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Brunini Attorneys Recognized by Best Lawyers

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32 of Brunini’s attorneys have been recognized in the 2019 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America.

Biloxi

  • Leonard A. Blackwell II: Gaming Law, Land Use and Zoning Law

Columbus

  • J. Gordon Flowers: Commercial Litigation, Environmental Law, Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants, Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants, Product Liability Litigation – Defendants

Jackson

  • Matthew W. Allen: Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants, Product Liability Litigation – Defendants
  • Sheldon G. Alston: Litigation – Land Use and Zoning, Litigation – Real Estate, Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants, Product Liability Litigation – Defendants
  • P. David Andress: Real Estate Law
  • Norman E. Bailey: Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants, Product Liability Litigation – Defendants, Trademark Law
  • Stephen J. Carmody: Employment Law – Management , Labor Law – Management, Litigation – Intellectual Property, Litigation – Labor and Employment , Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants, Profession Malpractice Law – Defendants
  • R. Richard Cirilli Jr.: Commercial Litigation, Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants, Product Liability Litigation – Defendants
  • John M. Flynt: Administrative / Regulatory Law, Corporate Law, Mergers and Acquisitions Law, Real Estate Law
  • Christopher R. Fontan: Litigation Labor and Employment
  • Louis G. Fuller: Litigation and Controversy – Tax, Tax Law
  • Lynne K. Green: Closely Held Companies and Family Business Law, Elder Law, Tax Law, Trust and Estates
  • James L. Halford: Communications Law, Energy Law
  • Ken Harmon: Oil and Gas Law, Real Estate Law
  • Mark Hosemann: Closely Held Companies and Family Businesses Law, Mergers and Acquisitions Law, Tax Law
  • Karen E. Howell: Commercial Litigation
  • William Trey Jones III: Commercial Litigation, Litigation – Environmental
  • R. David Kaufman: 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
  • Samuel C. Kelly: Commercial Litigation, Construction Law, Litigation – Construction
  • James A. McCullough II: Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Commercial Litigation, Litigation – Bankruptcy, Mortgage Banking Foreclosure Law
  • M. Patrick McDowell: Commercial Litigation, Litigation – Securities, Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants, Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants, Product Liability Litigation – Defendants
  • John E. Milner: Environmental Law, Litigation – Environmental
  • William C. Penick IV: Corporate Law, Tax Law
  • Warren Ken Rogers: Commercial Transactions / UCC Law, Corporate Governance Law, Corporate Law, Mergers and Acquisitions Law
  • Watts C. Ueltschey: Administrative / Regulatory Law, Energy Law, Energy Regulatory Law, Mining Law, Natural Resources Law, Oil and Gas Law, Real Estate Law
  • Leonard D. Van Slyke, Jr.: Litigation – First Amendment, Litigation – Trust and Estates, Litigation and Controversy – Tax, Media Law, Tax Law, Trust and Estates
  • Joseph E. Varner III: Mergers and Acquisitions Law, Tax Law, Trust and Estates
  • John E. Wade: Commercial Litigation, Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants, Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants
  • Thomas E. Walker, Jr.: Banking and Finance Law, Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships), Corporate Law, Financial Services Regulation Law, Mergers and Acquisitions Law
  • Gene Wasson: Environmental Law, Real Estate Law
  • Walter S. Weems: Corporate Law, Mergers and Acquisitions Law, Tax Law
  • Ron A. Yarbrough: Construction Law, Litigation – Construction

 

 

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BENCHMARK LITIGATION HAS SELECTED CODY BAILEY, KAREN HOWELL AND TAYLOR MCNEEL IN THIS YEAR’S 40 & UNDER HOT LIST

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The Brunini firm is proud to recognize Cody Bailey, Karen Howell and Taylor McNeel, as they have been selected in the 40 & Under Hot List.  They are among the top young talent in their respective litigation communities in Mississippi and throughout the United States.  Benchmark Litigation focuses exclusively on litigation in the United States.  Benchmark Litigation selects nominees through extensive interviews of the nation’s leading private practice lawyers and in-house counsel to identify the leading litigators in each jurisdiction.  You can learn more about Brunini’s three honorees by viewing their bio’s here, here and here.

 

 

Lynne K. Green and Joseph E. Varner III ranked in Chambers High Net Worth Guide.

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Lynne K. Green and Joseph E. Varner III, both partners in the Jackson law firm of Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes, have been ranked in Chambers 2018 High Net Worth Guide. They were also ranked in 2017, which was the first year Mississippi attorneys and law firms were included in this guide. 

Chambers High Net Worth Guide is the only independent directory specifically aimed at the private wealth market that ranks law firms according to their private client disciplines. 

For the second year Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes also received the highest ranking as a Band 1 private wealth law firm by Chambers High Net Worth Guide. 

For nearly 30 years, Chambers has offered the most in-depth research of this type globally, featuring a London-based team of 200 researchers who speak a combined 23 languages and conduct thousands of interviews each year.

 

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Benje Bailey Named to Meritas Board of Directors

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Norman “Benje” Bailey, a partner in the Jackson law firm of Brunini, Grantham, Grower
& Hewes, has been named to the Board of Directors of a global affiliation of law firms.
Meritas has affiliates in 242 cities of 89 countries. The affiliation is composed of more
than 7,600 attorneys.

Bailey is a litigator with the Brunini firm. He has been honored by both Best Lawyers in
America and Mid-South Super Lawyers.

The Jackson attorney will serve a three year term. Bailey and his wife Mimi have four
children.

The other newly elected members of the 21-member Meritas board are: Diego Botana –
Buenos Aires, Argentina; Lela Gani – Pretoria, South Africa; William (Bill) Gilbride – Detroit,
Michigan; Olli Kiuru – Helsinki, Finland; Melisa Pena – Bridgewater, New Jersey; Jules
Turcotte – Quebec City, Canada; and Yao Rao – Shangai, China.

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U.S. Court of Appeals Reverses Course Concerning Title VII Protection of LGBTQ+ Rights

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On Monday, February 26, 2018, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued a landmark ruling in holding that workplace discrimination premised on an employee’s sexual orientation is covered by Title VII’s express prohibition against gender-based discrimination. In so doing, the Second Circuit reversed its own precedent established less than one year ago, and in doing so, offered further judicial support for the protections of the LGBTQ+ community.

In a divided, en banc opinion, the Second Circuit decided the case of Zarda v. Altitude Express.  In its decision, the Court revived a sex bias claim brought by Donald Zarda, a Long Island, New York sky-diving instructor who claimed that his employer, Altitude Express, had terminated his employment based on his sexual orientation.  In its decision, the Second Circuit held that it saw “no principled basis for recognizing a violation of Title VII for associational discrimination based on race, but not on sex.” With its ruling, the case was sent back to the trial court for further proceedings.

The federal lawsuit was brought on Mr. Zarda’s behalf, and against his former employer, by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).  Interestingly, during the appeal, the U.S. Department of Justice filed an amicus brief in opposition to Zarda and the EEOC.  In its briefing, the Justice Department stated that “[t]he sole question here is whether, as a matter of law, Title VII reaches sexual orientation discrimination. . . . . It does not, as has been settled for decades. Any efforts to amend Title VII’s scope should be directed to Congress rather than the courts.”  Additionally, the Justice Department noted that the EEOC was “not speaking for the United States.”

For years, LGBTQ+ employees could only advance claims of workplace discrimination under a theory of “sex stereotyping” discrimination—that is, discrimination based on an employee’s failure to confirm to an employer’s perceived gender roles.  In July 2015, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued its first administrative ruling declaring that Title VII’s use of the word “sex” meant both gender and sexual orientation. However, no federal court immediately adopted or mirrored the EEOC’s guidance.

In fact, the Second Circuit expressly rejected the EEOC’s guidance just last year when it decided the case of Christiansen v. Omnicom Group, Inc.  There, the Second Circuit ruled that employees did possess viable Title VII claims based on the theory of “sex stereotyping.”  However, the Court also expressly stated that Title VII’s definition of “sex” did not cover a person’s sexual orientation—a decision that tracked the historical rulings of other U.S. courts, in holding that the term “sex” within Title VII refers only to a person’s gender—meaning that discrimination had to be premised on whether a worker is male or female.

Then, only nine days after the Christensen ruling, on April 4, 2017, the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals became the first federal appellate court to rule that Title VII does extend workplace protections on the basis of their sexual orientation.  In deciding the case of Hively v. Ivy Tech, the Seventh Circuit opted to expand the definition of “sex” under Title VII to include an individual’s “sexual orientation.” With its ruling in Zarda, the Second Circuit is now aligned with both the EEOC and Seventh Circuit, thus ruling that Title VII effectively presents two avenues of recovery for individuals asserting claims on the basis of their sexual orientation.

The Second Circuit’s majority ruling Zarda was written by the Court’s Chief Judge, Robert A. Katzmann. He was joined, either in whole or in part, by nine other judges on the court. The three remaining judges dissented. In addition to Judge Katzmann’s decision, seven judges wrote separate opinions, concurring and dissenting.

Either the Justice Department or Altitude Express could seek review of the decision before the United States Supreme Court. Neither party had any immediate comment on the ruling. In December 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court passed on an initial opportunity to weigh-in on the issue when it declined to hear an appeal from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, in which that Court held that Title VII did not extend to sexual orientation.

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EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt Blocks Unfair “Sue and Settle” Tactics

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By: John E. Milner, Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes PLLC

On October 16, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt signed a directive stating that he is ending “sue and settle” agreements through which Pruitt asserts that environmental organizations have forced EPA  into legal agreements that impose binding deadlines for issuing discretionary regulations.  The directive, together with an explanatory memorandum, prohibits EPA from entering into consent decrees with terms that courts would have lacked the power to impose if the parties involved had not resolved litigation through a legal agreement.  Pruitt’s directive states: “EPA shall also not enter in a consent decree or settlement agreement that converts an otherwise discretionary duty of the Agency into a mandatory duty to issue, revise, or amend regulations.”
The directive also makes it more difficult for environmental organizations to recover attorney’s fees: “If EPA agrees to resolve litigation through a consent decree or settlement agreement, and therefore there is no ‘prevailing party,’ then the Agency shall seek to exclude the payment of attorney’s fees and costs to any plaintiff or petitioner in the litigation.”  EPA shall not seek to resolve the question of attorney’s fees and costs “informally,” the directive states. (Read more…)

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BRUNINI WELCOMES WILLIAM B. GRETE

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JACKSON, Miss.– Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes, PLLC is pleased to announce that William B. Grete has joined the firm as a Partner in its Jackson office.  As the former Vice President and General Counsel of Mississippi Baptist Health Systems Inc., Mr. Grete brings over 20 years of healthcare experience to the firm as an accomplished legal healthcare executive and trusted advisor.  “We are confident that Bill will provide an exceptional level of knowledge and experience to our healthcare practice.  His practice will benefit our clients tremendously,” said Sam Kelly, Chairman of the Firm’s Board of Directors.

Mr. Grete will lead the Firm’s healthcare practice group.  “It is a tremendous opportunity for me to work with the talented team of attorneys at Brunini, and I am looking forward to serving the Firm’s healthcare clients with them.”

William B. Grete graduated from Georgetown University Law Center with an LLM in Taxation and earned his JD from Cumberland School of Law. He has practiced law in Jackson for over twenty-seven (27) years.

Brunini Welcomes Rodgrick G. Hickman

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Rodgrick G. Hickman has joined Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes, PLLC as an associate in  one of the firm’s litigation departments.  He received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Mississippi. Rod received his J.D. from the University of Mississippi School of Law, graduating magna cum laude.

While earning his J.D., Rod served as an Associate Articles Editor for the Mississippi Law Journal, a member of the Moot Court Board and he also served two terms on the executive board of the National Black Law Students Association. Rod was honored as the 2017 Outstanding Student at the University of Mississippi School of Law.

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MILNER ELECTED CHAIR OF THE ABA SECTION OF ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY AND RESOURCES

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John E. Milner, partner in Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes PLLC, was recently elected to lead 10,000 attorneys nationwide practicing environmental, natural resources and energy law. Milner was named Chair of the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Environment, Energy and Resources, the premier forum for lawyers practicing environmental, natural resources and energy law. The ceremony took place on August 13, 2017, at the ABA Annual Meeting in New York City.

The Section provides educational programs, publications, and other services, and keeps members aware of developing trends, current court decisions, legislative initiatives, and regulatory programs. Milner previously served as Chair-Elect and Vice Chair of the Section, in addition to other leadership positions.

In his role as Chair, Milner will oversee all of the Section’s activities.  One of his key priorities will be increasing coordination of the Section’s activities with those of other organizations within and outside of the ABA.

“Serving as Chair of the Section is truly an honor for me, and I am proud to lead the nation’s premier forum for environmental, energy, and resources lawyers,” Milner said. “I am also truly grateful for the support of my colleagues in the Section and in my law firm as I assume this new role.”

On a national level, Milner has practiced environmental law for more than 35 years. His practice includes many facets of environmental law and litigation, including federal and state cases involving the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Hazardous Waste laws, Superfund, brownfields redevelopment, and energy development. His clients include industrial corporations, commercial entities, and municipalities. He has been recognized as a leader in environmental law by a number of lawyer rating organizations, including Chambers USA and Best Lawyers in America.  He is a Fellow in the American College of Environmental Lawyers.

In his home state, Milner serves as Environmental Counsel for the Mississippi Manufacturers Association, Counsel to the Mississippi Poultry Association and Counsel to the Mississippi Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Stores Association.

A past member of his firm’s Board of Directors, Milner earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Mississippi in 1975. He earned his law degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1978.

 

Pictured: (From L to R) John Milner with Immediate Past Chair, Seth Davis.

Brunini Attorneys Recognized by Best Lawyers

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32 of Brunini’s attorneys have been recognized in the 2018 Edition of  Best Lawyers in America with six of those being recognized as Lawyer of the Year.

Biloxi, Mississippi

Columbus, Mississippi

  • J. Gordon Flowers – Commercial Litigation, Environmental Law, Mass Tort Litigation / Class Action Defendants,  Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants, Product Liability Litigation – Defendants

Jackson, Mississippi

  • Matthew W. Allen – Mass Tort Litigation / Class Action s – Defendants
  • Sheldon G. Alston – Litigation – Land Use and Zoning, Litigation – Real Estate, Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants
  • P. David Andress – Real Estate Law
  • Benje Bailey – Commercial Litigation, Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants, Trademark Law
  • Stephen J. Carmody – Employment Law – Management, Labor Law – Management, Litigation – Intellectual Property, Litigation – Labor and Employment, Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants, Professional Malpractice Law – Defendants
  • R. Richard Cirilli – Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants, Product Liability Litigation – Defendants
  • John M. Flynt – Administrative / Regulatory Law, Corporate Law, Mergers and Acquisitions Law, Real Estate Law
  • Louis G. Fuller – Litigation and Controversy – Tax, Tax Law
  • Lynne K. Green – Closely Held Companies and Family Business Law, Elder Law, Tax Law, Trusts and Estates
  • James L. Halford – Communications Law, Energy Law
  • Ken Harmon – Oil and Gas Law
  • Karen E. Howell – Commercial Litigation
  • William Trey Jones – Commercial Litigation, Litigation – Environmental
  • R. David Kaufman – Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Litigation – Securities, Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants, Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants, Product Liability Litigation – Defendants
  • Samuel C. Kelly – Commercial Litigation, Construction Law, Litigation – Construction
  • James A. McCullough, II – Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Commercial Litigation, Litigation – Bankruptcy, Mortgage Banking Foreclosure Law
  • M. Patrick McDowell – Commercial Litigation, Litigation – Securities, Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants, Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants, Product Liability Litigation – Defendants
  • John E. Milner – Environmental Law, Litigation – Environmental
  • William C. Penick, IV – Corporate Law
  • Warren Ken Rogers – Commercial Transactions / UCC Law, Corporate Law, Mergers and Acquisitions Law
  • Joseph A. Sclafani – Appellate Practice
  • Watts C. Ueltschey – Administrative / Regulatory Law, Energy Law, Energy Regulatory Law, Mining Law, Natural Resources Law, Oil and Gas Law, Real Estate Law
  • Leonard D. Van Slyke, Jr. – Litigation – First Amendment, Litigation – Trusts and Estates, Litigation and Controversy – Tax, Media Law, Tax Law, Trusts and Estates
  • Joseph E. Varner, III – Tax Law, Trusts and Estates
  • John E. Wade – Commercial Litigation, Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants
  • Thomas E. Walker, Jr. – Banking and Finance Law, Financial Services Regulation Law, Mergers and Acquisitions
  • Gene Wasson – Real Estate Law
  • Walter S. Weems – Corporate Law, Mergers and Acquisitions Law, Tax Law
  • Ron A. Yarbrough – Construction Law, Litigation – Construction

The Brunini Attorneys named “Lawyer of the Year” are as follows:

Jackson, Mississippi

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