How causation in fact and in law differ On March 7, 2023, the Mississippi Court of Appeals issued its Opinion in Smith v. Minier . In doing so, the Court sought to clarify the law on the issue of causation.   Facts of the Case   On April 2, 2013, Mr. Smith was driving a truck eastbound on Interstate 10 in Jackson County when he lost control of his truck. Before Mr. Smith and his passenger could get out of the truck, it was hit from behind another tractor-trailer.   An ambulance took Mr. Smith to Singing River Hospital in Pascagoula, where a doctor prescribed the pain medicatio ..read more

Can the sale be set aside? Tax sales of land, building and homes are commonplace occurrences. Sometimes these sales can be set aside before they were not performed in accordance with the law. The Chancery Clerk of the county in which the property sits plays a crucial role in tax sales. Section 27-43-3 of the Mississippi Code (Revised 2013) sets forth the procedures that the Chancery Clerk must follow as a condition to a valid tax sale.   Three forms of notice of redemption must be given to the owner of the property prior to a tax sale. Those forms are:   • Service of notice by the ..read more

It is not uncommon for an employee to take extend leave under the FMLA and then, when the leave expires, decide not to return to work. If the employer has been paying the employee's  health insurance during the leave, can the employer get that money back? The answer is found at 29 C.F.R. § 825.213, one of the regulations that implements the FMLA. Summarized, the regulation states: (a) An employer may recover its share of health plan premiums during a period of unpaid FMLA leave if the employee fails to return to work after the employee's FMLA leave entitlement has been exhausted or ex ..read more

Arbitration We previously wrote here about your ability to make the other side in a lawsuit pay your attorney’s fees, including lawsuits involving federal civil rights. Today we write about a recent Fifth Circuit case styled Gallagher v. Vokey which involves a dispute between a client and his own lawyer over the issue of fees. The facts of Gallagher Edward Gallagher was a United States Navy Seal. In early 2018, Gallagher was faced with criminal charges brought by the United States Navy Gallagher reached out to Vokey for representation because his firm was known in the SEAL community f ..read more

False claims submitted to the United States The Federal False Claims Act (FCA), 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729 – 3733, is a federal statute that was originally ratified towards the end of the American Civil War in an attempt to curb defense contractor fraud that took place throughout the conflict. The FCA has been amended several times throughout its existence, but the essence of the act has stayed the same throughout – to ensure that fraud does not go without penalty. To understand the FCA and what it does, we must first understand its target.   The General Purpose of the Act   The qui tam pro ..read more

Restrictive covenants Today we write about Loblolly Properties LLC v. Le Papillon Homeowner's Assn. Inc., 2021-CA-00767-COA, 2022 WL 4478395 (Miss. App. Sept. 27, 2022), a recent case that landed in the Mississippi Court of Appeals. This case examines the relationship between covenants and restrictions following a foreclosure on a property.   Historical Context of Loblolly Properties   This dispute arises from the sale of land that stemmed from a foreclosure. To understand the facts of the present case, we must first look at the historical context of the land.   Chattel Group ..read more

Drafting mistakes in deeds Effective July 1, 2022, Section 89-5-8 of the Mississippi Code has been amended to add more specificity to the process of filing an affidavit of a scrivener’s affidavit. The statute previously read, in part: The affidavit of scrivener's error shall be executed and acknowledged by the affiant and verified upon oath or affirmation before a notarial officer, and shall be recordable in the land records in the office of the chancery clerk in the county where the real estate is situated. The amendment adds the following additional requirements:   The affidavit sha ..read more

Serving the Summons Pursuant to Rule 4(h) of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure, a plaintiff is permitted 120 days in which to serve the defendant with the summons and complaint. Specifically, the Rule states: If a service of the summons and complaint is not made upon a defendant within 120 days after the filing of the complaint and the party on whose behalf such service was required cannot show good cause why such service was not made within that period, the action shall be dismissed as to that defendant without prejudice upon the court’s own initiative with notice to such party or ..read more

Choosing the right county Effective July 1, 2022, the Mississippi Legislature changed the rules regarding which chancery court can issue letters of administration. Previously Section 91-7-63 read as follows: Letters of administration shall be granted by the chancery court of the county in which the intestate had, at the time of his death, a fixed place of residence; but if the intestate did not have a fixed place of resident, then by the chancery court of the county where the intestate died, or that in which his personal property or some part of it may be. As a result of the recent amendme ..read more

Mississippi finally adopts equal pay laws Effective July 1, 2022, Mississippi now has an Equal Pay Act to address differences in pay between men and women doing the same job. The Act is so new that it has not yet been assigned Title, Chapter and Section numbers in the Mississippi Code. It can be found, however, on the Mississippi Legislature website under Laws of 2022, House Bill 770. Here are some of the more significant provisions of the Act. The general principle of equal pay Under the Act, “no employer may pay an employee a wage at a rate less than the rate at which an employee of the ..read more