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Brunini Leads Asset Sale of Veterinary Medical Supply Company, Facilitating Expansion into Mississippi

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Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes, PLLC assisted with the asset sale of Stockman’s Supply, a veterinary medical supply company, to Heritage Vet Partners, a rapidly growing veterinary supply company specializing in mixed and large animal practices. The transaction marks Heritage Vet Partners’ expansion into Mississippi with the addition of its first location in the state. Brunini attorney Warren “Ken” Rogers partnered with attorney Mark Baker of Baker Law Firm in Brandon, Miss., to guide the transaction. 

This transaction reflects Brunini’s longstanding commitment to helping businesses establish and expand their presence in Mississippi, contributing to economic growth and investment across the state.  

Ken is a member of Brunini’s Mergers and Acquisitions practice and has extensive experience leading commercial transactions and providing guidance on corporate law and business formation across industries. He also advises on real property transactions, including commercial leasing and purchase and sale transactions, as well as public and industrial development bond financing and tax incentives. 

Brunini, based in Jackson, is one of Mississippi’s largest and longest-established law firms. Founded over 130 years ago, the firm’s attorneys serve businesses and institutions across the Southeast in areas including commercial litigation, construction, economic development, public finance, labor and employment, mergers and acquisitions, corporate law, energy and environmental law, public utilities and telecommunications regulation, real estate, trust and estate planning, and probate.   

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Brunini Serves as Bond Counsel for $200M Natural Gas Storage Facility Project

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Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes, PLLC served as bond counsel for the issuance and sale of $200,000,000 Mississippi Business Finance Corporation Taxable Industrial Development Revenue Bonds, Series 2026 (Leaf River Energy Center LLC Capacity Expansion Project), with Warren “Ken” Rogers acting as lead counsel. 

The project will finance the construction of new natural gas storage facilities in Jasper and Smith counties, Mississippi, by Leaf River Energy Center LLC, a subsidiary of New Jersey Resources, a diversified energy infrastructure and energy services company. 

Ken is a member of Brunini’s Economic and Project Development, Tax Incentives and Public Finance practice and is experienced in public and industrial development bond financing and tax incentives. He also handles commercial transactions and corporate law involving business planning and formation.   

Brunini represents public and private clients in economic and industrial development, advising on public financing and the strategic use of tax incentives to support complex projects. The firm’s experience spans incentive structuring and negotiation, bond financing, regulatory and real estate matters, and collaboration with state and local authorities to advance economic development initiatives.  

Brunini, based in Jackson, is one of Mississippi’s largest and longest-established law firms. Founded over 130 years ago, the firm’s attorneys serve businesses and institutions across the Southeast in areas including commercial litigation, construction, economic development, public finance, labor and employment, mergers and acquisitions, corporate law, energy and environmental law, public utilities and telecommunications regulation, real estate, trust and estate planning, and probate.  

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Brunini Recognized in Chambers USA Guide 2026

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Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes, PLLC, and 12 of its attorneys have earned recognition in the Chambers USA Guide 2026 published by Chambers and Partners.  

Brunini is noted for its “sophisticated attorneys with a breadth of experience in complex matters” and “excellent and professional personalized service.” 

The following practices and attorneys received recognition in Mississippi. 

Construction (Band 1) 

Corporate/Commercial (Band 2) 

Energy & Natural Resources (Band 1) 

Environment (Band 2) 

Labor & Employment 

Litigation: General Commercial (Band 2) 

Real Estate 

Chambers USA is a leading legal research and analytics guide that identifies and ranks top lawyers and law firms across the United States. Its rankings are based on independent research and in-depth analysis, including client feedback, and are widely regarded as a trusted resource for evaluating legal talent and client service.  

Brunini, based in Jackson, is one of Mississippi’s largest and longest-established law firms. Founded over 130 years ago, the firm comprises over 45 attorneys serving businesses and institutions across the Southeast in areas including commercial litigation, construction, economic development, public finance, labor and employment, mergers and acquisitions, corporate law, energy and environmental law, public utilities and telecommunications regulation, real estate, trust and estate planning, and probate. 

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Brunini Serves as Bond Counsel in Connection with $40M Public Finance Project

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Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes, PLLC served as bond counsel in connection with the issuance and sale of $40,000,000 Mississippi Development Bank Special Obligation Bonds, Series 2025 (Rankin County, Mississippi General Obligation Bond Project). William “Trey” Jones and Warren “Ken” Rogers led the team with Ken having primary responsibility for the bond work. The engagement builds on the firm’s longstanding relationship with Rankin County, led by William “Trey” Jones. 

The project will fund infrastructure improvements including the construction, reconstruction, and repair of roads, highways, and bridges within Rankin County. 

Ken is a member of Brunini’s Economic and Project Development, Tax Incentives and Public Finance practice and is experienced in public and industrial development bond financing and tax incentives. He also handles commercial transactions and corporate law involving business planning and formation.  

Brunini represents public and private clients in economic and industrial development, advising on public financing and the strategic use of tax incentives to support complex projects. The firm’s experience spans incentive structuring and negotiation, bond financing, regulatory and real estate matters, and collaboration with state and local authorities to advance economic development initiatives. 

Based in Jackson, Brunini is one of Mississippi’s longest-established law firms. Founded more than a century ago, the firm comprises over 45 attorneys focused on litigation, commercial, and regulatory law, serving businesses and institutions across the region. 

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Brunini Welcomes 2026 Summer Associates

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Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes, PLLC welcomes four law students to the firm’s 2026 Summer Associates Program. 

Kayleigh Canoy joins the firm following the completion of her first year at Mississippi College School of Law. She earned her Bachelor of Science from Mississippi College. 

Joining the program next month are law students Shawn Jackson, Allison Mayo, and Mary Grace Nelson. 

Shawn and Allison are returning for their second year as summer associates with Brunini, and both will begin their final year at Mississippi College School of Law in the fall. Shawn earned her Bachelor of Science from Cornell University. Allison earned her Bachelor of Business Administration from Mississippi State University. Mary Grace will be entering her third year at Samford University Cumberland School of Law and earned her Bachelor of Arts from Mississippi State University. She previously served as an intern for the Honorable D. Sims Crawford and Magistrate Judge Staci G. Cornelius. 

Brunini’s Summer Associates Program provides law students with hands-on legal experience, mentorship, and exposure to the firm’s collaborative culture and deep community roots. Summer associates will work closely with Brunini attorneys on a range of matters within the firm’s Commercial, Litigation, and Regulatory departments.  

Brunini, based in Jackson, is one of Mississippi’s largest and longest-established law firms. Founded over 130 years ago, the firm’s attorneys serve businesses and institutions across the Southeast in areas including commercial litigation, construction, economic development, public finance, labor and employment, mergers and acquisitions, corporate law, energy and environmental law, public utilities and telecommunications regulation, real estate, trust and estate planning, and probate. 

Brunini Attorney Hunter Ransom Elected to Capital Area Bar Association Board of Directors

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Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes, PLLC associate Hunter C. Ransom has been elected to serve on the board of directors of the Capital Area Bar Association (CABA), which serves Hinds County and the metropolitan areas of Madison and Rankin counties in Mississippi.

CABA aims to uphold high standards of professional service and conduct, support the fair and efficient administration of justice, provide an open forum to address legal issues, preserve the adversary system of justice and trial by jury, foster collegiality among members, and maintain the highest respect of the community.

Hunter joined Brunini’s litigation department in 2023 after a clerkship for the Honorable Kristi H. Johnson in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi.

He has served in leadership roles for organizations including the Jackson Young Lawyers, Phoenix Club of Jackson, Ole Miss Young Alumni Council, Fifth Circuit Bar Association, and the Charles Clark American Inn of Court. He is a graduate of the Mississippi College School of Law and University of Mississippi.

Brunini, based in Jackson, is one of Mississippi’s longest-established law firms. Founded more than a century ago, the firm comprises over 45 attorneys focused on litigation, commercial, and regulatory law, serving businesses and institutions across the region.

Brunini Attorney Cody Bailey Named to 2026 Legal 500 for Commercial Disputes in the Southeast

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Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes, PLLC attorney Cody C. Bailey has been recognized in the Legal 500’s inaugural Southeast Commercial Disputes Elite City rankings. Legal 500 determines its rankings through a comprehensive research process that includes client and peer feedback and market reputation.

A member at Brunini, Cody serves as outside general counsel to businesses across the construction, development, real estate, infrastructure, industrial, and financial sectors. He handles complex commercial and constitutional litigation, including defending putative class actions in federal court. His experience spans commercial disputes, shareholder matters involving closely held companies, financial and banking claims, Section 1983 and other constitutional claims, easement and takings issues, securities litigation, real property disputes, and wrongful death cases.

Brunini, based in Jackson, is one of Mississippi’s longest-established law firms. Founded more than a century ago, the firm has grown to comprise over 45 attorneys focused on litigation, commercial, and regulatory law, serving businesses and institutions across the region.

Brunini Adds Real Estate and Economic Development Counsel

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Adam Vaughan has joined Brunini as a member of the Real Estate, Corporate Law, and Economic and Project Development practice groups within the firm’s commercial department, bringing extensive experience in complex real estate transactions, affordable housing development, and finance.

Adam partners with developers, business owners, and government entities to help move projects from concept to completion, structuring transactions, navigating regulatory requirements, and identifying practical solutions that align with clients’ strategic and financial objectives. He helps clients anticipate potential challenges, mitigate exposure, keep complex developments on track, and execute initiatives that generate long-term economic impact while meeting operational and compliance demands.

“We are delighted to welcome Adam to the firm,” said managing partner James McCullough. “Adam has played a key role in the development of transformative community projects across the Southeast. His experience further elevates our ability to meet clients’ increasing real estate and economic development needs.”

As one of Mississippi’s longest-established law firms, Brunini serves business clients in the areas of commercial, litigation, and regulatory law. The firm’s commercial department counsels clients in matters of general corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, public and industrial development financing and tax incentives, securities regulation, financial services and banking, real estate transactions, insurance regulation, syndication, estate planning, antitrust, and corporate and personal taxation.

Federal Court Blocks FTC’s Noncompete Ban Nationwide

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On Tuesday, August 20, 2024, a federal judge issued an order blocking the pending nationwide ban on noncompete agreements which was scheduled to take effect in a matter of days. In April 2024, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) voted 3-2, along party lines, to approve a final rule essentially banning virtually all new noncompete agreements and clauses in employment contracts —a potential change that would impact millions of U.S. workers by allowing them to leave their jobs to work for competitors or to start a competing business.

In her ruling, Judge Ada Brown, U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Texas, sided with a group of plaintiffs, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a Texas-based tax firm that sued to block the ban, alleging that the ban exemplified agency overreach and would make it harder for companies to retain talent. In a 27 page opinion, Judge Brown ruled that the FTC lacked the authority to enact the ban, which she said was “unreasonably overbroad without a reasonable explanation” and “arbitrary and capricious.”

In addition to casting further doubt on the future of noncompetes, Judge Brown’s ruling signifies further judicial disagreement over the role of regulatory agencies in America—especially on the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn the federal judiciary’s forty-year-old practice of deferring to agencies’ interpretations of ambiguous federal laws.

The Northern District case is currently one of three on-going lawsuits challenging the FTC’s non-compete rule. The others are pending in Florida and Pennsylvania, with one judge initially siding with the FTC and the other against. Neither of those suits has yet reached a final determination on the FTC’s rulemaking authority.

While the FTC’s ban has now been struck down, employers nationally can continue using noncompete agreements—so long as they comply with existing state-specific restrictions. Without this ruling, the FTC’s noncompete ban was scheduled to go into effect on Wednesday, September 4, 2024. Instead, the issue is now likely headed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Brunini’s Labor & Employment specialists are monitoring these events and will update you accordingly.  In the meantime, feel free to contact any member of Brunini’s Labor & Employment Practice Group if you wish to discuss.

Biden’s unnecessary regulations on offshore oil rigs threaten jobs in Gulf States

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By CURT L. HEBERT JR. AND CURTIS SCHUBE

The Biden administration, in line with its goal of significantly reducing oil production, has quietly implemented regulations that are likely to result in a significant loss of jobs in the oil industry across the Gulf Coast states, including Mississippi and Louisiana.

For any offshore producer of energy, part of the company’s financial calculus has to be the ability to comply with all imposed industry regulations that require companies to be able to disassemble the facility and restore the site after the end of production (“decommissioning”).

This can be expensive, so often, this process requires companies to demonstrate their capacity to pay for the decommissioning. This can be done by demonstrating financial strength and reliability or by purchasing surety bonds if that financial strength and reliability is not demonstrated.

The offshore oil industry has operated under a financial assurance model that has worked extraordinarily well for years and the oil industry has thrived under a successful financial assurance model. The typical journey of an offshore oil rig involves a major oil company erecting the oil rig and using it during its most productive phase. Eventually, the major companies may sell off the leasing rights to smaller, independent, oil companies who continue to extract oil until the oil rig reaches the end of its productive life.

Major oil companies have no trouble with financial assurance. They have a deep reserve of assets to draw upon, which usually prevents them from having to purchase surety bonds. However, the assets are not always sufficient for smaller companies.

This reality has historically not been a problem. The system has included joint and several liability between the oil producers, and it has relied on the market to act as a safety net. When the existing owner cannot pay for all of the decommissioning, predecessor owners have stepped up. This risk has usually been built into the transactions between the two companies, with the major oil companies doing their due diligence before assuming the risk. Importantly, with this system in place, as long as any company that has ever controlled the lease has the necessary financial strength, no surety bonds must be purchased.

The end result of this joint and several liability system is that the taxpayer almost never has to pay for decommissioning. Historically, only $58 million has been paid for by the taxpayer. This is a tiny amount considering the size of the industry. All of that amount came from sole liability leaseholders, where there was no predecessor owner to assume the gap in liability. Bottom line: The existing system has worked, and the taxpayer has been protected for decades.

Recently, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management passed regulations that try to fix what wasn’t broken. They noticeably fail to affirm that this joint and several liability framework will remain moving forward — so much so that the Surety and Fidelity Association of America noted that “BOEM is silent as to how and when the required financial assurance will be called upon.”

As a result, small and independent oil companies are likely to be required to purchase surety bonds to meet their financial assurance requirements. However, the surety market has stated that it may not even be able to underwrite the amount of necessary surety bonds. Even if it could, this would add $6 billion in new costs for these small oil companies over the next 20 years.

Small oil companies make up over 75% of the oil companies currently operating in the outer continental shelf in the Gulf of Mexico. The average cost increase for those companies to purchase the newly required surety bonds is projected to be $379 million per year at best, but likely closer to $800 million per year. Assuming these small oil companies can even get the necessary surety bonds, the costs of the surety bonds are likely to damage them severely.

The new regulations are likely to put many small oil companies out of business, and the people who work for them are also likely to find themselves without jobs. Opportune LLP wrote that the new regulations will eliminate 36,000 jobs. Additionally, Opportune projects the regulations will shrink the nation’s gross domestic product by $9.9 billion and will cost the federal government $573 million in oil royalties.

The new regulations frivolously act as the tip of the spear for the environmental activists who seem to hold tremendous sway over key leadership in the Biden administration. The significant impact on Gulf States’ workers is unnecessary. The damage to the economy is unnecessary. It is time that our federal government stops appeasing the few at the cost of so many.

Hebert is the former chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, a former chairman of the Mississippi Public Service Commission and a former chairman of the Oil and Gas Committee in the Mississippi House of Representatives. He is currently a partner with the Brunini Law Firm and is an expert on the complex power and energy industry as well as the regulation of the industry by government at all levels.

Schube is the executive director for the Council to Modernize Governance, a think tank committed to making the administration of government more efficient, representative and restrained. He is formerly a constitutional and administrative law attorney.

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