Mississippi Litigation Review & Commentary : Mississippi Personal Injury Lawyer & Attorney : Phillip W. Thomas Law Firm : MS Litigation Review & Commentary

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Last week the Miss. Court of Appeals affirmed a 2008 Hinds County defense verdict in Clark v. Toyota Motor Sales. Here is the Court's opinion. 

The basis of the case was a 2001 auto-accident in DeSoto County involving a Toyota truck. Part of the appeal centered on Toyota's exemplar truck that Judge Winston Kidd allowed jurors to view in front of the courthouse.  

Wayne Ferrell and a bunch of other lawyers represented the plaintiffs. David Ayers and other Watkins Eager lawyers represented Toyota.

Judge David Ishee wrote the Court's unanimous opinion.

My Take:

This is an example of the fact that it's common for defendants to win civil cases in Hinds County. Usually it's the big plaintiff verdicts that make the paper. But defendants win trials in Hinds County all the time.

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I recently subscribed to the National Law Journal and was a little disappointed at its focus on the D.C. legal scene. So it was much to my surprise that the latest issue contained this nice article on Jackson firm Watkins & Eager. The headline is "Small Mississippi firm makes big name for itself." Of course with 73 lawyers, Watkins & Eager is one of the largest firms in Mississippi. The focus of the article is the fact that the firm represents many blue chip corporations. The article mentions attorneys Michael Ulmer, David Ayers and Paul Stephenson.

The article quotes William Goodman III and mentions how between 1998 and 2004, the firm was swamped with litigation. Those years were definitely a high water mark for litigators in Mississippi, and perhaps the nation. I will have more on that point on a later post about the AAJ's budget shortfall.

Unfortunately, the article is basically a fluff piece with no coverage of pressing questions about Watkins & Eager's firm culture, such as its rejection of the business casual dress code adopted by all the other big firms in Jackson.

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I have a report of a $16 million jury verdict today in federal court in Greenville against Kia Motors. The case is presumably a products case involving a defective auto. Defense counsel was David Ayers and Robert Ireland of Watkins & Eager in Jackson.  Plaintiff's counsel was Ralph Chapman from Clarskdale. I am trying to get more information.