Open Account – Mississippi Appeals Blog

I was out of the office Thursday for an extended weekend camping trip on Horn Island with my oldest son, so hand downs were a bit lower on my priority list than usual. (Proof submitted below.)

While I was at sea, the Mississippi Supreme Court handed down three opinions and appellants went 2-1.

Tommy Brooks Oil Company v. Wilburn, 2022-CA-00551-SCT (Civil – Contract)
Reversing on direct appeal and affirming on cross-appeal after judgments in favor of the defendants on open-account claims, holding that the defense verdict on the open-account was not supported by substantial evidence, and that the plaintiff was entitled to judgment in its favor on liability, and remanding for a new trial on damages and the enforceability of personal guaranty agreements while affirming the denial of the defendants’ claim for attorney’s fees.
(8-0: Maxwell did not participate)

In Re: Death Investigation of Christian Andreacchio, 2023-CA-00060-SCT (Civil – Other)
Affirming the circuit court’s denial of a petition to appoint an attorney to act as district attorney in an effort to spur prosecutions, holding that Mississippi’s victims’ rights statutes did not grant standing to the Estate and that there is no other basis in Mississippi law to allow a private citizen to direct the State’s prosecutorial powers.
(8-1-0: King concurred in result only without separate written opinion)

Lindsey v. Butts, 2022-IA-00738-SCT, consolidated with 2022-IA-00882 (Civil – Wrongful Death)
Reversing the circuit court’s denial of the doctor-defendant’s motion to dismiss for lack of process and denial of the hospital defendant’s motion for summary judgment, holding that the trial court erred by not dismissing the complaint against the doctor because he was never legally served with process which left the circuit court lacking jurisdiction over him and holding that the circuit court erred in denying the hospital’s “preemptive” motion for summary judgment because the plaintiff lacked medical-expert testimony even though the plaintiff’s expert designation deadline had not yet passed.
(6-3: Maxwell concurred in part (as to medical causation SJ) and dissenting in part (as to service of process), joined by Kitchens and King, and joined in part by Beam)

Other Orders

SDBT Archives LLC v. Penn-Star Ins. Co., 2022-CT-00099-SCT (DIG-ed)

Boyington v. State, 2022-CT-00601-SCT (denying cert)

Walmart Stores East, LC v. Melton, 2022-IA-01028-SCT (dismissing interlocutory appeal)

Mathis v. The Mississippi Bar, 2023-BD-01255-SCT (granting leave to resign in good standing from the practice of law)

Hand Down Page

About

Mississippi Appeals Blog is written by Madison Taylor. I primarily post summaries of decisions from the Mississippi Supreme Court and the Mississippi Court of Appeals and some content on appellate and trial practice in Mississippi and legal miscellany. I am not affiliated with any court.

I am a shareholder at Wilkins Patterson where I have a litigation and workers’ comp practice and lead the firm’s appellate practice. I am licensed in Mississippi, Tennessee, and North Carolina and admitted to the United States Courts of Appeals for the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Circuits.

If I can assist you on an appeal or other legal matter please reach out. You can find my contact information on my firm page.

Some Representative Appeals I have handled:

Estate of Pace: Pace v. Phillips, No. 2025-CA-00223-COA (Miss. Ct. App. July 28, 2026). I represented the appellant and obtained a reversal of the chancellor’s decision canceling a probated claim.
Smith v. Dennis Wright & Son Plumbing, No. 2025-WC-00046-COA (Miss. Ct. App. Mar. 31, 2026). I represented the appellee and secured the affirmance of a decision of the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission.
Unruh v. Johnson, 404 So. 3d 1166 (Miss. 2025). I represented the appellant on interlocutory appeal and won reversal and rendered judgment.
Am. Comp. Ins. Co. v. Ruiz, 389 So. 3d 1060 (Miss. 2024). I represented the potential statutory-employer in a declaratory action filed by a subcontractor’s carrier who sought to void workers’ compensation coverage ab initio after a catastrophic injury. We won summary judgment in federal district court based on a novel theory that the common law remedy of voiding a policy ab initio for material misrepresentation was not available to workers’ compensation policies in Mississippi. On appeal, the Fifth Circuit certified that legal question to the Mississippi Supreme Court. The Mississippi Supreme Court ordered briefing and then held that our theory was correct. The Fifth Circuit took that holding and affirmed the district court’s judgment in our favor.
Joe McGee Constr. Co. v. Brown-Bowens, 368 So. 3d 1277 (Miss. 2023). I represented a road construction contractor in a wrongful death lawsuit stemming from a one-car accident on a closed road. We persuaded the Mississippi Supreme Court to grant an interlocutory appeal and then to reverse the denial of summary judgment for our client.
Haynes v. Beckward, 358 So. 3d 1080 (Miss. Ct. App. 2023). After a jury verdict in the plaintiff’s favor in an auto-negligence action, I handled the appeal and won a remittitur based on insufficient expert testimony.
Estate of Ellis v. MMC Materials, Inc., 311 So. 3d 691 (Miss. Ct. App. 2021). I represented the defendant company in a personal injury case. We won summary judgment at the trial court and then secured that victory with an affirmance on appeal.

Tag: Open Account

Mississippi Supreme Court Decisions of March 21, 2024