Now retired Hinds County Circuit Judge Swan Yerger had a reputation for going out of his way to dismiss cases. Judge Yerger seemed to get reversed by the Mississippi Supreme Court more than any other judge in the state for defense rulings. It happened again last week in Compere v. St. Dominic. The case was a … Continue Reading
On Tuesday the Mississippi Court of Appeals issued a controversial decision in City of Jackson v. Rhaly. Here is the Court’s opinion. Facts: The case was a lawsuit against the City for flood damages after a creek overflowed because it was not properly maintained. In interrogatory responses the plaintiffs requested any standard operating procedures which … Continue Reading
Alison Grant with the Plain Dealer (Cleveland newspaper) reported last week on two lawsuits recently filed against Eaton Corporation related to the Eaton v. Frisby litigation in Hinds County. The North Carolina Antitrust Case The first case is an antitrust case filed by Frisby (now called Triumph Actuation Systems) in North Carolina on February 1. … Continue Reading
Hinds County Circuit Judge Swan Yerger retired effective the end of 2011. Former Jackson City Councilman Jeff Weill was elected to replace Judge Yerger and inherited his docket. On January 4, 2011–-the day of Judge Weill’s investiture—Eaton Corporation moved to have Judge Weill recuse himself from the Eaton v. Frisby case. Eaton filed its motion under seal … Continue Reading
Eaton Corporation touts itself as one of the world’s most ethical companies. Its CEO touts the company’s ethical values. Those ethical values did not extend to Eaton’s legal department. As discussed in this post, Hinds County Circuit Judge Swan Yerger unsealed an opinion last week in which he found by clear and convincing evidence that … Continue Reading
Perhaps the biggest legal development of the year in Mississippi happened today during what is usually the quietest weeks of the year for lawyers and the judiciary. Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Yerger unsealed an opinion today dismissing Eaton Corporation’s case against Frisby due to Eaton’s hiring Ed Peters to improperly influence Judge Bobby DeLaughter … Continue Reading
As reported by the Clarion-Ledger, the City of Jackson now faces two conflicting rulings by Hinds County judges on the City’s waste water contract. Last week Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Swan Yerger threatened to throw City leaders in jail unless the City complied with an order to award the contract to United Water Services. I discussed Judge … Continue Reading
On Thursday Hinds County Circuit Judge Swan Yerger threatened to incarcerate Jackson Mayor Harvey Johnson, City Attorney Pieter Teeuwissen and other city leaders over the City’s failure to award a waste water contract pursuant to a Court Order issued by Judge Yerger. The Clarion-Ledger reported: “If the city has failed to comply with this court’s … Continue Reading
One week after reversing a $148,000 verdict against the City of Jackson, the Miss. Supreme Court affirmed a $500,000 verdict against the City in a wrongful death case. Here is the Court’s opinion in Harris v. City of Jackson. Like the case last week, this case involved a wreck caused by a Jackson police officer. … Continue Reading
On Thursday a unanimous Mississippi Supreme Court reversed a $148,000 bench trial verdict against the City Jackson in a Tort Claims Act case stemming from traffic accident caused by a police officer responding to a report of a man lying injured on a street. Here is the Court’s opinion, which Justice Dickinson authored. The accident occurred at … Continue Reading
The Clarion-Ledger reports on the Mississippi Supreme Court upholding Hinds County Circuit Judge Swan Yerger’s $1,560,642.83 sanction against Eaton Corp. and its attorneys in the Eaton v. Frisby trade secrets case. The reasons for the sanction are unknown and no one is talking: Eaton and Frisby’s attorneys will not discuss the case publicly. "The information you asked … Continue Reading
In what is becoming a regular occurrence Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Swan Yerger rendered a $375,000 bench verdict against the City of Jackson in a case involving a police pursuit. Here is the Clarion-Ledger article on the verdict. This is the fourth similar verdict in the last year. The article states: The latest ruling comes from a lawsuit … Continue Reading
On Saturday Jimmie Gates and the Clarion-Ledger reported on Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Swan Yerger throwing out a racial discrimination suit against the City of Jackson by fireman Ricky Haggard. According to the article: Ricky Haggard had alleged he was discriminated against after he was removed from overseeing a federal grant’s position in 2006 and … Continue Reading
Kingfish has the story on Jeff Weill’s announcement that he is running for the Hinds County Circuit Court Judge seat that is being vacated by Judge Swan Yerger: Jackson City Councilman Jeff Weill of Ward 1 announced his candidacy for the Hinds County Circuit Judge position currently held by Swan Yerger. Yerger announced he is … Continue Reading
The Clarion-Ledger ran this article on Monday about the upcoming elections to fill the seats of retiring Judge Yerger (Hinds County Circuit) and Barnett (Hinds County County). The article was largely a repeat from an October article that quoted Ashley Ogden and Jeff Weill stating that they would probably run for Judge Yerger’s seat. I wrote … Continue Reading
Today’s Clarion-Ledger contains this article about Jackson city councilman Jeff Weill considering running for the Circuit Court seat that Judge Yerger will vacate with his retirement at the end of next year. The article states: "It’s definitely on my radar," Weill said. "The current plan is to look hard at this opportunity – it’s a … Continue Reading
A subpoena has been issued in Eaton v. Frisby commanding Bobby DeLaughter to appear for a deposition on October 2, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. at the offices of Forman Perry in Jackson. The subpoena was issued by Frisby’s attorneys. The court file also indicates that Frisby is attempting to serve a subpoena on Ed Peters in South … Continue Reading
NMC and others have criticized the sealing of the court file in Eaton v. Frisby. It appears that it started with an an Agreed Protective Order in 2005 that was designed to protect the confidentiality of trade secrets. That was followed by a Supplemental Protective Order later in 2005 that was also directed at trade secrets. … Continue Reading
The Clarion-Ledger is reporting that Hinds County Circuit Judge Swan Yerger will not run for reelection when his current term expires on December 31, 2010. Judge Yerger is 74 years old and has served on the bench since 1997. There have been rumors over the last few months that Judge Yerger would retire at the … Continue Reading
On Friday the Clarion-Ledger reported that Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Swan Yerger stayed Eaton Corp. v. Frisby Aerospace pending a determination of whether former Eaton lawyer Ed Peters improperly influenced Judge DeLaughter when he had the case. Eaton is the plaintiff and alleges that former Eaton employees stole $1 billion in trade secrets and gave … Continue Reading
