ALAN TURNER Recently, I had an opportunity to talk with Jeremy Hirsch, President of Spartan Mosquito, a Laurel and Hattiesburg based business with a singular mission: to improve the health and safety of people all over the world. I’ve found that entrepreneurs come in many varieties, and one variety I’ve had the privilege to know through my years as a ...

PHIL HARDWICK The fall academic semester approaches. If you are successful in business there’s a good chance that sooner or later you will be asked to speak to a college class about your company or a current business issue. The experience can be personally rewarding or a flop. I’ve been teaching as an adjunct professor/instructor at the college level since ...

EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS Amid the red dirt and hubbub of the Neshoba County Fair last week, Debbie Hood sat on a wooden bench and quietly contemplated a reporter’s question: Is she ready for her husband to run for Mississippi governor next year? She is the wife of Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood, who’s in his fourth term as the state’s ...

Do Americans want to be deceived?    In 2012 Marquette University ethics professor emeritus Dr. Daniel McGuire penned an amazingly contemporary piece entitled “The Loneliness of the Truth Teller” for the Huffington Post.   He wrote there is a “striking conviction of the Jewish and Christian biblical writers that people perversely seem to want to be deceived. The third century ...

Recently, the State of Delaware released data from the first 20 days of sports wagering in the state. These numbers may provide some insight into the anticipated success of sports betting in Mississippi. But first, let’s review what some of the experts have previously estimated gross gaming revenue (“GGR”) from sports wagering could be in the Magnolia State. On May ...

The U.S. Supreme Court wrapped up the sitting portion of the 2017-2018 term on June 28, 2018. The nine lifetime Justices left 59 signed merit opinions and a stunned public in their wake. The June opinion releases overshadowed the term. In rapid fire decimation of liberal aspirations, the Court announced a slew of controversial, conservative opinions. Swing vote Justice Anthony ...

Do some Mississippi judges sentence criminals more harshly than others? Do black defendants get longer sentences than white defendants? And if so, should the state try to get judges to do something about it? Those are some of the thorny questions that could be answered by the Sentencing Disparity Task Force, a group of 14 elected officials, lawyers, judges, and ...

Agriculture is a huge part of Mississippi’s economy and soybeans are a major export.   The tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, particularly on China, have resulted in retaliatory tariffs impacting U.S. exports, including soybeans.    “Tariffs are the greatest,” Trump recently tweeted. But when farmers and farm state politicians started complaining, Trump suddenly came up with a scheme to provide a ...

Having served as lead, co-, or local counsel on greater than $10 billion in debt and equity financings, I have experienced transactions that have closed relatively smoothly and I have also seen transactions fall apart at the closing table. Regardless of whether your company is raising debt or equity, there are some common themes and best practices that business owners ...

An hour after the city of Ridgeland issued its last permit to the restaurant mid-afternoon last Thursday, Scott and Julie Koestler decided – what the heck – let’s open tonight. And so they did. Julie posted it on Facebook. But it was not like there was  a complete  surprise to the opening of Koestler Prime in Renaissance at Colony Park. ...