Comments on the Latest Developments in Mississippi Civil Litigation
Last month two federal court of appeals judges sucking up to speaking at the Federalist Society Convention advocated no discovery in cases worth less than $500,000. From the Slate article:
Thomas Hardiman, a judge on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, made what should have been viewed as a shocking declaration for
…
Nicole Hong penned this entertaining Wall Street Journal [paywall] article about sleeping jurors in Saturday’s print edition. The opening:
The right to a jury trial is a pillar of America’s justice system, enshrined in the Constitution from a tradition dating back more than 1,000 years.
The problem these days is making sure jurors stay awake…..
…
Last week I experienced my first voir dire as a potential juror. This post reports on the experience.
I was summoned to appear in the big courtroom at the Hinds County Courthouse at 8:30 a.m. This was my second jury summons, but the first where I made it onto a panel.
Hinds County Circuit Clerk…
On Sunday Clarion Ledger reporter Jerry Mitchell examined Mississippi’s partisan ‘nonpartisan’ judicial elections. The article concluded with this happy thought from legal pioneer and former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Reuben Anderson:
Former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Reuben Anderson also favors appointing judges and wishes Mississippi could select judges similar to the federal system.
He
…
On Tuesday the Mississippi Court of Appeals affirmed a $1,095,000 Hinds County jury verdict in Barnett v. Miss. Valley Silica Co.
Here is my brief post in October 2012 reporting on the verdict.
The decedent worked near sandblasting at Miss. Iron and Steel Co. on High Street in Jackson. He alleged that Valley Silica failed…
On Thursday in Dietz v. Bouldin, the Supreme Court ruled that federal district courts can recall jurors after identifying errors in deliberations.
The decision involved the trial of a car wreck case in Florida. The defendant admitted liability and stipulated $10,136 in damages for plaintiff’s medical expenses. During deliberations, the jury sent out a…
A few weeks ago the New York Times ran this article about a mistrial in a New York murder trial following a several-months-long trial and 18 days of jury deliberations.
The part of the story that grabbed me were the complaints from other jurors that the sole holdout introduced his own theories into deliberations:
[the
…
In what could be a major change for state court litigation, the Mississippi Supreme Court is requesting comments about proposed amendments to the Rules of Civil Procedure. The proposals include mandatory scheduling orders and trial settings for civil actions.
Here is the Court’s entire document on the proposals.
Here is the Advisory Committee on Rules’…
Lately I’ve wondered whether the civil justice system and lawyers who practice in it have it wrong. Hear me out on this.
When you get in an argument with your spouse or significant other, when it’s all over, do you care who ‘won’ the argument? No, you don’t. Or if you do, you’re in a…
Judges might be appalled to know how much parties theorize that the judge ruled against them because “the other side got to the judge” or “the fix was in.” It doesn’t happen all the time. But it’s not particularly unusual either.
People don’t like to contemplate that their side was wrong on an issue or…