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

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Hinds County Defense Verdict

There was a defense verdict returned on Friday in a Hinds County medical malpractice trial. I do not know the names of the parties or the facts of the case. The vote was 11-1.

Heber Simmons of Ridgeland represented the plaintiff. Mildred Morris of Watkins Eager in Jackson represented the defendant. Stuart Harmon of Jackson represented a defendant who was dismissed via a directed verdict. Judge William Gowan presided in the case.

Wall Street Journal Article on Dr. Adam Lewis

Saturday's Wall Street Journal had a long front-page article about Jackson neurosurgeon Dr. Adam Lewis. Anderson writes about the article here. The article focuses on the death of a 48 year old patient who died hours after back surgery in April.

The WSJ had the man's medical records reviewed by nationally preeminent surgeons, who said that the man was not a candidate for surgery.

Lewis has a high rate of surgeries on his patients and owns part of the company that sells the devices that he implants. Anderson states:

So many doctors cannot rest content making a good living from being doctors; they have to own their own MRI, or their own specialty clinic, or their own medical-device company.

The article (which is behind a pay wall) heavily quotes Lewis' attorney, Whit Johnson with Currie Johnson in Flowood. Dr. Lewis gets sued a lot and is a controversial figure in the Jackson medical community. I don't think that Jackson doctors are surprised by the allegation that Dr. Lewis operates on too many patients. I reported a verdict from earlier this year here.

Kingfish quotes much of the WSJ article here.

Sun-Herald Article on Former Miss. Supreme Court Justice Joel Blass

The Sun-Herald ran this article over the weekend on former Supreme Court Justice Joel Blass of Pass Christian. Blass bucked the racist norm in the Mississippi Legislature in the 1950's and was highly respected in the legal community. The article quotes current Supreme Court Justice Jess Dickinson:

Jess Dickinson, a presiding State Supreme Court Justice, practiced law with Blass in Gulfport in the early 1990s.

“The practice of law today really needs a dose of professionalism,” he said. “The lawyers have gotten so strident and aggressive. They do so in an attempt to represent their clients, but professionalism has seemed to drift away from this profession.

“Joel Blass exhibited the epitome of professionalism. He is a gentleman’s gentleman, a lawyer’s lawyer, a scholar, and a mentor to every lawyer, whether they were in his firm or not. You could always trust him.”

Justice Dickinson's comments are consistent with everything that I've heard about Blass.

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Week before last a Hinds County jury awarded Amy Smith a little over $112,000 in her lawsuit against Kroger. Here is the Clarion-Ledger article on the verdict.

Smith suffered injuries in a 2010 assault and robbery in the parking lot of the Kroger on I-55 in Jackson. Jackson attorney Ashley Ogden represented Smith. The jury apportioned 30% of the fault to Smith and 70% to Kroger.

It appears that the 30% fault apportionment to the plaintiff will reduce her recovery to less than $80,000. It's a little frustrating to see the Ledger write a big article on a jury verdict and not clarify that issue.  

As to the damages awarded:

Smith suffered injuries, including to her knee and wrist, and post-traumatic disorder, Ogden said. The jury awarded her $12,189.19 for past medical expenses, $25,000 for future expenses and $75,000 for pain, suffering and mental anguish.

Ogden believes lawsuits against this Kroger store are making the premises safer for customers:

“We just want Kroger to fix the problem in the parking lot so that the women who are shopping there don't have to be afraid of having their purse snatched or being assaulted," Ogden said.

As president of a local anticrime fighting group, Ogden said, "what we are trying to do is make these businesses aware of their responsibility in participating with us in solving the crime problems."

 

Judge Bill Gowan was the trial judge. I don't know the identity of the defense lawyer.

There were also reports circulating last week of a verdict of over $2 million in Pearl River County. That is the extent of the information that I have been able to gather about that case. That would be some verdict for Pearl River County. 

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On Saturday a Hinds County jury returned a $750,000 verdict in a nursing home case involving Manhattan Nursing and Rehab. Center in Jackson. I believe that Manhattan is part of the Tara Cares chain. All the damages were non-economic damages.

The case was a wrongful death case involving Mannie Williams, aged 87. Ms. Williams fell and suffered a fractured pelvis at home. She went to Manhattan for short term rehab. with a plan to return home. While in the nursing home, she suffered multiple pressure sores, also known as bed sores. The pressure sores included a stage IV sacral (tailbone area) wound that became infected and caused Ms. Williams' death.  

Stage IV pressure sores are serious injuries. If you doubt the severity of a stage IV sacral pressure sore, go to google images and search “stage iv sacral pressure sore.” But don't do it right after a meal. Wikipedia has a good explanation of pressure sores here. Pressure sores are usually preventable with regular turning.

The case was tried before Judge William Gowan. The trial started on Wednesday and ended on Saturday.

Eric Stracener and Andrew Neely of Jackson and Jake Adams of Brandon represented the plaintiff.

Davis Frye, Barry Ford and Brad Moody with Baker Donelson in Jackson represented the defendant. 

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There was a $750,000 jury verdict returned on Saturday in a nursing home case in Hinds County Circuit Court. Judge Bill Gowan was the trial judge. I will have a full report on Tuesday.

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With the U.S. Senate approving Justice James Graves' appointment to the 5^th Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday, attention turns to who Governor Barbour will appoint to replace Graves on the Miss. Supreme Court. I posted on this issue in this post last June. I've had lines in the water for weeks on this issue and do not really have any fresh information on this topic.  

Speculation in Jackson legal circles continues to center on Barbour appointing Graves' replacement from the Mississippi Court of Appeals. Under this theory Barbour will appoint Court of Appeals Chief Judge Leslie King to the Supreme Court, a sitting trial judge to the Court of Appeals and an attorney to replace the trial judge. Hinds County Chancery Judge Denise Owens is a name that I hear as the favorite to replace King on the Court of Appeals if it this happens. Others speculate that Owens could replace Graves on the Supreme Court.

I've gotten mixed signals on the possibility of Jackson attorney La'Verne Edney getting the Supreme Court appointment. I've heard that she does not want the position. And I've heard that she is campaigning for the job. So I've got no idea.

One interesting scenario would be for Barbour to appoint former Hinds County Circuit Judge Malcolm Harrison to one of the available positions. Word on the street is that Barbour was upset with Judge Bill Gowan for running against—and unseating Harrison. Appointing Harrison to another slot would at least put Harrison back into public service.

With Barbour still in the 2012 Presidential race, expect the position to go to an African-American. If Barbour appoints a white person to the Supreme Court, then he's not running for President.

At this point, I have no prediction on what's going to happen here. Let me know if you've heard any interesting rumors on the Supreme Court seat. If requested, I do not reveal the identity of sources. 

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A Hinds County jury returned a defense verdict on Friday in a nursing home case.

The case involved the alleged wrongful death of a 92–year old resident of Manhattan Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Jackson. The woman suffered from pressure sores with infection and sepsis, dehydration and malnutrition.

The jury returned a 10–2 defense verdict after a one week trial.

Barry Ford, Davis Frye and Brad Moody with Baker Donelson in Jackson represented the Defendant.

Trae Sims of Canton represented the Plaintiff.

Judge Bill Gowan was the trial judge.

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There is a rumor circulating that Jackson lawyer Ashley Ogden has decided not to run for Hinds County Circuit Court Judge. In an article as recent as two weeks ago, Ogden was quoted as saying that he intended to run for the seat being vacated by the retirement of Judge Swan Yerger:

 Jackson lawyer Ashley Ogden, who ran against Yerger four years ago, told The Clarion-Ledger in January he is preparing another run.

"I have an interest in Jackson's crime problem being solved, and that's why I ran in the first place," he said then.

But now comes word that Ogden will not run, effectively handing the seat to Jackson City Councilman Jeff Weill.

Weill is the only person who has qualified to run for the seat. The qualifying deadline is May 7.

There will be a lot of people disappointed by Ogden’s telling people for four years that he is running and then backing out at the last minute. As of yesterday, Ogden even still had his campaign web site running on the Internet. Some will argue that this kept other candidates out of the race.

Ogden’s decision, however, is not a big surprise to many Jackson lawyers. Ogden’s law firm occupies a large building on Capital Street and has numerous employees, including former Supreme Court Chief Justice Jim Smith. The future job prospects of Ogden’s employees in a down legal market could have weighed on his decision to not run.

As for Weill, I have been impressed with him on the City Council and expect him to be a good judge.

In other Hinds County Circuit Court races, Judges Green and Kidd are not expected to have opponents. Judge Malcolm Harrison, who was recently appointed by Governor Barbour, is expected to be opposed by Bill Gowan.

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Ipse Blogit has this post today speculating on possible candidates to run for the Hinds County Circuit Court Judge seat held by soon to be retiring Judge Swan Yerger. The following potential candidates are listed:

Ashley Ogden - successful trial attorney; ran a close second last time; campaign website already up

Special Circuit Judge William Gowan - currently sitting as a special circuit court judge in Hinds County under the DOJ's Jackson Enforcement Team ("JET") grant

Joe Nosef - former Chief of Staff for Gov. Barbour

Wilson Carroll - former GOP candidate for Hinds County DA

Jeff Weill - current Jackson City Councilman from Ward 1
 

That is an interesting list. Ogden almost unseated Judge Yerger in the last election. Weill has proved that he can get elected, but I am not sure of his credentials to be a trial judge. Nosef has prior campaign experience, but as far as I know, virtually no litigation experience.  Gowan could tout his experience as a judge in Hinds County. As a former DA candidate, Caroll could run on a tough-on crime platform. Of course, Ogden has taken ownership of that plank. I do not believe that all of the above will run. If they do, it will probably be good for Ogden, who figures to be the favorite no matter what.