Chris Allen (00:02):

Welcome to the second season of State AG Pulse. In this season we will be releasing a new podcast episode every two weeks. In addition to providing a deep dive into news stories that showcase the enormous power and broad authority of state attorneys general, we’ll be talking with new AGs about their transition into office and their priorities. As we did in the last season, we’ll leverage our decades of experience to provide insight and perspective to help business leaders better understand and successfully work with state AGs. Listen for new voices as co-chairs Bernie Nash and Lori Kalani share the host mic with other members of Cozen O’Connor’s State AG Group. So now let’s jump right into this week’s episode.

Lori Kalani (00:46):

Welcome back to the State AG Pulse. We are on episode five of our second season. I’m very excited today for this podcast. This is Lori Kalani. I co-chair the State AG Group at Cozen O’Connor, and I am joined by my law partner Meghan Stoppel, a former Nebraska Consumer Protection Chief. Hi Meghan.

Meghan Stoppel (01:09):

Hi Lori.

Lori Kalani (01:10):

And our special guest today is Attorney General Mike Hilgers, the current new attorney general for the great state of Nebraska. General, thanks for joining us.

AG Hilgers (01:21):

Thanks for having me, Lori. Good to see you and Meghan.

Lori Kalani (01:23):

There was nobody else I’d want to do this with me than Meghan. We’re going to spend some time together and feel free to say whatever you want. Tell us all the secrets. We would be happy to hear them and we will do the same. Just a little bit on your background, you were elected as Nebraska’s 34th attorney general in 2022. So like I said, you are fairly new, and you have a lot of experience both in starting and building a very successful law firm of your own, as well as serving in the Nebraska legislature. So we have a lot of questions about both.

AG Hilgers (01:57):

Well, I’m looking forward to the conversation and I’m going to do my best to not hijack it with Meghan into Nebraska football, but I’ll do my best to stay on topic today.

Meghan Stoppel (02:04):

Yeah, just don’t confuse me for a native, General. I was a transplant for a handful of years, certainly missing my time in the great state of Nebraska and the city of Lincoln especially. So yeah, Lori, we’ll try to keep on focus here and maybe steer the conversation towards AG related matters.

Lori Kalani (02:25):

Yeah, I have to say, I went to one Cornhuskers game and I went to this restaurant the night before the game and the marching band marched through the restaurant.

AG Hilgers (02:34):

When the stadium’s filled, it is the third largest city in the state. And so it’s a pretty incredible experience. And now my wife’s a transplant too and she went to the first couple of games because she was wondering what all the fuss was about and we’ve kind of had a little bit of a dry streak on winning. And so we haven’t been very good lately. So she doesn’t quite get it the same way that I get it. But we go four and eight and we still sell out our entire stadium with 90,000 people. So it’s quite the experience win or lose.

Lori Kalani (03:07):

Yeah. I had a great time there. So I would love to just kick it off by talking a little bit about your past experience because on these podcasts, we talk a lot about who the AGs are before they come to the office and what that past experience does to motivate them and sort of shape who they are in the office. So we’d love to hear a little bit from you about your experience both as a legislator and then also as the founder of a very successful law firm.

AG Hilgers (03:36):

Well thanks Lori. So I’ll give you maybe a minute on my background on both those pieces because I think they reinforce a lot of what my priorities are and how I view the world, and they certainly shape how I approach public service. So I was in the legislature for six years in the country’s only unicameral, also the country’s only nonpartisan legislature. And I served as speaker for the last two years before I took office as attorney general. And in a private practice I worked at a big firm in Texas actually when I first started my career as a baby lawyer and then started my law practice when I moved back home with my wife in Nebraska about 12 years ago and started it just me in my basement in North Lincoln. And I really worked pretty hard. It was just me for a number of years. And really through a lot of grit and determination, we were able to build I, when I left over a hundred, almost 150 people nationwide, as one of the fastest growing companies in the country.

And so when I think about it, how those things shaped my priorities, they really sort of underscore my animating philosophy for why I even got into office in the first place, which is we live in the greatest country in the world and it’s a place where you can, like I did with my law firm, you can actually change the trajectory for your family through hard work, innovation, just grit. Something you can’t do in many other countries, you can do here in the United States. And so that freedom and opportunity that we are so blessed with in this country is a big reason why I ran for office in the first place. And so really, whether it’s in the legislature or as attorney general, my experience just helps underscore the importance of those types of principles and then having just good people, good public servants who are willing to listen and do the right thing. Even if they disagree, they work together in a collaborative way.

So in terms of my approach though, I think those things, both of those jobs and experiences really taught me quite a bit. In order to build a big law firm, you have to treat people the right way. You have to be able to recruit, you have to be able to compete and have a different approach. And so I really learnt how to build culture, how to run large teams of lawyers, how to engage in sophisticated litigation. So a lot of the things that the attorney general does, frankly. My law firm is about the size of the Nebraska attorney general’s office. And then as speaker in a nonpartisan legislature, of course in Nebraska, for your listeners outside of the state of Nebraska, Meghan knows this, but in Nebraska when we’re non-partisan, it doesn’t mean that we’re not… People have party labels.

I was a Republican, I am a Republican, I’ve been a Republican. But we don’t run on party ballots. And then but there’s no majority or minority party apparatus. So there’s no majority leader, there’s no minority leader. And what that means is that really the currency of the realm as it is in a lot of places in life is relationships, trust and communication. And we are able to get a number of really big things done in Nebraska by having those things and cutting across party divides and really finding common ground with people, by having that humility in that ability to communicate and build relationships. So more than anything, I think those experiences have really helped drive my approach as a public servant while underscoring kind of my philosophy and what I’m trying to get accomplished as attorney general.

Meghan Stoppel (06:48):

That’s a really important point for the listeners outside of Nebraska General with the point about the unicameral and the nonpartisan nature of the work that goes on there because it is unique and something I think a lot of our listeners probably don’t have an appreciation for. But I do think it’s interesting and I’m curious how that is already informing, or if it’s informing, the way that you look at some of the work that your staff does in the office on either a bipartisan basis or in collaboration with their colleagues in other states. So whether it’s in consumer protection or human trafficking work, I’m sure you’re looking at cases right now that your staff is working where they’re working with colleagues in other states. They may be Republicans, they may be Democrats, they may be looking to collaborate. Do you encourage them to look past party label, to look at getting the job done? And how does your experience in the legislature sort of inform the instruction that you give to your staff and the way that you look at bipartisanship in the attorney general’s office?

AG Hilgers (07:52):

Yeah, that’s a great question. So I have a very thought through, from my perspective, political philosophy. It’s not something I came to lightly. It’s something I think stress tested with a lot of people over a long period of time and always try to learn and grow. But I think people who know me or my reputation here in Nebraska is that I’m a very strong conservative, someone who believes in those kinds of principles. And in fact, I think the ACU, one of my last years in the legislature named me the number one most conservative legislator. But having said that, the power of relationships and learning from others and having the humility to be able to understand that you don’t have all the solutions to all the problems. And also knowing that if you’re able to connect with people and build relationships, that there’s ways that you can bridge divides or get past things – maybe disagreements that aren’t based on really strongly held philosophical disagreements, but might just be a misunderstanding.

And I think one of the things I think we see sort of across the political spectrum, and I might even say even outside of politics, is what appears to me to be somewhat of an erosion of people’s ability to kind of work through conflict together. I mean, people have disagreements all the time, whether they’re Republicans or Democrats or they have different philosophies. And so what I learned in the legislature is, hey look, yes, I have very strongly held views. And on some issues it’s going to be very difficult for me if ever to be able to come up with some sort of a compromise because those principles mean a lot to me. And some of those issues mean a lot to me. But there are so many issues where you can collaborate outside of those, where you can actually get a lot done.

And even on the issues where they’re really hard, we’re going to have really difficult disagreement, the way you approach them where you don’t personalize it, you can still have relationships, I think pays so many dividends down the road because now you’re not viewing people necessarily as a personal enemy. These are people, maybe friends with whom you have very strong disagreements. But there’s so many things that do unite a lot of people in this country. I think you self-limit your ability to influence others when you refuse to engage with those with whom you disagree.

I think we’re called to engage the world and I think you have the ability to, if you want to convince and change hearts and minds, you have to be able to do that. So a very strong philosophy that I believe in. But I also think open-mindedness and relationships can lead to a lot of public good. And at the end of the day, I’m the attorney general for the entire state of Nebraska. I’m not the AG for one party or one community for that matter or any other particular ideological issues. So I have to do my best to follow the rule of law for the whole state. And that’s kind of how I’ve approached it. I think it worked in the legislature. And I’m hopeful that that approach will work here in the attorney general’s office.

Lori Kalani (10:33):

It’s interesting when you say that sometimes you disagree with people and you don’t want to take it personally. I completely agree with that. We tell our clients all the time: you may disagree with an AG’s investigation or something that they’re questioning you about, but in the long run, this is your AG and you continue to do business in their state. So let’s get to a resolution that might be a compromise on both sides, but [inaudible 00:11:01] at resolving the problem because this is a person or an office that’s really not going away.

AG Hilgers (11:07):

I hope not, Lori. I hope we aren’t. But here, let me say this though. I think people can hear hard truths. I think sometimes people view the way to approach certain things politically as just to tell people what they want to hear. Well, if I just say I agree with them, they’ll like me more or I’ll be able to avoid disagreement. But what I find is not that people can’t hear hard truths or I can’t hear hard truth, it’s that, and I learned this in particular as speaker, if you approach people from a process perspective in a way that is fair and is transparent as much as you’re allowed to, I think people, as long as they feel that they have the opportunity to be heard, that’s the most important thing. And one of the things that I observed was people got paid to fight with me in the litigation context when I was a private practice lawyer. Literally, they got paid a lot of money to fight. And we could have really strong collegial relationships with opposing counsel. And part of that is because we did things, the system was designed to eliminate the friction points that really could create problems. So if you think about surprises, lack of notice, telling someone one thing, but then doing another. Those kinds of things almost more than anything else erode trust and create conflict even more so in my experience than just telling someone the hard truth. And so as attorney general, one of the things I’ve tried to, well, and I’m only two months in the job, so one of the things that I believe deeply in and will do as attorney general is to try to do what I say I’m going to do, give people fair notice as much as possible, allow people the opportunity to be heard because I could be wrong. There’s something I could miss. And I think if you do those things, then the hard conversations, you can have those, and still have that kind of recurring relationship and get things accomplished.

Meghan Stoppel (12:46):

Yeah, no, I couldn’t agree more. I’m having sort of deja vu. I had a lot of similar conversations with my former colleagues in the AG world when I came over and actually joined Cozen. Some of them were very surprised that I could come now sit on the other side of this table and represent some of the very same clients that were the subject of an investigation in the AGs’ consumer protection community. And I think to your point, General, the key there is creating space for every party’s perspective to be heard and ensuring that the facts are being laid on the table. And that due consideration is being given to both the process and attempting in good faith to find both compromise, but a solution that works for both parties. And whether it’s hard truths or sharing information that wasn’t previously known, I think that really is the key to ensuring that our clients, the business community often maintains credible relationships with the AG offices. Knowing that they’re going to be represented not just zealously, but with credibility. And that we expect and receive from folks like you and your colleagues in the AG community and your staff the same in return. And that we’re getting it. Because I really do think that’s how at the end of the day, we get to the right place for everyone, whether it’s your constituents or our clients. So yeah, it’s really heartening to hear actually because it’s very similar I think to the way that Lori and I look at our roles in this work.

Lori Kalani (14:21):

We’re always telling clients that the AG has a job to do. We just have to get through a process. People get impatient when they see a subpoena in front of them or questions, but it’s really a process. And if you make it transparent and forthcoming, then you get through and you can reach resolution together. I have to say, and I’ve told you this before, General, I know that you had a high degree of operational continuity we could say in the office that you’ve got a lot of people who stayed and I think that’s great. We don’t see that all the time. We see AGs come in, especially when they do come from a legislature or another government office, and there’s sort of a whole new front office. You’ve got a great staff there and talk about process. They’re responsive and they respect the process and pretty forthcoming where it’s appropriate obviously. But we really see that out of your office continually.

AG Hilgers (15:22):

So Doug Peterson and I are very good friends, former General Peterson, and he’s a good man. He’s a very good lawyer, great leader. Had a lot of, tremendous amount and still do of course, have a lot of respect for him. And he built a really good team both at the staff level and his executive team. And they’re people for the most part that I’ve known for a number of years. In this instance, what I saw was a really well run operation with really good people, many people that I knew already and had a lot of trust in. And I thought the best thing for this state of Nebraska was for me to continue and have that continuity that you referenced, Lori. And I think that decision’s been validated in my first two months. One, because the folks that I’ve known, we’re working well together, we’re getting a lot accomplished. But two, I’ve actually been going and meeting everyone in the office. I’ve been trying to meet with them one on one. One of the common themes is these folks like each other and there’s a really good culture that General Peterson built. And so I’m a big believer in morale, in the power of culture to success, to productivity, to good things happening for the office. The cases don’t start fresh when a new guy comes in, those cases are ongoing, those investigations are ongoing. For us to be able to continue the day after I got sworn in just like we were doing the day before I got sworn in, I think the process, there’s a lot of value for the process for the team and then for the folks who, to your point, are working with or maybe on the other side of the V with this office, , and I think that process, having that kind of fair transition, I think has paid a lot of dividends.

Lori Kalani (16:53):

And it’s just more efficient. Now speaking of turnover, you did just announce a new SG, so congratulations.

AG Hilgers (17:02):

Thank you. So my former solicitor general is Jim Campbell. So Jim, I’ve known Jim, Jim’s an outstanding attorney. He actually was going to leave earlier in the year. So right after the transition, he had a new opportunity. We were really excited for him. Certainly I would’ve kept him had he wanted to stay, but Jim stayed along a little longer because as you know, Lori, Nebraska was in the United States Supreme Court just last week. And Biden v Nebraska student loan case, and talking about the importance of continuity, to be able to switch horse, lead horses a month out from a Supreme Court argument in a case of that magnitude and one that was so consequential would’ve been a big mistake. So we wanted Jim to stay around. We were lucky that he decided to stick around. I thought he did an outstanding job. And now we have our new solicitor general, Eric Hamilton. Eric’s a sixth generation Nebraskan, formerly with Williams and Connolly, was in the Trump White House counsel’s office. Also spent some time in the Texas attorney general’s office under General Paxton. So he’s an outstanding lawyer, very, very bright. He’s a good hardworking Nebraska kid at heart, but he’s got exposure to a lot of the issues that AG offices around the country deal with. And he’s got some federal experience being in the White House counsel’s office. So we couldn’t be more excited than to have Eric on the team. He’s already hit the ground running, he’s doing a great job and we’re excited to introduce him to the world in the coming days and weeks ahead.

Lori Kalani (18:29):

It’s a newer trend that offices have hired for those positions, and they’re really coveted jobs because there’s great work and big cases and cases that are going to change broadly big issues across the country. Talk about student loans and energy in the EPA cases. These cases tend to be pretty partisan where one party is suing the administration and it’s not just the Republican AG suing the Biden administration. The Democratic AG sued the Trump administration. So this has been sort of the playbook for years, although I say it’s becoming more sophisticated and certainly more prevalent. But that’s very partisan for the most part, not entirely. And so I would say to the extent you can predict the future, and I know you’ve only been in the office a few months, do you see opportunities to work with your fellow colleagues in other states who are not Republican? And to that point, I’ll embed another question, which is have you even met them? Have you attended AG meetings where you’ve met some of your colleagues in other states across the country who you may not meet through your Republican connections?

AG Hilgers (19:51):

I certainly believe there’s an opportunity to do that and I’ll be introducing myself to my colleagues around the country, Republican, Democrat, and otherwise. I mean, one of the lessons, I touched on this earlier, from my time in the legislature was the value in having those cross-party relationships. There are a whole host of issues, many of which are in the consumer protection context, where you see AGs of both parties working together. And sometimes that’s around issues that have a real national common scope among or scope that’s common amongst a vast majority of AGs. In fact, we signed on, the state of Nebraska signed on to an amicus brief just the other day in a consumer protection suit that I think had over 45 AGs. Or sometimes it’s within not necessarily a partisan context, but just common issue set. So just the other day, Nebraska joined in a letter from the state of Iowa on an issue relating to ethanol and the EPA. And so I think those kinds of issues bring AGs together. I’ve started to meet some of them. General Weiser, I’ve had some conversation with in Colorado. General Tong, I haven’t met since I’ve been attorney general, but he and I were on a fellowship together back when I was in the legislature. And he and I, and General Bird and, I were all University of Chicago law grads. We didn’t quite overlap, we’re all just, if you stacked us together, it might have been nine consecutive years, but we were all sort of the same vintage at the same law school. So we have I think a lot of friends in common. Most of my focus outside of being in the Supreme Court last week is really focused on Nebraska first and foremost. We have to make sure the job that we do here is done right and done well, and that’s what the Nebraskans expect. But I think over time those relationships will build, and I’m looking forward to it.

Meghan Stoppel (21:42):

I am curious where you see those opportunities for potential multistate collaboration. As you know, former General Peterson had a sort of national reputation for collaborating not just with his Republican colleagues, but with his Democratic colleagues on several fairly significant either antitrust or consumer protection multistates. And I’m sure you’re still learning about what a multistate does, how it works, and still acquiring a little bit of an appreciation for that particular tool in your toolbox. But are there certain issues already that you have identified or maybe you identified them prior to coming into office that you would like Nebraska to lead out on when it comes to collaborating with other states? Because of either your expertise or Nebraska’s position as sort of a centric Midwestern state or its perspective as a Midwestern rural state? Are there issues yet, or are you still thinking that over?

AG Hilgers (22:47):

Yeah, those are great questions. I think that’s something that time will tell, because I could have preconceived notions about what’s important to Connecticut. I could have preconceived notions about what’s important to California. But really my approach that I’ve tried to apply my public service and in professional life is in those instances, just to establish relationships and listen. And so on the one hand, understanding what’s important in those states I think is really important if you’re going to do, especially a collaborative multistate, versus coming in with my preconceived notion two months into the job of what’s important in those states. My first [job] is to lay that foundation for communication. I think as I sort of bake a little bit longer in this job and start to really understand the people and the rhythms and the culture here and what we’re engaged in and our resources and capacities and what we want to lead out on, that’s sort of the Venn diagram of what I’m really interested in and what we’re capable of handling. And then there’s what is really relevant to Nebraska. So if it touches on agriculture, the market for agriculture, agriculture products, water, natural resources, those kinds of things are going to be natural fits for the state of Nebraska, no matter who the attorney general is. And certainly under my administration, those issues are going to be at the very top of the priority list.

Lori Kalani (24:03):

Well I’ll tell you, for many years I never saw Nebraska as an executive committee state, where it was one of the states who was really taking the laboring oar on a multistate. So you would have a multistate of 36 or 40 states and four or five or six of them were really leading the charge and doing the majority of the work. And Nebraska was just a small office and you would not see them as part of an executive committee. And that really changed over the last several years. Nebraska, as I think Meghan said, has a real reputation for being a leader on a lot of these consumer protection cases, which have the potential to affect consumers in every single state.

AG Hilgers (24:47):

I think from my perspective, and in many cases, Nebraska, we’ll lead just by being a good team player on a multistate. And we don’t have to lead, we have to be on the executive committee and you can play any role on a team. You can be an offensive lineman. Not everyone gets to be the quarterback. And so there’s a whole host of issues where we’re just going to lead by serving and being part of the team, but there will be issues. And my vision for this office is to make sure that Nebraska, we’re one of the smaller states in the country, but we want to punch above our weight. And so one of my goals is to find those places that really makes sense for Nebraska and where we can bring our expertise and energy. And I think doesn’t matter how big of a state you are. If you’ve got the right people, the right talent who approach it the right way and are willing to put in the hard work and the diligence to match the vision, they can lead my office. We don’t need to be in the headlines. We don’t need to be that kind of an office, but we won’t shy away from tough fights if that’s what needs to happen. And we think we can actually add the value.

Lori Kalani (25:45):

Well, what could we tell business leaders about getting to know you and where they would want to help you understand their business or their concern as it relates to Nebraska or just frankly get to know you because they’re doing business in Nebraska? Have you thought a bit about how you’re going to approach those types of requests for meetings and meet with people? What does the open door policy look like, I guess?

AG Hilgers (26:14):

It’s going to look pretty similar to when I was in the legislature. When I was in the legislature, someone wanted to meet with me. If we can make it at all work in the schedule, I would do it. And that’s whether they were just a neighbor in my community or if it was someone who owns a business who employs a dozen or a thousand Nebraskans. And I think it’s an important part of my job to be able to listen and learn from people. I would say the same thing applies here. Obviously it’s a little different scale than one district out of 49, but if there are business leaders or people in the corporate sector, they’ve got businesses or employees or offices in Nebraska and they want to educate and come talk about some of the things that they’re seeing and the issues and about their business, I’m absolutely an open door and I’m all ears. There’s a lot of different history involved in different industries and sort of teasing out the nuance and the history, and then how they might be operating in Nebraska I think are really important piece of information for me to know. So I’d invite them to come to Nebraska. If they come to Nebraska and we can make the time work, I’d love to see them and build those relationships. I think when you have strong relationships, as I’ve said, I think that just helps everything work. Now I’m going to be out state a lot. I’m going out west next week and we have 93 counties in Nebraska, and I’m going to be visiting a lot of local stakeholders all around the state. And so sometimes logistically it might be a little bit difficult, but open door and I’m anxious to meet people who are operating in Nebraska and learn more about their businesses.

Lori Kalani (27:44):

Do you do that as a road trip?

AG Hilgers (27:47):

I will next week. Yeah, my daughters and I, so we do a yearly road trip. So my four kids, 11, eight, six are my three daughters and my son’s four. So every year we go out to Western Nebraska and go get a Tin Roof sundae out in Potter, Nebraska, I’m going to put a plug. It’s a town of 200, but they get people all over the world. So if someone wants to meet in Potter, I will go meet them to get a Tin Roof sundae. We’ll go do that anytime.

Lori Kalani (28:13):

Tin Roof sundae. Is there snow all over the state?

AG Hilgers (28:18):

Western Nebraska gets a lot more snow. We actually had a little snowfall yesterday. It’s not so bad in the eastern part of the state anymore.

Meghan Stoppel (28:26):

Yeah, I was going to razz you, General, about how much sunshine I’m getting out here in the Denver area compared to what I was used to in Lincoln. But I was telling Lori earlier today, I can’t even say that this week. The weather out here this winter has been, it’s looking a lot like Lincoln. Let me just put it that way.

AG Hilgers (28:44):

Probably the most difficult cross-party fight or discussion we had was on daylight savings last year when I was speaker on moving, whether we were going to go standard time or daylight time year round. I’m out of the policymaker game.

Lori Kalani (28:57):

I really believe that there is a policy component to being AG. And I think it’s a good thing because sometimes I’ve seen AGs through their enforcement actions and settlements, they’re changing policy just because they’re changing business practices that then become somewhat standard in an industry.

AG Hilgers (29:22):

That’s a very fair observation.

Lori Kalani (29:24):

And I think it’s very powerful, but that really makes the case for having AG staff and AGs, frankly, that understand the businesses that they’re talking to and the things they’re trying to implement or put on that piece of paper. I was in-house for years before I was in private practice, and AGs offices used to always tell me to do things and I’d say, but we can’t do that. We would go out of business. And the problem was they had never worked for a business. It was time consuming, but we had to explain to them why those things didn’t work. So it was a learning process.

AG Hilgers (30:03):

The importance of having unified communication and understanding across that entire layer, whether it’s in this instance, attorney general staff, outside, inside decision-makers. If that’s not a sort of unified, if you don’t have a cohesive understanding and talking the same language, you can actually create more difficult problems than you would have otherwise. And so that’s important with both having a good team internally to the AG’s office. So I know the right hand knows what the left hand is doing. Probably the same thing for you and your clients. And it also means that sometimes you got to be able to cut through and have direct conversations. And if you’ve built up the relationships and understanding with one another, you at least give yourself the opportunity to do that when it is truly maybe a miscommunication or things aren’t quite being articulated the right way. It’s one thing as attorney general, I’m going to try to make sure that our office is, that we’re unified in our communication approach. We don’t have any kind of misunderstanding in terms of how we communicate with others.

Lori Kalani (31:03):

Yeah, that’s awesome. Sometimes it just is a function of picking up the phone and talking to somebody rather than pushing paper across and sending an email. So I’m a big fan of the old-fashioned communication when it makes sense.

AG Hilgers (31:20):

And I always tell people, if you’re going to send an angry email, you write it and then delete it and come back to it the next day.

Lori Kalani (31:27):

That’s right, or pick up the phone and call.

AG Hilgers (31:29):

Because emails are forever. Or pick up the phone and call, that’s right.

Lori Kalani (31:31):

Right. We tell our lawyers the same thing at Cozen O’Connor. So Meghan, you have anything else?

Meghan Stoppel (31:40):

No, I think this has been great. Thank you for your time this morning. Thank you for the transparency and the honesty that you’ve brought to this conversation. Really appreciate that. It’s helpful for us. It’s helpful for, I know, our listeners and entertaining as well. So thank you. And we wish you nothing but the best of luck in the coming months as you continue to get your feet wet.

AG Hilgers (32:04):

Well, appreciate the opportunity to be on. It’s great talking to you both and hopefully come to Nebraska for a game. We got a new coach this year and I think we’re going to turn it around, so.

Meghan Stoppel (32:13):

I’ll keep an eye on him.

Lori Kalani (32:13):

Careful what you wish for. You invite and we show up. We’ll see you soon. Thanks, General.

Chris Allen (32:22):

You have been listening to State AG Pulse, brought to you by Cozen O’Connor’s State AG Group. Research for this podcast was provided by our associates, Ryan Bottegal, Hannah Cornett, Keturah Taylor, and Emily Yu, as well as our policy analyst, Elisabeth Hill Hodish. If you enjoyed this week’s episode, please leave us a five star rating and review. That will help our visibility and will allow other listeners to learn about the podcast. And of course, please tune in again in two weeks for our next episode.