Philip W. Thomas Law Firm

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Philip Thomas

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Tate Reeves should be the one having a good time in Washington, D.C. today. He should have taken the appointment to replace Thad Cochran and fought off Mike Espy’s campaign in 2018. He should be in Washington learning, building relationships and biding his time. It might not be ideal, but it’s not too late. For the good of Mississippi, Tate Reeves should withdraw from the governor’s race and instead run for U.S. Senate in 2020.…
On February 11, 2019 a specially appointed Hinds County Chancellor (Judge James Bell) rendered a $55,000 verdict in Tyrone Lewis v. Lewis et al. You can view the Court’s ruling at this post on Jackson Jambalaya. JJ states: Former Hinds County Sheriff Tyrone Lewis won a defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife, Tony Davis, and several other defendants in Hinds County Chancery Court yesterday. Hinds County Sheriff Tyrone Lewis sued in June 2015 for an…
On Thursday February 7, 2019, a Hinds County jury in Jackson returned a unanimous $2 million verdict for the plaintiff in Kirkland v. Barnett. Plaintiff Carole Kirkland alleged that Defendant Mary Judith “Judy” Barnett ran a red light at the intersection of Pascagoula and State Street in downtown Jackson causing their cars to violently collide.  Ms. Kirkland suffered a broken wrist and a knee injury that left her with a permanent impairment.  She presented proof of…
You Haven’t Heard the Truth About the “Landowners Protection Act” Guest post by: Shanda M. Yates[1] You have no doubt seen at least one article discussing the “Landowners Protection Act” which is pending before both the House and Senate.  But, if you aren’t a lawyer or one of the large corporate sponsors of the bill, have you paid attention?  Many supporters of the Act have gone out of their way to convince the public…
Courtesy of Shannon Ragland with the Mississippi Jury Verdict Reporter and sister publications is this plaintiff win rate in medical malpractice trials: State Years Plaintiff Record Plaintiff Win % Mississippi 2011-2018 37-129 22.2 % Kentucky 1998-2018 234-837 21.8 % Alabama 2002-2018 119-361 24.8 % Tennessee 2005-2018 78-286 21.3 % My Take: It’s amazing how consistent the numbers are between states. Keep in mind these are verdicts–not cases. Medical malpractice defendants win a lot of cases…
On Friday a Hinds County jury returned a $2.5 million plaintiff verdict in Williams v. Ilercil. The jury apportioned 85% fault to St. Dominic Hospital, which settled before trial, and 15% to the defendant Orhan Ilercil. Of the verdict, $872,000 was for economic damages. After applying the $500,000 cap for non-economic damage, the total verdict is $1,372,000. 15% of that is $205,800. The pre-trial order explains the facts and parties’ theories: Ilercil pre-trial order. The…
On Wednesday a federal court jury in Jackson returned a $350,000 verdict for the plaintiff in Sturkin v. Patrick. Here is the Jury Verdict. Here is the Complaint. Plaintiff Donna Sturkin alleged Vicky Patrick was her probation officer in drug court. Sturkin alleged Patrick violated her rights by stealing from the store where plaintiff worked and demanding free rooms at the hotel where she worked. Patrick allegedly threatened plaintiff with jail if she did not…
Here is a preview of the January 2019 issue of the Miss. Jury Verdict Reporter: $1.6 million verdict- Harrison County termite damage case covered here (12/13/18); defense verdict- Hinds County car wreck case (12/5/18); defense verdict- DeSoto County medical malpractice case (11/29/18); defense verdict- Tate County car wreck case (12/5/18); defense verdict- Jackson County wrongful termination case (12/12/18); and defense verdict- Hancock County car wreck case (12/10/18). My Take: For those keeping score at home,…
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 a federal judge. Hardiman told the crowd at the 2018 Federalist Society Convention: “If I were able to do something unilaterally,…
This post is a follow up on a 2014 post about civil filings in Mississippi. Cliff Johnson, the Director of the MacArthur Justice Center at Ole Miss Law School, provided me with these updated statistics: Civil Cases filed 2001 – July 2018 . Another helpful document for analyzing filings is the Mississippi Supreme Court’s Annual Report. Here is the 2017 Report. Reports dating to 1998 are on the Court’s website. This page from…