Jackson- Lynne K. Green of the Jackson office has been featured as a recent guest speaker to different organizations recently. On July 10, she presented during a Trust Issues Seminar for the Mississippi Bankers Association.
On July 16th and 17th Lynne presented “Mississippi Uniform Trust Code Summary” during seminars for First American Title Insurance Company. These presentations were held on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and in Flowood, Mississippi.
Thomas E. Walker, Jr. has joined Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes, PLLC as a member in the firm’s commercial department.
Tom’s main areas of emphasis focus on corporate, commercial and regulatory matters. Tom works on such matters for clients in a variety of industries, but he has a particular depth of experience in working with and representing financial institutions on the full range of issues facing the financial services industry. He is the former Executive Vice President of Bank of Forest located in Forest, Mississippi. There, as well as serving as the Bank’s general counsel, he also served as its Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Investments Officer. Before his experience with Bank of Forest, Tom was engaged in private practice in Jackson, Mississippi, with a focus on the financial services industry. Brunini represents numerous financial industry clients, and the combination of Tom’s significant industry experience coupled with his prior legal experience will enhance the delivery of legal services to our clients.
Granville Tate, Jr., Managing Partner of the Brunini firm said “We are very excited that Tom has joined the firm, and are confident that he will be a great asset to our commercial and banking clients.”
Tom is a Certified Public Accountant and received a Bachelor of Accountancy in 1999 and a Masters of Accountancy in 2000 from Mississippi State University and his Juris Doctorate from the University of Mississippi in 2004. Tom is also a 2014 Graduate of the Graduate School of Banking at LSU.
Louis Fuller and Lynne Green were featured speakers at the Taxation Section and the Estates & Trusts Section CLE Seminar on May 16, 2014 in Jackson. This Seminar was held at the Supreme Courthouse in Jackson, Mississippi. The goal of the seminar was to provide a 6-hour educational session titled “Recent Changes in the Trust, Fiduciary, and Tax Laws of MS”
Louis gave a presentation on Equifax, Inc. v. Mississippi Department of Revenue, while Lynne gave an Update on the newly enacted Mississippi Uniform Trust Code.
William “Trey” Jones, III was recently nominated and selected as a Fellow in the Litigation Counsel of America. Jones, a Partner at Brunini, was chosen by this trial attorney honorary society that is composed of less than 3,500 members nationwide.
The Litigation Counsel of America’s Membership is limited to 3,500 Fellows which is less than one-half of one percent of the attorneys in America. The Litigation Counsel of America “is aggressively diverse in its Composition. Established as a trial and appellate lawyer honorary society reflecting the American bar in the twenty-first century, the LCA represents the best in law among its membership” a Litigation Counsel of America announcement said.
Brunini’s Jones has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America® for Commercial Litigation and Environmental Litigation.Benchmark Litigation has named him in the areas of Personal Injury, Product Liability, General Commercial, Appellate, and Environmental. He has also been recognized as a Rising Star by Super Lawyers and was American Lawyer & Corporate Counsel’s Top Rated Lawyer® in 2013 in the area of Appellate Law.
Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes, PLLC (Brunini) announced that George O’Connor, former trial attorney with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and former Vice President for Entergy Corporation, is joining the law firm. O’Connor will bring his extensive energy and regulatory experience to Brunini’s Washington, D.C. office.
“George knows Washington, energy litigation and federal energy policy,” said Brunini’s Curt Hebert, Jr who is former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman. “Our country’s energy revolution is powering the American manufacturing renaissance. George, with his extensive FERC experience, including his leadership role on the drafting and passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, as well as his corporate and private legal practice background, is the right person to assist our clients in taking advantage of that revolution. George has the objective experience to see clients’ needs through many prisms and we are delighted George has chosen to join Brunini.”
O’Connor served as an advisor to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commissioner Charles A. Trabandt from 1985-1993 prior to working in FERC’s Office of General Counsel. George’s experience includes regulatory practice, FERC and Senate staff leadership and he has a proven record of working with Congress and at the FERC. From March 2008-November 2010, he was hired by Entergy Corporation as Vice President of Federal Governmental Affairs.
Brunini’s Energy Practice is regarded as a premier regulatory practice. In rating Brunini as a Band 1 Firm, Chambers USA 2012 Client’s Guide notes: “[The Firm] has a wealth of experience in energy regulation and litigation. Over the years, the team has undertaken a number of large projects throughout the South, providing a full range of services, including regulation, permitting, financing, real estate and contract advice.”
P. David Andress, a partner of Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes, PLLC, was recently selected as a Fellow in the American College of Mortgage Attorneys. The American College of Mortgage Attorneys, founded in 1974, includes attorneys who are highly skilled and experienced in lending transactions secured by real estate and related practice areas.
David has been with the Brunini Firm since 1991. His practice focuses primarily on commercial real estate including the acquisition, sale, leasing and financing of commercial properties. Along with being selected as a Fellow, David has also been recognized by Best Lawyers® in America and Chambers USA for real estate law and has a Martindale Hubbell rating of “AV Preeminent”.
Curt Hébert, a partner at Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes, PLLC was featured as a guest co-writer for an article posted on CNBC.com on March 30, 2014. The article is titled “Risky business: Protecting US energy supplies” and you can read the entire article HERE.
Hébert is the former chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and currently serves as the a co-chair of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Electric Grid Cybersecurity Initiative.
Washington, D.C.
Curt Hebert, a partner at Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes, PLLC, serves as co-chair for the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Electric Grid Cybersecurity Initiative in Washington, D. C. The initiative released recommendations on how the government and industry can be prepared to protect electric grids against cyber attacks. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security collected information and the initiative including Hebert, and two other co-chairs, made recommendations regarding the information collected.
From the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Press Release, “Cyber attacks on key energy infrastructure, including the electricity system, are increasing in terms of frequency and sophistication. Electric grid failures are costly and have the potential to profoundly disrupt delivery of essential services, including communications, food, water, health care and emergency response. In light of these developments, BPC convened the Electric Grid Cybersecurity Initiative – a hybrid project of BPC’s Energy and Homeland Security Projects – to tackle these challenges.”
Press Release: Bipartisan Policy Center Press Release
Read the entire report here.
Curt participated in several nationally distributed interviews, to view choose the links below.
In 2012, the Secretary of the United States Department of Education (“DOE”) entered an Order finding that Business Communications, Inc. (“BCI”) retaliated in violation of the whistleblower provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (“ARRA”) in terminating an employee after he made wage-related complaints. The DOE ordered BCI to pay back wages and to reinstate the former employee. On behalf of BCI, Steve Carmody and Cody Bailey appealed the DOE’s Order to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Carmody and Bailey argued that the DOE deprived BCI of its constitutional right to due process by ordering BCI to pay damages and to reinstate the former employee without allowing BCI an opportunity for a hearing to defend itself. Likewise on behalf of BCI, Carmody and Bailey also argued that the whistleblower provisions of ARRA, found in section 1553, are facially unconstitutional because they do not allow for a due-process hearing. The Eighth Circuit ruled in favor of BCI, granting BCI’s petition for review and vacating the Secretary of Education’s Order. The Court held that “minimum due process for BCI in this context requires either a pre- or post-deprivation hearing that provides BCI with the opportunity to confront adverse evidence and cross examine adverse witnesses.” The Court further held that “BCI’s due process rights were violated because the DOE never provided BCI a hearing and because the post-deprivation procedures available under § 1553 do not provide any opportunity for BCI ‘to confront and cross examine adverse witnesses,’ thereby depriving BCI of an essential element of due process.”
Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes, PLLC has made the short list of Litigation Law Firm of the Year for Mississippi in the 2014 edition of Benchmark Litigation. Brunini is one of only four firms in Mississippi to achieve this honor, with the following attorneys ranked as “Mississippi Local Litigation Stars” in their respective practice areas:
Benchmark Litigation is a guide to America’s leading litigation firms and attorneys. Their results stem from the culmination of a research period that was conducted between March and November 2013, where researchers conducted interviews with litigators and their clients to identify the leading litigators and firms.
All winners will be announced at a ceremony held on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2014 at the Essex House in New York. For more information on Benchmark Litigation’s shortlist, please visit http://www.benchmarklitigation.com/article/4327-us-benchmark-annual-awards-2014-shortlist-announced-12-05-2013.