Mississippi Gulf Coast Attorney
A dual-licensed Louisiana and Mississippi attorney, practicing on the Coast since 1998 — with the same lawyer on your matter from the first call to the final judgment.
For this firm, the Coast is home ground.
For Stephen “Curt” Aertker, Jr., the Mississippi Gulf Coast is not a new market — it is a second home. He grew up in Slidell, Louisiana, a few minutes from the state line, and spent the summers, Easters, and long holiday weekends of his childhood at his grandparents’ getaway house in Waveland, right on Beach Boulevard at the edge of the Gulf.
The Coast is where he spent summers on the water and seasons on the soccer field — where a good many of his earliest memories were made. So when the time came to sit for a second bar, Mississippi was the natural choice. He was admitted to The Mississippi Bar in 1998, the year after Louisiana, and has carried a Mississippi practice ever since.
That history matters in a way a website rarely captures: he understands what some cross-border lawyers never quite do — that Mississippi is its own legal system. It is a common-law state, with its own Chancery and Circuit Courts, its own Code, and its own way of doing things — not Louisiana law carried across the Pearl River. Coast clients get Mississippi counsel grounded in Mississippi law.
And as always, you work directly with Stephen. Your calls are returned, you always know where your matter stands, and the attorney who appears in court is the one who prepared it. Your lawyer — not a case number.
From the Pearl River to Pascagoula.
Aertker Legal represents individuals, families, and businesses across the Mississippi Gulf Coast and the neighboring counties of South Mississippi — with particular roots in Hancock County and the western Coast.
- Bay St. Louis & Waveland (Hancock)
- Diamondhead & Kiln (Hancock)
- Gulfport & Biloxi (Harrison)
- Pass Christian & Long Beach (Harrison)
- D’Iberville (Harrison)
- Ocean Springs & Gautier (Jackson)
- Pascagoula & Moss Point (Jackson)
- Picayune & Poplarville (Pearl River)
- Stone & George Counties
- Throughout South Mississippi
Mississippi matters, by the court that hears them.
In Mississippi, the courthouse you walk into depends on the kind of relief you seek. The firm handles matters on both sides of that line.
In Chancery Court
Mississippi’s court of equity — family, estates, and the matters decided by a chancellor.Miss. Code § 9-5-81
Chancery Court hears Mississippi’s matters of equity, family, and inheritance — tried to a chancellor rather than a jury. The firm represents Coast clients across the full range:
- Divorce & family law — fault-ground and irreconcilable-differences divorce, alimony, and property division
- Child custody & support — decided by the child’s best interest under the Albright factors; modification and enforcement
- Estate administration & probate — administering testate and intestate estates, probating wills, muniment of title, and determination of heirs
- Guardianships & conservatorships — for minors and for adults who can no longer manage their own affairs
- Estate planning — wills, trusts, durable powers of attorney, and advance directives under Mississippi law
- Will contests & property disputes — heard in the chancellor’s equitable jurisdiction
In Circuit Court
Mississippi’s court of law — where damages are sought and juries decide.Miss. Code § 15-1-49
Circuit Court hears claims at law — the matters that seek money damages and carry the right to a jury. Mississippi’s general limitations period for these claims is three years under Miss. Code § 15-1-49, and it runs quickly.
- Personal injury & wrongful death — motor-vehicle collisions, premises liability, and general negligence
- Business & contract disputes — breach of contract, collections, and commercial litigation
The firm also handles the work that crosses both courts — business formation (Mississippi LLCs and corporations) and real-estate transactions and title matters across the Coast.
Where Gulf Coast Matters Are Heard
Knowing the courthouse is half of practicing well in it. Mississippi divides its trial work between two principal courts, with municipal and appellate courts handling the rest.
- Chancery Court — divorce, custody, support, estate administration, probate, guardianships, trusts, and land disputes, decided by a chancellor (no jury).
- Circuit Court — personal injury, wrongful death, contract claims, and felony matters, with the right to a jury trial.
- County & Justice Courts — smaller civil claims, evictions, and misdemeanor matters.
- The Coast counties — Hancock (courthouse in Bay St. Louis), Harrison (two judicial districts, in Gulfport and Biloxi), Jackson (Pascagoula), and Pearl River (Poplarville).
- Mississippi Court of Appeals, then the Mississippi Supreme Court — the appellate path for Coast judgments.
- U.S. District Court, Southern District of Mississippi (Gulfport) — the federal forum for the Coast, where Stephen is admitted to practice.
Need a lawyer on the Mississippi Coast?
Confidential consultation · Licensed in Mississippi since 1998
Request a Consultation →