Jimmie Gates with the Clarion Ledger penned an excellent article on attorney advertising over the holidays. The article prominently features Richard Schwartz, the godfather of lawyer advertising in Mississippi. Besides the article, I recommend watching the accompanying video interview of Schwartz on the digital version linked above. Schwartz spends “well over $1 million a year on ads.” In the video, he notes that lawyer advertising has gone from being frowned upon in some circles to…

It’s a rhetorical question. I know the answer. The reason all state courts in Mississippi don’t use electronic filing is, in a word, politics. Some clerks don’t want to adopt electronic filing even though it would make their lives easier. Forcing them to is not worth it politically to the Supreme Court or the Bar. I’m using the word ‘politically’ broadly here–like in the sense of ‘office politics.’ I’m not suggesting it has anything to…

Here is a preview of the December 2019 issue of the Miss. Jury Verdict Reporter: $1,007,700 verdict- Chickasaw County truck negligence case (8/30/19); $100,000 verdict- Lee County employment retaliation case covered here (11/21/19); $3,500 verdict- Forrest County car wreck case (8/7/19); directed verdict- Lamar County employment retaliation case; (11/14/19); defense verdict- Harrison County medical malpractice case (10/17/19); defense verdict- Jackson County embezzlement case (10/15/19; and defense verdict- Rankin County medical malpractice case (11/10/19). My Take:…

Thinking about going paperless but don’t know how? Sam Glover’s post on the Lawyerist blog explains how. Glover opens with a salient point: if you haven’t already gone paperless, you will. If you aren’t paperless already, you need to catch up. When you are ready to leave paper (mostly) behind, use [Sam’s] guide to get started. The Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals are paperless. Federal courts are paperless. The system just works better.…

Yahoo News reports on China experimenting with artificial intelligence in the judicial system. It opens: Artificial-intelligence judges, cyber-courts, and verdicts delivered on chat apps — welcome to China’s brave new world of justice spotlighted by authorities this week…. The efforts include a “mobile court” offered on popular social media platform WeChat that has already handled more than three million legal cases or other judicial procedures since its launch in March, according to the Supreme People’s…

Zero Hedge ran this post last week about most Americans not being able to afford lawyers. It’s not an unusual take. Stories like these suggest the problem is attorneys have priced themselves out of the market. I disagree. The problem is the civil justice system is not equipped to solve most people’s legal problems. Consider this quote: Most civil cases are usually about debt collection, landlord tenant disputes and home foreclosures. Lawyers will build their…

On November 21, 2019, a Lee County jury returned a $100,000 verdict in Walters v. Brandi’s Hope  Community Services, LLC. The jury found BHCS fired Plaintiff Heather Walters for reporting abuse of a patient. As an aside, state law requires health care workers to report suspected patient abuse. The jury also found Defendant Danny Cowart maliciously interfered with Walters’ employment. The jury awarded Walters $100,000 in damages. Jim Waide and Rachel Pierce Waide of Waide…