor and Employment
      • Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants
      • Professional Malpractice Law – Defendants
    • Christopher R. Fontan (2019)
      • Employment Law – Management
      • Litigation – Labor and Employment
      • Workers’ Compensation Law – Employers
    • Curt Hebert (2023)
      • Energy Regulatory Law
    • Claire W. Ketner (2022)
      • Litigation – Labor and Employment
    • Joseph E. Varner III (2012)
      • Mergers and Acquisitions Law
      • Tax Law
      • Trusts and Estates
  • Columbus, MS
    • J. Gordon Flowers (2009)
      • Commercial Litigation
      • Environmental Law
      • Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants
      • Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants
      • Product Liability Litigation – Defendants
    • Scott F. Singley (2022)
      • Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants

https://www.bestlawyers.com

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Mississippi Environmental Quality Permit Board

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Summary of Meeting Held July 12, 2022

Prepared By Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes, PLLC

The Mississippi Environmental Quality Permit Board (“Board”) convened at 9:00 a.m. on July 12, 2022.  This meeting was held through a telephone conference call and the public was invited to listen to the deliberations of the Board. The Board first approved minutes from the previous meeting held on June 14, 2022 and the non-controversial actions/certifications completed by the staff since the January meeting. Then, following a prepared agenda, the Board considered items as follows:

OFFICE OF GEOLOGY

James Matheney (MDEQ Office of Geology, Mining and Reclamation) presented the MDEQ Staff’s recommendations and Board approved the following:

Surface Mining Bond Release

Permittee County Permit Staff Recommendation
Eutaw Construction Company Panola P16-016 Additional 15%
Ausburn Construction Company, Inc. Oktibbeha P16-002 Initial 80%

Surface Mining Transfer

Permittee County Permit
Holden Earth Moving to  419 Development Group Harrison P02-045TAT
Baldwin Sand and Gravel to LNC Services, Inc. Panola P12-019AT

 Permit to Rescind

Permittee County Permit
DDB Construction Hinds P14-016

 Other Business

Roy Furrh, MDEQ Chief Counsel, provided there was no other business other than a reminder of the next Permit Board meeting, which will held on August 9, 2022, at 9 a.m.

This Newsletter is a publication of the Environmental Practice Group of the law firm of Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes located in Jackson, Mississippi. This Newsletter is not designed or intended to provide legal or professional advice, as any such advice requires the consideration of the facts of the specific situation.

If you have any questions concerning the content of a newsletter, or if you would like further information about the matters addressed in a newsletter, please contact John Milner, the Brunini Firm Environmental Practice Group leader, at jmilner@brunini.com or (601) 960-6842.

Leonard A. “Len” Blackwell II 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

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from The Mississippi Bar

Leonard A. “Len” Blackwell II of Biloxi will receive the 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award presented during The Mississippi Bar’s 2022 Annual Business Session held on July 15.

The Mississippi Bar presents the Lifetime Achievement Award to individuals who have devoted themselves to serving the public, the legal profession, and the administration of justice over the span of their professional careers, contributing significantly to the American system of justice and to the legal profession.

Blackwell, a long-time Gulf Coast attorney, is a former President of The Mississippi Bar and has been an active member of the Bar throughout his career. Blackwell is a former President of the Young Lawyers Division of The Mississippi Bar and served as a Mississippi Bar Commissioner. During his tenure as Bar President, Blackwell placed a strong emphasis on several substantive programs including encouraging increased diversity in member participation in the Bar; dealing with challenges associated with lawyer advertising; and working with the judicial branch on a Commission on the Courts in the 21st Century to recommend needed reforms to aid in the administration of justice. Recommendations from the Commission had a profound impact on the legal profession in Mississippi through needed legal reforms and the establishment of the Mississippi Court of Appeals. Blackwell was also instrumental in the founding of the Bar’s Lawyers and Judges Assistance Program through which he has had a lasting impact on the legal profession, changing and saving lives and careers.

Blackwell is a Fellow of the Mississippi Bar Foundation, an active member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, and a former Chairman of the Mississippi Gaming Commission. He has been recognized as one of the “Best Lawyers® in America” in the field of Gaming Law and is also a Member of the International Masters of Gaming Law and the International Association of Gaming Attorneys. Blackwell has served the American Bar Association as a Young Lawyer Section Director and was the first Mississippi young lawyer elected to national office where he served as Clerk of the governing assembly for the Personal Finance Section Appellate Debate in 1975. He is also a former President of the Harrison County Bar Association. These are only examples of Blackwell’s many achievements during his storied career.

Blackwell graduated from the University of Mississippi in 1963 with a B.A. in History and English before receiving his Juris Doctorate from the University of Mississippi in 1966.

https://www.msbar.org/news/leonard-a-len-blackwell-ii-2022-lifetime-achievement-award-recipient/

 

C-Store Supply Chain Concerns Call for Robinson-Patman Act Enforcement

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by John Milner

A central national concern for the convenience store industry is how supply chains have caused price and product discrimination imposed by some major suppliers.  The National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) has gone on record with a letter to the Agriculture Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives (“Committee”) to address this issue by requesting legislation to require better enforcement of the federal Robinson-Patman Act (RPA), 15 U.S. C. Section 12, et seq. The RPA prohibits price discrimination among retailers by suppliers and the refusal to do business with certain retailers.

The NACS’s November 3, 2021 letter to the Committee frames this supply chain discrimination problem well:

For many years, manufacturers and suppliers of a number of goods have separated retailers who sell their products into different channel categories and discriminated among them with respect to both prices and availability of certain products (in particular, by not making certain product packaging sizes available).  The companies making and distributing non-alcoholic beverages, sodas, sports drinks, and the like, have been the most aggressive and consistent at enforcing these distinctions along the lines of retail channels.

NACS points out that these price differentials are so large that convenience stores often pay more to buy these products at wholesale than their competitors sell them at retail.  Convenience retailers also can’t get many sizes of soda, sport drinks, iced tea and other products that manufacturers and suppliers simply refuse to sell them. That is true even though the same sizes of those products are sold by the same manufacturer and suppliers to grocers and others that compete with convenience stores:

By creating walls between retail channels, suppliers make supply chains more fragile.  Their actions not only disadvantage the convenience channel, they make products less fungible when supplies are stressed.

NACS also points out that price discrimination against the convenience channel hurts competition in the market and hurts consumers in a number of ways.  For example, convenience store customers pay more for their beverages than they otherwise would due to this behavior.  This has a particularly negative effect on consumers in underserved communities – both rural and urban.  In many of these communities, convenience stores are a primary source of food and beverages for residents because those communities have few, if any, grocery stores.  Convenient stores fill this gap but, due to price discrimination among channels, they cannot do so at the same price points that are available through other retail channels.

The NACS letter to the Committee requests legislation that requires better RPA enforcement:

Enforcing the Robinson-Patman Act and bringing sense to the competitive landscape around the food and beverage supply chain would provide consumers with better prices and with more choices of products.  That is especially true during times when the supply chain is stressed because enforcing antitrust laws would lead to more product fungibility across the supply chain.

In addition to legislation to improve RPA enforcement, there is also a current need for federal administrative enforcement through the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) authority.  On March 30, 2022, a group of 43 members of the House of Representatives sent a letter to the members of the FTC to request it to ‘investigate and bring enforcement actions” under RPA and other antitrust laws.  This letter requests the FTC to address the “anticompetitive effects of discriminatory pricing and product supply directed to certain businesses (sometimes but not always small and medium-sized businesses) [that] ripple through the entire supply chain – harming consumers as well as independent producers.”

The letter points out that “small and medium- sized businesses are increasingly subject to discriminatory terms and conditions, including less favorable pricing and price terms, less favorable supply, less favorable retail packaging, and sometimes an inability to access products and short supply federal available to their competitors.”  The letter concludes by pointing out that the RPA has not been properly enforced and by urging the FTC to correct this serious problem:

Despite Congress’s broad goals in 1936, the FTC has not brought a case under the Robinson-Patman Act in more than 20 years.  Nor has the FTC brought an enforcement action against economic discrimination using the other antitrust laws.  We urge the Commission to make enforcement against economic discrimination targeting small and medium-sized businesses a top priority.

We will continue to monitor this emerging issue through the NACS and our Mississippi Congressional delegation.  These are difficult times economically on many levels.  Special attention and actions are needed with regard to anticompetitive actions throughout the supply chain that adversely impact convenience stores and other small and medium-sized businesses.

If you have any questions concerning this article, please feel free to contact the author, John Milner of Brunini Law Firm, MPMCSA counsel; and Philip Chamblee, MPMCSA Executive Director.  You can reach John at jmilner@brunini.com or 601-960-6842 and you can reach Philip at Philip@mpmcsa.com or 601-353-1624.

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Brunini Law Firm Recognized as Top Law Firm by Chambers USA

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June 13, 2022

Jackson, MS – Chambers USA has released its 2022 rankings and the Brunini Law Firm has been recognized again as a top ranked law firm in Mississippi.  The Chambers USA guide covers practice areas in all 50 states with hundreds of practice area-based ranking tables identifying the best practice groups and lawyers across the US legal market.  The Chambers USA 2022 researchers spend several months in carefully analyzing and researching each firm and conducting several thousand interviews with references.

Brunini continues to be ranked at the top in the areas of Construction, Corporate/Commercial, Energy and Natural Resources, Environment, General Commercial Litigation and Real Estate. Eleven of our attorneys were ranked by Chambers USA with David Kaufman receiving a “Star Individual” ranking and Cody Bailey being recognized as “Up and Coming.”

“We continue to strive each day to provide the services needed by our clients and to do so in a cost-efficient and highly effective manner,” said Sam Kelly, Managing Partner.  “We are grateful for this recognition, but even more grateful to our clients which give us the opportunity each day to showcase our skills.”

Founded over 130 years ago, Brunini is one of Mississippi’s most respected law firms.  Brunini is fortunate to serve business clients and individuals across all business sectors, including the telecommunications, healthcare, construction, banking, automotive, poultry industry and many others.  Brunini would welcome the opportunity to put our skills and expertise to work for you.

For more information contact:

Elizabeth Tyler – etyler@brunini.com

John Flynt Appointed by the Governor of the State of Mississippi as a Commissioner for Mississippi to the Uniform Law Commission.

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Founded in 1892, the Uniform Law Commission (also known as the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws) is a non-partisan association comprised of state commissions on uniform laws from each state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Commissioners promote the principle of uniformity by drafting and proposing specific statutes in areas of the law where uniformity between the states is desirable. The Commissioners participate in drafting specific acts, deciding whether to recommend an act as a uniform or a model act, and work toward enactment of ULC acts in their home jurisdictions. The Mississippi Commission was formed by state statute and  three of its Commissioners are appointed by the Governor of the State of Mississippi to serve a term concurrent with the Governor’s term in office.

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Capital Area Bar Association Awards Sam Kelly the Professionalism Award

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Sam Kelly was awarded the Capital Area Bar Association’s Professionalism Award at the Judiciary Banquet on Thursday, May 12, 2022 . The award is given to an attorney who demonstrates consistent adherence to professional standards of practice, ethics, integrity, civility and courtesy. They have encouraged respect for, and avoided abuse of, the law and its procedures, participants, and processes. They have shown commitment to the practice as a learned profession, to the vigorous representation of clients, and to the attainment of the highest levels of knowledge and skill in the law and contributed significant time and resources to public service. Those of us who work with Sam everyday, know this is a perfect description and we congratulate him on receiving this award.

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