Four Significant Trials....But Little Information
There were at least four significant civil trials last week in Mississippi with the plaintiffs winning 3 of 3 that went to verdict. I did not get much information on all but the Amite County verdict. Here is what I know:
- A $1.2 million verdict in Hinds County Circuit Court against Manhattan Nursing Home. I believe that Manhattan is in the Tara Cares System. Manhattan has a long tradition of being a bad nursing home dating back at least a decade to when it was in the Beverly system. Howard Thigpen of Morgan & Morgan represented the plaintiff. Barry Ford, Davis Frye and Brad Moody of Baker Donelson represented the defendant. Judge Tommie Green presided. This verdict will presumably be reversed due to the caps.
- A $1.0–plus million verdict in Rankin County in a medical malpractice trial. I believe that the doctor got a defense verdict and the hospital was found liable. I don't know anymore about this verdict.
- A $125,000 verdict in Amite County against Farm Bureau Insurance. The case involved a dispute between former agent Alinda White and Farm Bureau based on Farm Bureau implementing sales quotas. Mitch Tyner of the Tyner Law Firm in Jackson represented the plaintiff. Dale Russell and Ellen Robb of Copeland Cook in Ridgeland represented Farm Bureau. Judge Al Johnson presided.
There was also a medical malpractice trial taking place in Pike County last week before Judge Mike Taylor. I do not know whether there has been a verdict.
Continues to be a good month for plaintiffs.
Will hope to read about these in the MJVR, especially that Rankin County case.
... Manhattan got hammered a few months ago too, I recall reading here.
$150K workplace verdict last week in federal court in Gulfport at the end of last week. Was in Brandon last week and didn't get to see the verdict.
Hearing about the Pike County case. No verdict yet. Expected today or tomorrow.
Dajuan White (minor) v. Dawn Sumrall, MD,02-248.
On the nursing home case, wouldn't the verdict be reduced by the judge to the $1 million cap, as set out in 11-1-60, rather than being reversed?
Marty, the med-mal cap is $500K not $1M, but that's only on noneconomic damages. So we would have to know more about the damages.
Anecdotally, I heard today that care expenses for one of the W/D beneficiaries were an issue, so that could be a large "economic" component. Don't really know however.
Thanks. I mistakenly assumed the nursing home case wasn't a med-mal case, but a negligence case, but I see the statute includes these cases in the $500K cap for noneconomic damages. Regardless, my point is that if the verdict is subject to the caps, I believe the Court would reduce the judgment accordingly, and not reverse the judgment. 11-1-60(2)(c). Philip said "This verdict will presumably be reversed due to the caps."
I meant to say "reduced" instead of reversed.
Oh I getcha now, Marty. Sorry. (And the part about the care expenses was about the hospital case, not the nursing-home one.)
Philip wrote "reversed" only because he had just written "Judge Green." ;)
(Whose first name, I think, is Tomie not Tommie.)
No joke - at least 50% of the time I'm trying to set a case and looking at the court's docket, there's a trial against Manhattan. How in the world are these people still in business?
Also Anderson, let us not forget that the MSSC's recent mind-blowing Intown v. Howard affirmation was a Judge Green trial.
"Also Anderson, let us not forget that the MSSC's recent mind-blowing Intown v. Howard affirmation was a Judge Green trial."
That was just an indefensible case. Any result where the mgmt of InTown wasn't publicly hanged, drawn & quartered was a defense "win" on that P.O.S.