Keathley v. Buddy Ayers

Opinion

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit

____________ FILED July 16, 2026 No. 24-60025 Lyle W. Cayce ____________ Clerk

Thomas Keathley,

Plaintiff—Appellant,

versus

Buddy Ayers Construction, Incorporated,

Defendant—Appellee. ______________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi USDC No. 3:21-CV-261 ______________________________

Before Higginbotham, Stewart, and Haynes, Circuit Judges. Carl E. Stewart, Circuit Judge: ON REMAND FROM THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

This court affirmed the district court’s dismissal of Plaintiff- Appellant Thomas Keathley’s personal injury lawsuit as well as its denial of his motion for reconsideration. Keathley v. Buddy Ayers Constr., Inc., No. 24- 60025, 2025 WL 673434, at *7 (March 3, 2025). On petition for writ of certiorari, the Supreme Court held that this court erred by “artificially narrow[ing] its inquiry into whether Keathley’s bankruptcy-schedule omission was the result of inadvertence or mistake by assessing only whether No. 24-60025

he had knowledge of the underlying facts or a potential motive to conceal his personal-injury suit.” Keathley v. Buddy Ayers Constr., Inc., 146 S.Ct. 1532, 1540 (2026). It then vacated and remanded for further proceedings consistent with its opinion. Id. This matter is REMANDED in its entirety to the district court in accordance with the judgment of the Supreme Court. We express no view as to what proceedings the district court should conduct on remand or what decisions it should make. The mandate shall issue forthwith.