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A Madison County jury awarded a plaintiff $1.9 million today in a car accident case. The verdict may be the largest verdict in the history of the county. The trial judge was Judge William Chapman.
The plaintiff’s medical bills were approximately $200,000 and there were over $1 million additional economic damages. The plaintiff’s attorney was John Davidson of Jackson.
Denada Investments, LLC moved to intervene in the Colson-Wachovia interpleader action on Monday. Here is Denada’s proposed answer and cross-claim. Denada’s claim of $530,000 is based on a 2007 one page promissory note that Colson personally guaranteed. It appears that the entire principal may still be due, but it’s unclear. Denada alleges that Colson defaulted in November 2008. Denada is represented by Clarence Webster and Will ‘Deuce’ Manuel of Bradley Arant out of Jackson.
With $1.5 million interpleaded by Wachovia the filed claims to date are:
There are now over $11.5 million in claims to date with only $1.5 million to satisfy those claims.
On Friday a Hinds County Circuit Court jury rendered a $2.5 million verdict for Linda Knox, a 62 year old woman who in 2007 was severely beaten in the parking lot of the Kroger Grocery Store on I-55 in northeast Jackson. Ms. Knox was hospitalized for two weeks following the attack and was permanently blinded in one eye. Her two attackers targeted older women in shopping center parking lots. Ms. Knox’s attorneys were Rocky Wilkins and Ashley Ogden of Jackson. Kroger’s attorney was Bill Luckett of Clarksdale.
Viewing the comments to the story on the Clarion-Ledger’s website , there is sympathy for Kroger’s defense, which the Ledger described as follows:
But Luckett said there was no way Kroger could have prevented “crazy, drugged out thugs” from carrying out the attack.
Luckett said one of those charged in the crime said they had driven around the parking lot looking for a female to snatch her purse.
“Look at it as an unfortunate event that happened on Kroger’s lot,” Luckett said.
I’m going to argue the other side of the coin on this one. Businesses on the I-55 corridor in Jackson invite customers in and take their money, but never disclose that there is a history of crime activity in their parking lots. There are many purse snatchings and similar assaults in the parking lots of these businesses. Most do not make the news. Visit that Kroger and I promise you that you will never see a sign that says: “Warning! Crazy drugged out thugs beat up an old lady in the parking lot last week. Shop at your own risk.” Businesses like Kroger should either disclose the crime history on their premises or provide protection for their customers.
To get a verdict in a premises liability case the plaintiff must prove that the defendant was on notice of a dangerous condition. Ms. Knox and her attorneys presumably met this burden. I doubt that Ms. Knox knew about the crime wave in the Kroger parking lot–most people do not. Kroger knows this and likes it that its customers do not know, otherwise they might drive out to the Wal Mart. The critics of this verdict would not give Kroger or another business their sympathy if they were attacked in the parking lot of a business with an undisclosed history of crime activity.
There were two more intervenors on Wednesday in the Colson-Wachovia interpleader action. Seashore Development Group, LLC filed a motion and attached a proposed cross-claim that seeks $428,429.25 of the funds that Wachovia froze and interpleaded into the court. Seashore has a condominium development in Biloxi. Colson’s companies held escrow deposits and closing settlement funds for the development that were held in Wachovia bank accounts.
Sandion LTD, d/b/a Coldwell Banker also filed a motion and proposed cross-claim .Coldwell Banker claims that the frozen Wachovia accounts hold a substantial amount of earnest monies belonging to its clients and that it has been unable to close many sales. For some unexplained reason, Coldwell Banker did not identify the amount of its claim or even the number of affected transactions.
With $1.5 million interpleaded by Wachovia the filed claims to date are:
There are over $11 million in claims to date with only $1.5 million to satisfy those claims. There could also be additional claims filed in the future. The two prominent questions at this point are:
There will be a lot of attorneys and forensic accountants trying to get answers to those questions on behalf of many clients. It will also be interesting to see when the claimants start turning on each other and Wachovia in this case or separate actions.
For additional information on this developing case click here.
The legal industry is being hit hard by the recession. Several blogs provide daily updates and there is a layoff tracker at LawShucks.com :
Major law firms are turning out to be just as susceptible to general economic conditions as every other industry. Historically, layoffs by top-tier firms were kept quiet and were done on a one-off basis. We’re trying to shed a little light on the situation.
As of March 31, 2009, there have been over 9,946 people laid off by major law firms (4,046 lawyers / 5,905 staff) since January 1, 2008. For the first quarter of 2009, 7,999 (3,149 lawyers, 4,850 staff), 3,677 in March alone (1,334 attorneys, 2,343 staff).
Subscribe to the blog Above the Law on your google or other reader and prepare to be depressed. The site provides daily updates from mega-firms complete with bootlegged emails announcing that the ax has been dropped.
It appears that the site defines major law firms as huge firms based in major cities. I do not believe that any firm with a presence in Mississippi fits their criteria for a major firm, but the recession is being felt everywhere. There is no doubt that Mississippi firms, attorneys and support staff are suffering. Hiring by law firms in Mississippi is down. There are rumors around town about layoffs, particularly of contract attorneys and staff. I have also heard that law school graduates are finding it very difficult to find a paying job in the legal field.
In the litigation arena Mississippi began its recession a good five years ago with the change in joinder law, tort reform and a conservative supreme court sending mass tort plaintiff lawyers in search of greener pastures in other states. Katrina related litigation helped, but those cases have mostly been resolved. There are just not as many big cases in Mississippi as 5-10 years ago, with cases like Eaton v. Frisby being the exception. And no one I know sees that changing anytime soon.
Back on March 9 I had a post about the Eaton v. Frisby case and called it a mess worth watching. Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Swan Yerger made watching the case harder last Thursday by closing the courtroom to the press and public. In doing so, Judge Yerger apparently disregarded state Supreme Court rules for closing a court from the public. Jimmy Gates from the Clarion-Ledger objected, but was thrown out. The apparent justification for closing the courtroom was:
Yerger said attorneys for both sides agreed it should be closed to the media and the public.
On Sunday the Clarion-Ledger’s Ronnie Agnew wrote a scathing criticism of Judge Yerger’s decision:
How can the public have confidence in the judicial system when shenanigans that took place Thursday continue to occur, when people in charge of upholding the law conveniently ignore what the law states?
The events of Thursday represent a travesty of justice and Senior Judge Swan Yerger, no newcomer to the bench, ought to know the law better than with the judgment he showed that day. Yerger is hearing a $1 billion theft of trade lawsuit where officials at Eaton Aerospace contend five employees revealed trade secrets when they went to work for a North Carolina competitor.
While I’m not going to go so far as to call it a travesty of justice, Mr. Agnew has a point. The Eaton v. Frisby case is probably the biggest case pending in Hinds County, perhaps in the whole state. The parties are litigating the case at the expense of the taxpayers, who fund the judicial system. If Eaton and Frisby are not comfortable airing their dispute in public, then they should agree to a private arbitration where they pay the decision maker and can set whatever ground rules they want. There are strong public policy reasons favoring open courts, and parties should not be able to disregard those policies and close a court by agreement.
Back on March 9 I had a post about the Eaton v. Frisby case and called it a mess worth watching. Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Swan Yerger made watching the case harder last Thursday by closing the courtroom to the press and public. In doing so, Judge Yerger apparently disregarded state Supreme Court rules for closing a court from the public. Jimmy Gates from the Clarion-Ledger objected, but was thrown out. The apparent justification for closing the courtroom was:
Yerger said attorneys for both sides agreed it should be closed to the media and the public.
On Sunday the Clarion-Ledger’s Ronnie Agnew wrote a scathing criticism of Judge Yerger’s decision:
How can the public have confidence in the judicial system when shenanigans that took place Thursday continue to occur, when people in charge of upholding the law conveniently ignore what the law states?
The events of Thursday represent a travesty of justice and Senior Judge Swan Yerger, no newcomer to the bench, ought to know the law better than with the judgment he showed that day. Yerger is hearing a $1 billion theft of trade lawsuit where officials at Eaton Aerospace contend five employees revealed trade secrets when they went to work for a North Carolina competitor.
While I’m not going to go so far as to call it a travesty of justice, Mr. Agnew has a point. The Eaton v. Frisby case is probably the biggest case pending in Hinds County, perhaps in the whole state. The parties are litigating the case at the expense of the taxpayers, who fund the judicial system. If Eaton and Frisby are not comfortable airing their dispute in public, then they should agree to a private arbitration where they pay the decision maker and can set whatever ground rules they want. There are strong public policy reasons favoring open courts, and parties should not be able to disregard those policies and close a court by agreement.
Kingfish at the Jackson Jambalaya blog has an update on the Steve Colson fraud scandal.
One question is how many victims will there be? I received a not so nice email from one of the victims that stated that there are 250 people “going through this.”
Kingfish found this Mobile Press article from early March. I’m surprised by the limited amount of press attention that this story has received thus far. This appears to be a major scandal involving a lawyer, the mortgage industry and LSU football players who may have been investors in some of Colson’s companies.
The Clarion-Ledger had the following blurb today stating that Judge Vollor is stepping down after twenty years on the bench:
Circuit Judge Frank Vollor of Vicksburg will retire May 31 after 20 years on the bench.
Vollor, 60, said he is stepping down for economic reasons. Gov. Haley Barbour will appoint someone to fill the unexpired term, which ends in December 2010.
Judge Vollor’s circuit includes Warren, Issaquena and Sharkey counties. Judge Isadore Patrick is also a Circuit Judge for the circuit.
With twenty years of service Judge Vollor, is eligible for full state retirement benefits. He can collect those benefits while also working in private practice. I do not know what his plans are, but as an experienced and respected trial court judge he can probably work all he wants as a mediator.