George O’Connor

George O’Connor joined our Washington, D.C. office in 2014.  He has spent over 20 years in federal government service acting in both regulatory and legislative positions.  He also has extensive experience in the private sector as a Vice President for Entergy Corporation and as partner in a Washington, D.C. law firm.  While in federal service Mr. O’Connor was a trial attorney at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), a legal advisor to Commissioner Charles Trabandt at FERC, and a regulatory and legislative counsel in the United States Senate.  He brings his extensive regulatory and legislative experience to Brunini’s Washington, D.C. office.

Mr. O’Connor has a proven record of working with both political parties in Congress.  He was heavily involved with the development, passage and brokering of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, including provisions amending the Federal Power Act and the Natural Gas Act.  He also has substantial experience with the issue of climate change.  Mr. O’Connor was a staff member of  Congressional delegations that took part in COP-6 at The Hague in 2000 and COP-10 at Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2004.  In each instance he was a member of the U.S. Senate staff accompanying both House and Senate Members of Congress.  In 2004, he was Chief of Staff for the Congressional Delegation that traveled to Buenos Aires, Argentina.

After almost 24 years of federal service, Mr. O’Connor retired in 2005 and immediately joined the law firm of Ryan, Philips, Utrecht, & MacKinnon in Washington, D.C. as a partner.  In early 2008, he was hired by Entergy Corporation to lead its Washington, D.C. office as Vice President of Federal Government Affairs.  During his tenure at Entergy he closely followed transmission regulatory activity at FERC, nuclear relicensing proceedings at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and clean air compliance activity at the Environmental Protection Agency and helped inform and shape numerous Congressional energy and climate legislative initiatives during that time.

Mr. O’Connor has also interacted with the financial industry in guiding investments in energy development.

William C. “Charlie” Penick, IV is a member of the commercial department and serves on the firm’s board of directors.  Charlie focuses his practice in the areas of federal and state taxation, mergers and acquisitions and corporate law.  After earning degrees in accounting from the Patterson School of Accountancy and his Juris Doctor from the University of Mississippi, Charlie graduated from the University of Miami with an LL.M. degree in taxation.

With over 20 years of experience, Charlie’s practice often involves assisting clients with complex corporate situations, including planning, operational, compliance and disposition issues.  In conjunction with this part of his practice, he often serves as lead counsel in significant merger and acquisition transactions.  These transactions range across a number of industries, including telecommunications, construction, financial services, engineering services and automotive and restaurant franchises.

Leveraging his tax experience, Charlie also regularly assists clients in designing and executing estate plans to match clients’ goals.  This often extends through estate administration and appearing before Chancery Courts throughout Mississippi.

Charlie is currently a member of the Independent SALT Alliance and the Estate Planning Council of Mississippi.  He has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America in the fields of Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships), Closely Held Companies and Family Businesses Law, Corporate Law, Mergers and Acquisitions Law, Nonprofit / Charities Law, Tax Law and Trust and Estates.  Charlie has been recognized on multiple occasions as the Lawyer of the Year for Nonprofit / Charities Law in Jackson, MS.

Ken joined the Firm in 1998. His practice focuses on commercial transactions, corporate law, banking, bond finance, healthcare and telecommunications. In the area of mergers and acquisitions Ken has been involved in transactions involving telecommunications providers, banks, automobile dealerships, real property, insurance agencies and companies, poultry producers, petroleum marketers, and a variety of other businesses. His practice involves business planning and the formation of corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships, and other business organizations.

Ken has significant experience in the telecommunications industry, having performed extensive corporate, contractual, finance, and regulatory work for long distance telephone companies, cellular telephone companies, competitive local exchange carriers, internet service providers, and others.

Ken’s practice also involves state and federal securities laws. He has advised clients on Securities and Exchange Commission rules and regulations, as well as state Blue Sky regulations. Ken has experience in private securities offerings as well as major market rules and regulations. He has also represented financial institutions in mergers and acquisitions, securities laws, corporate governance and regulatory matters with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve, and the Mississippi Department of Banking and Consumer Finance.

Ken is experienced in public and industrial development bond financing and tax incentives, and has represented a wide range of clients in relation to bond financing and proceedings before the Mississippi Business Finance Company, and assisting clients with state and local tax incentives for their projects.

Ken is corporate counsel for clients in the poultry production industry and he works in various areas of the business including contracts, corporate law, credit facilities, and other areas of the business.

Ken’s practice also includes real property transactions, including commercial leasing and purchase and sale transactions. Ken’s practice also includes negotiating solar leases and representing solar energy producers throughout the state and local development and licensing process.

Ken’s practice also focuses on representing healthcare providers and physicians groups. The practice includes, but is not limited to, contracts, corporate law, employment agreements, finance, transactions, HIPPA, Stark, and other regulatory issues. Before joining the Firm, Ken worked in operations and manufacturing management for Baxter International, one of the world’s largest hospital supply manufacturers.

Other representative clients include Dickerson Petroleum, Specialty Fuel Services, Country Club of Jackson, Gulf South Towers, Trustmark, Peco Foods, Catholic Diocese of Jackson, Leaf River Energy, St. Dominic Memorial Hospital, Burroughs Diesel, Mississippi Petroleum Marketers Association, Mississippi Organ Recovery Agency, Rankin County Board of Supervisors, and the Mississippi Poultry Association.

Cody serves as outside general counsel to businesses within the construction, development, real property, infrastructure, industrial, and financial sectors. He was recently named by Best Lawyers as the 2026 “Lawyer of the Year” in Construction Law in the Jackson, Mississippi market. Cody handles contract preparation and negotiation, bid protests, payment disputes, lien and collection matters, defect claims, general construction litigation, and alternative dispute resolution, including mediation and arbitration and represents owners, general contractors, subcontractors, and material suppliers. Cody has negotiated construction and design contracts in a wide variety of delivery methods and for projects ranging in values of up to $2 billion.

Cody has helped several of his construction industry clients navigate significant ownership and succession changes, including through mergers and acquisitions, and in many sell-side transactions involving private equity.

Cody regularly handles complex commercial, business, constitutional, and financial litigation, including defending putative class actions in federal courts. He has successfully litigated many such commercial and business disputes, shareholder disputes involving closely held companies, financial and banking claims, section 1983 claims, alleged constitutional violations, easements and takings, securities claims, real property disputes, wrongful death cases, and a wide range of other claims.

Cody also represents public entities and state agencies, both in litigation and as outside general counsel.

Cody sees his work as problem solving and himself as a servant to his clients. He places himself in the shoes of those he serves, attempting to solve the client’s problem in the most efficient and economical manner possible, as he would want done for his own business. Cody does what he says he will do.

Richard Cirilli joined the Brunini firm in 1998 and is a member of one of the Firm’s litigation departments. Richard has extensive experience in complex commercial, products liability, and mass tort cases in Mississippi state and federal courts, as well as other jurisdictions.  Richard has tried to jury verdict breach of contract, business torts, and nuisance lawsuits.

Richard has been recognized in The Best Lawyers® in America in Commercial Litigation, Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Defendants, and Trademark Law. Mid-South© Rising Stars also recognized him in Business Litigation, and he is rated AV Preeminent by Martindale Hubbell.

Richard graduated magna cum laude from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1995 and served as Associate Articles Editor for the Mississippi Law Journal. He received Outstanding Student Awards in Property I, Criminal Law, Securities Regulation and Family Law. While a student at the University of Mississippi School of Law, Richard was inducted into the Phi Kappa Phi honor society.

Richard is a member of Christ United Church and serves on the Board of Directors for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

William Drinkwater joined the Brunini Firm in 2011 following graduation summa cum laude from the Robert C. Khayat Law Center at the University of Mississippi.  While in law school, William was a member of the Mississippi Law Journal and the Community Service Committee. William distinguished himself academically and was awarded Outstanding Student in Property, Health Law II, Individual Tax (Federal), and Insurance Law.

William practices general civil litigation and focuses on a variety of sub-specialties within that area. William advises and represents multiple banks and lenders, including some of the largest financial institutions in the South, regarding litigation matters, foreclosures, foreclosure defense, and developing internal policies and procedures, among other matters. William also specializes in real estate disputes, all aspects of debt collection, and land use/zoning law, having been recognized as Lawyer of the Year for both Land Use and Zoning Law and Litigation – Land Use and Zoning Law. William regularly advises and represents local governmental entities regarding land use matters, clients seeking zoning changes/variances/special exceptions, and landowners objecting to zoning actions taken by local governing bodies. William has been recognized by Best Lawyers in numerous categories.

Gordon Flowers has over 30 years of experience practicing law in the Columbus, Mississippi area.  Currently, he represents a number of manufacturing concerns in Mississippi, particularly in the Golden Triangle.  He not only advises and counsels those clients, but defends their interest when lawsuits are filed.  In addition to his industrial clients, he defends various healthcare providers, including hospitals, clinics and individual physicians that have been charged with medical negligence.

Gordon has been recognized as a leader in the legal profession by his peers, having been selected to Best Lawyers for a number of years, and has been active in the growth and support of his community.

Lynne Green focuses her practice on tax, estate planning and probate law.

Among numerous awards and honors, Ms. Green is ranked in the prestigious Best Lawyers® in America directory for Trusts and Estates, and was honored in 2003 as one of “Mississippi’s 50 Leading Business Women” by the Mississippi Business Journal. She is a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and a former Regent for this body. She is past president of the Estate Planning Council of Mississippi, a past president of the Estates and Trusts Section of The Mississippi Bar, and is an active member of many professional organizations. Ms. Green is ranked by Chambers USA: High Net Worth in Band 1.

Curt Hébert, Jr. is the former Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the former Executive Vice President for Entergy Corporation.  Hébert joined Brunini effective August 1, 2012.

Hébert most recently served as Chief Executive Officer of Lexicon Strategy Group, an energy, finance and regulatory law advisory firm with offices in Mississippi, Louisiana and Washington, D.C.  In addition, he sits as a visiting scholar with the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington, where he co-chairs the Energy Reliability Task Force.

Hébert has advised energy companies and corporations throughout the Southeast, Northeast, and Midwest, as well as companies in Europe, Asia and Middle East 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.

Hébert has extensive contacts both inside and outside the industry, from regulators and government officials to analysts and executives.  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, chemicals, and mining.  He also brings a thorough knowledge of national and international energy markets, policy and regulatory processes.  Hébert has spent years in the telecommunications, transportation and water/sewage sector on regulatory filings and administrative hearings.

Jim Halford, named “Energy Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers in America© and recognized by Chambers USA as one of “America’s Leading Lawyers for Business in Energy and Natural Resources,” regularly works on regulatory, contractual and litigation matters involving traditional energy, renewable energy, public utilities, energy transportation/transmission/distribution, broadband, telecommunications, and property rights.  Jim is currently involved in multi-billion dollar datacenter projects in Mississippi.  He was one of three Mississippi lawyers invited to participate with energy leaders in Governor Reeves’ Mississippi Energy Summit that launched a new statewide initiative to position Mississippi as a national leader in energy production and policy.

In 2024, he obtained state regulatory approval of a $1.2 billion asset sale involving one of the nation’s largest natural gas utilities, with continuing representation related to such assets before the Mississippi Public Service Commission.  Jim’s focus on energy infrastructure development has resulted in his oversight of right-of-way acquisitions, condemnations and other litigation for many of the major gas and liquids interstate and intrastate pipeline projects in Mississippi in the last several decades, as well as for large fiber optic projects by AT&T and other technology/broadband companies.

He has provided regulatory advice for a $90 million 100 megawatt solar generation facility in north Mississippi.  He represented the developer of the initial Petal salt dome cavern natural gas storage facilities in Forrest County, Mississippi.  Jim was lead counsel for the country’s first electric regional transmission organization (“RTO”) in gaining regulatory approval for Mississippi’s largest electric utility to join that RTO.  He has represented one of North America’s largest refiners and a major chemical company in state regulatory proceedings involving a proposed $6.7 billion first-of-a-kind lignite fuel electric generating facility in Mississippi by an electric utility.  Jim advises clients on renewal natural gas projects, as well as electric vehicle (EV) charging facilities and natural gas/propane vehicle stations.  He has represented residential/commercial property developers in the siting by an electric utility of electric transmission and substation facilities and their impact on such developments.

Jim’s practice also includes pipeline litigation, including prosecution of injunctive relief and eminent domain actions, as well as defense of surface damage and personal injury claims in state and federal courts.  He has lobbied the Mississippi Legislature on behalf of local natural gas utilities, interstate natural gas pipeline companies, and telecommunications companies.  He has chaired a panel on natural gas issues at the National Conference of Regulatory Attorneys.

He has served on the Firm’s five-person Board of Directors and regularly appears before state and federal courts, local governing boards, and the Mississippi Public Service Commission.  Jim is a board member of the Mississippi Energy Institute.