On Thursday Circuit Judge Billy Joe Landrum declared a mistrial after a Jones County Circuit Court jury was unable to reach a verdict in a products liability trial against Ford Motor Co. The trial lasted for several weeks.
Baker Donelson and out-of-state lawyers represented Ford. I do not yet know who represented the plaintiffs or the alleged defect at issue.
On Wednesday a Madison County County Court jury returned a verdict of $856,510 for Jackson area developer Mark Jordan in an eminent domain case against the State of Mississippi involving two acres of land. Here is the Clarion-Ledger article on the verdict.
The State took the took the two acres from Jordan pursuant to the state’s eminent domain laws. Jordan agreed that the State could take the land, but disagreed with Jordan’s demand of $1.5 million. The State valued the land at close to $800,000, so the verdict was a win for the State. Of course, collecting over $400,000 per acre for vacant land in a non-urban area does not sound like a loss for Jordan.
The land is located near the intersection of Steed and Sunnybrook roads, across the interstate from Renaissance at Colony Park in Ridgeland. The State needs the land for a new interstate interchange.
Jordan’s attorneys included Larry Jones and Brandon Jolly of Baker Donelson.
While the jury deliberated, the alienation of affection trial in Roberston v. Russell continued down the hall. I watched a good bit of that trial yesterday. It’s funny how attentive a jury is in an alienation of affection trial. There was no dozing off after lunch. There will probably be a verdict in the case today. Dr. Russell and his former wife are expected to testify today.
No, that's not a typo. Ford Motor Co. got a defense verdict in Jefferson County today at the conclusion of a two week trial.
The plaintiff was a passenger who was paralyzed in a roll-over of a Ford Explorer that was pulling a trailer. The driver of the Explorer passed out from hypoglycemia and ran off the road. Plaintiff's defect allegation was instability of the vehicle and that the seat belt did not work properly. The plaintiff asked for $9.5 million in closing.
Barry Ford, Bill Jones and Everett White at Baker Donelson were among a team of lawyers representing Ford. Plaintiff's counsel were lawyers from South Carolina and New Orleans. Plaintiff had Deborah McDonald as local counsel, but it's my understanding that she was not brought in until shortly before trial.
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