Benchmark Litigation focuses exclusively on litigation in the United States.  Benchmark Litigation Award winners are determined through extensive interviews of the nation’s leading private practice lawyers and in-house counsel to identify the leading litigators and law firms in each jurisdiction.  The Brunini firm is proud to be recognized among the country’s most distinguished law firms.

JACKSON, Miss. – Watts Ueltschey, a partner in the Jackson office of Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes, PLLC was recently named Mississippi Business Journal’s 2015 Lawyer of the Year at the MBJ’s Leadership in Law dinner.  He is the first attorney from Brunini to ever receive this award.

Brunini’s Ueltschey has been recognized by Martindale Hubbell Preeminent rating; Best Lawyers in America® in the fields of Energy Law, Mining Law and Oil and Gas Law; Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business in the field of  Energy and Natural Resources; and Super Lawyers in the fields of Energy and Natural Resources and Real Estate.

The Mississippi Business Journal announced its 2015 Leadership in Law Class, and Curt Hébert, Jr., was among the Top Ten Leaders in Law. Hébert joins a group of Brunini attorneys who have received similar awards over the last six years, including Eddie Brunini, 2010; David Kaufman, 2011, Walter Weems, 2012, John Milner, 2012, Granville Tate, 2013 and Sam Kelly, 2014.

Curt Hébert, Jr., is the former Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the former Executive Vice President for Entergy Corporation.  Hébert has advised energy companies and corporations throughout the Southeast, Northeast, and Midwest, as well as companies in Europe, on numerous matters, including building accountability and transparency into corporate governance, improving the quality of regulatory filings, reporting and relationships, and executing complex, structured regulatory settlements. He has developed broad and deep experience in all segments of the energy sector, spanning exploration and production, natural gas transportation, electric generation and distribution, nuclear, chemicals, and mining.  He also brings a thorough knowledge of national and international energy markets, policy and regulatory processes.  Hébert has extensive experience years in the telecommunications, transportation and water/sewage sector on regulatory filings and administrative hearings.  He has been widely published and speaks regularly as well as interviews on national television networks on energy and business issues.

John Milner was recently featurered in the in the MPMCSA “Marketers Update” magazine for October – December 2015. The first article featured was an interview with John, and the second was an article co-authored by John Milner and Jess New.

• MPMCSA article (02222389).PDF
• Sue Settle article (02222390).PDF

On December 8, 2015, the Fifth Circuit affirmed the District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi’s order of summary judgment in favor of Eka Chemicals, Inc.  The District Court’s order dismissed the Plaintiff’s employment discrimination action in which he alleged Eka Chemicals terminated his employment on the basis of his age in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.  The District Court held that the Plaintiff failed to prove that Eka Chemicals’ legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons for terminating him were pretext for discrimination, and affirmed its holding on Plaintiff’s Motion for Reconsideration.  On appeal, the Fifth Circuit affirmed the District Court’s ruling, holding that the Plaintiff failed to prove that the Plaintiff’s age was the “but-for” cause for his termination.

Chris Fontan spoke to the East Central MS Human Resource Association at their October meeting in Meridian, Mississippi.  His presentation was focused on Workplace Violence and Mississippi Employers.

View the presentation here.

On October 8, 2015, the Mississippi Supreme Court unanimously affirmed the Madison County Circuit Court’s judgment confirming a substantial arbitration award in favor of Regions Insurance, Inc. d/b/a Regions Insurance.  The underlying arbitration involved two former employees’ violations of their employment contracts with Regions.  Specifically, Regions alleged the former employees wrongfully and intentionally conspired together and with their new employer, a direct competitor of Regions, to divert business from Regions to themselves.  The arbitrator found that the former employees breached their employment agreements with Regions and awarded Regions compensatory damages pursuant to the defined formula in the agreements, punitive damages, attorneys’ fees, and arbitration expenses and costs.  The Madison County Circuit Court affirmed the arbitration award, despite the former employees’ arguments that the arbitrator exceeded his powers by awarding equitable relief and that the arbitrator’s conversation with a potential witness after the hearing but before issuing the award constituted undue means, misconduct or misbehavior.  The former employees appealed the Circuit Court’s judgment to the Mississippi Supreme Court, and the Mississippi Supreme Court held that the arbitrator did not exceed his authority because the former employees’ submission to arbitration included Regions’ claim for damages pursuant to the defined formula.  Additionally, because the arbitrator’s conversation with the potential witness was neither material nor influential to the award, the Court found that the arbitration award was not procured by undue means and that the arbitrator’s conduct did not prejudice the former employees’ rights.

John Milner of Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes, PLLC was recently elected as the Vice Chair of the American Bar Association’s Section of Environment, Energy and Resources.

“We are proud of John’s election and know that he will provide great leadership to the Section,” said Sam Kelly, chairman of Brunini’s Board of Directors. “We are proud of the leadership John provides to the industry on the federal, state and local level and will now provide to the American Bar Association’s Section of Environment, Energy and Resources”.

Milner concentrates his practice primarily in environmental law and litigation. He represents business and industrial clients in environmental permitting and enforcement actions, natural resource damage assessments and regulation promulgation before the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality and other federal and state agencies, as well as in environmental litigation in state and federal courts in Mississippi and other southeastern states. His environmental practice also concerns real estate due diligence and contractual matters in the southeastern region states. John also represents clients in lobbying and monitoring activities concerning environmental and other business and industry issues before the Mississippi Legislature.

Prior to being elected as Vice Chair, John served as the Publications Officer for the Section of Energy, Environment and Resources from 2014-2015.  He started his three-year term on August 2, 2015.  He will serve one year as Vice Chair, one year as Chair-Elect followed by a year serving as Chairman of the Section.

The 2015 edition of Chambers USA, which lists leading law firms and individual lawyers in an extensive range of practice areas, jointly awarded high rankings to ten Brunini attorneys and five of the firm’s practice areas.

Chambers USA ranked five of Brunini’s practices, including the firm’s Energy & Natural Resources, Environment, Real Estate, Commercial Litigation and Corporate/Commercial practices, all of which were highly ranked.

Each year, Chambers USA conducts thousands of interviews and surveys with lawyers and their clients, as well as analyzes its own database resources, to determine rankings for top law firms and individual attorneys. The qualities on which rankings are assessed include technical legal ability, professional conduct, client service, commercial astuteness, diligence, commitment and other qualities valued by clients.

“The Brunini firm is truly honored to have its practice groups and individual lawyers recognized by our clients as among the best in Mississippi through one of the nation’s most respected legal directories,” said Sam Kelly, Chairman of the firm’s Board of Directors. “Our commitment to client service and a long history of legal excellence are hallmarks that set us apart in Mississippi, and those are good reasons to earn the respect of business leaders and peers.”

A collective list of the nine Brunini attorneys recognized as among the best in their fields in Mississippi by Chambers USAinclude:

Corporate/Commercial

Louis Fuller

Walter Weems

Corporate/Commercial: Banking & Finance

Granville Tate, Jr.

Energy & Natural Resources

James L. Halford

Watts C. Ueltschey

Environment

John E. Milner

Litigation: Construction

Samuel C. Kelly

Ron A. Yarbrough

Litigation: General Commercial

R. David Kaufman

Samuel C. Kelly has been elected as a Fellow of the Mississippi Bar Foundation.  He was inducted into membership at the Foundation’s recent Annual Meeting and Fellows Induction Ceremony held at the Old Capitol Inn in Jackson in April.  A Fellow of the Mississippi Bar Foundation is a great honor bestowed on only a few each year.  Selection as a Fellow is based not only on excellence as an attorney, but also on an attorney’s commitment to serve the Bar and the public. The Bar Foundation was organized in 1963 to improve the administration of justice.  It presently administers the Interest On Lawyers Trust Accounts Program, which has awarded over eleven million dollars to public interest, law-related programs.