BRIAN PERRY/Delta trial courts criticized
The American Tort Reform Association’s (ATRA) latest “Judicial Hellholes” report puts the Mississippi Delta as one of six areas on its national “Watch List” and notes a recent Jones County judicial election is one of seven judicial “Points of Light.”
This is the tenth anniversary in Mississippi of the passage of comprehensive tort reform in 2004 which brought significant changes to the state’s civil litigation climate and the national perception of our legal environment. Prior to those legislative changes and subsequent judicial actions, Mississippi was labeled a “Judicial Hellhole.” Afterward, ATRA reports note, “Mississippi has been transformed from the ‘jackpot justice capital of America’ to America’s number one reformer.”
But this year’s report singles out one region of the state as being problematic: “Mississippi’s litigation environment has significantly improved since the state became known as the ‘Lawsuit Capital of the World’ in the early 2000s. Legislative reforms, gubernatorial support, and judicial action led to the remarkable turnaround. But the 18-county Delta region has resisted the spirit of reform and retains a reputation for favoring plaintiffs. Trial courts in the state’s northwest are routinely overturned by the Mississippi Supreme Court – and for good reason. This year, the state’s high court has decided 23 civil cases, about a quarter of which came from the Delta region. In five of the six Delta cases, the high court reversed the trial court or found the trial court erred but affirmed the outcome on different grounds.”
The report notes two cases in particular, Entergy Mississippi, Inc. v Acey in Tunica County and Hospital MD, LLC v Larry in Yazoo County.
Madison County Journal
12/23/14
Magnolia Tribune
