Michael J. Yentzen founded both Esplanade Land and Title Company, LLC and the law firm bearing his name in March of 2006 after leaving a partnership at Smith & Yentzen, PLLC, a small firm in Gulfport, Mississippi, specializing in real estate transactional work. Prior to forming that partnership, Michael worked for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as a legislative affairs specialist in our nation’s capitol. Michael spent the prior year serving the Honorable Senator from Mississippi, Trent Lott, as a Legislative Fellow specializing in technology and space issues. Michael knows the adage that “it doesn’t take a rocket scientist” personally as he was an engineer for NASA for almost twelve years prior to his graduation from the Loyola University Law School in 2002. During his NASA career, he was acknowledged as an expert on the compatibility of materials with oxygen-enriched environments and was an instructor for an internationally recognized American Society of Testing and Material (ASTM) course on the subject.
Michael began attending law school in the evening program at Loyola in 1998 while working a full-time job as an engineer for NASA at the John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. He received numerous academic awards and was a member of the Law Review at Loyola. He was designated a William S. Crowe Scholar upon graduation and was ranked first in his evening school class.
Michael has experience in civil litigation, trusts and estates, corporate transactional work, bankruptcy, commercial and residential real estate closings and condominium formation work. In fact he was one of the first attorneys on the Mississippi Coast to file a property report on a condominium project with the Department of Housing and Urban Development under the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act (ILSFDA). He formed Esplanade Land and Title Company, LLC, which he named after his street address when he lived in New Orleans during law school, to focus on commercial and residential real estate projects, including preparation of contracts, assistance with local, state and federal compliance and closing purchase and sale agreements. He has taught a continuing legal education (CLE) course on easements to an audience of attorneys and other professionals, and has taught several continuing education course to realtors and agents on contracts and other real estate matters.
Michael is licensed to practice law in Mississippi, Louisiana and Washington DC.