Medical Assur. Co. of Mississippi v. Myers

956 So. 2d 213, 2007 WL 1438783
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedMay 17, 2007
Docket2005-IA-01001-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 956 So. 2d 213 (Medical Assur. Co. of Mississippi v. Myers) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Medical Assur. Co. of Mississippi v. Myers, 956 So. 2d 213, 2007 WL 1438783 (Mich. 2007).

Opinion

956 So.2d 213 (2007)

MEDICAL ASSURANCE COMPANY OF MISSISSIPPI
v.
Ronald V. MYERS, Sr., M.D.

No. 2005-IA-01001-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

May 17, 2007.

*214 Jeffrey Ryan Baker, Walter T. Johnson, Jackson, C.R. Montgomery, Canton, Robert M. Jones, J. Collins Wohner, Jackson, attorneys for appellant.

H.L. Merideth, Jr., Greenville, David L. Merideth, Ridgeland, Edward Blackmon, Jr., Canton, attorneys for appellee.

EN BANC.

DICKINSON, Justice, for the Court.

¶ 1. The central issue on appeal in this action between a doctor and his former medical malpractice insurer is venue. The Chancery Court of Holmes County originally granted the insurer's motion to transfer the case to the Circuit Court of Madison County. Five months later, the chancellor granted the doctor's motion to reconsider and transferred the case to the Circuit Court of Holmes County instead. The issue before this Court is whether — after transferring the case to Madison County — the chancery court abused its discretion by granting the doctor's motion to reconsider and transferring the case to the Circuit Court of Holmes County.

BACKGROUND FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

¶ 2. Medical Assurance Company of Mississippi ("MACM") insured Dr. Ronald V. Myers from 1998 through 2004, but the company elected not to renew his coverage when his policy expired on January 1, 2005, under its own terms. One reason for MACM's decision was Dr. Myers's refusal to allow its Risk Management Department to conduct a full review of his practices in Tchula (Holmes County), Belzoni (Humphreys County), Greenville (Washington County), and Indianola (Sunflower County).

¶ 3. Believing MACM owed him a statutory duty to renew his policy, Dr. Myers sued the company for damages and petitioned for an injunction to force it to insure *215 him. On December 8, 2004, Dr. Myers filed his complaint in the Chancery Court of Holmes County. One week later, MACM filed a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and, alternatively, moved the court to transfer the case to the Circuit Court of Madison County.

¶ 4. Chancellor Janace H. Goree heard arguments on the issues of jurisdiction and venue on December 16, 2004. That same day, the chancellor ruled from the bench that Dr. Myers's action was essentially a contract claim, so the Chancery Court of Holmes County did not have subject matter jurisdiction. The chancellor concluded by stating "the Court is going to hereby transfer this case to the Circuit Court of Madison County." Thereafter, the parties agreed to prepare an order consistent with this ruling. The order, filed January 27, 2005, incorporated the bench ruling in toto.

¶ 5. On December 22, 2004, Dr. Myers filed with the chancery court a Motion to Reopen and Reconsider. The motion asked the court to reopen the case for the admission of additional evidence and reargument and to reconsider the bench ruling transferring the case to the Circuit Court of Madison County. On January 6, 2005, this Court decided Snyder v. Logan, 905 So.2d 531 (Miss.2005), a case dealing with permissible venues for an action between an insured and her insurer under the former venue statute. Dr. Myers thereafter argued in his February 7, 2005, brief supporting his motion that Snyder represented a change in controlling venue law and justified the court's reconsideration of the case.

¶ 6. On April 12, 2005, the chancellor held a hearing on Dr. Myers's motion to reconsider.[1] After taking the matter under advisement, the chancellor granted Dr. Myers's motion to reconsider the issue of venue. The chancellor found that credible evidence satisfactorily established a factual basis to support Dr. Myers's preference of venue in Holmes County. The order concluded, "IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that this case shall be transferred to the Circuit Court of Holmes County, Mississippi."

¶ 7. On May 23, 2005, MACM filed its Petition for Permission for Interlocutory Appeal, which this Court granted. MACM argues that the chancery court had no authority to entertain any motions, including a motion to reconsider, after ruling from the bench and entering an order transferring the case to the Circuit Court of Madison County. MACM also argues that venue is proper in Madison County. Because we conclude that the proper county of venue in this case is Madison County, we need not address the question of whether the chancellor had authority to consider the motion for reconsideration.[2]

DISCUSSION

¶ 8. The question before us is whether, after it transferred this case to Madison County, the chancery court abused its discretion by granting Dr. Myers's motion to reconsider, and then transferring the case to the Circuit Court of Holmes County. Relief under Mississippi Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)

¶ 9. MACM argues the chancery court erred in granting Dr. Myers's motion to reconsider because he failed to satisfy the requirements of Mississippi Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b) for relief from an order. *216 Dr. Myers asserts the chancery court properly entertained his motion because the court failed to consider the venue issue when it transferred the case to the Circuit Court of Madison County based on its lack of subject matter jurisdiction, and because the chancery court's ruling was not a "final judgment, order or proceeding."

¶ 10. Rule 60(b) governs relief from a judgment or order based on mistakes, inadvertence, newly discovered evidence, fraud, and other specified circumstances. It states, in part:

On motion and upon such terms as are just, the court may relieve a party or his legal representation from a final judgment, order, or proceeding for the following reasons:
(1) fraud, misrepresentation, or other misconduct of an adverse party;
(2) accident or mistake;
(3) newly discovered evidence which by due diligence could not have been discovered in time to move for a new trial under Rule 59(b);
(4) the judgment is void;
(5) the judgment has been satisfied, released, or discharged, or a prior judgment upon which it is based has been reversed or otherwise vacated, or it is no longer equitable that the judgment should have prospective application;
(6) any other reason justifying relief from the judgment.
The motion shall be made within a reasonable time, and for reasons (1), (2) and (3) not more than six months after the judgment, order, or proceeding was entered or taken.

Miss. R. Civ. P. 60(b).

¶ 11. A trial court's grant of relief under Miss. R. Civ. P. 60(b) is reviewed for abuse of discretion. R.N. Turnbow Oil Invs. v. McIntosh, 873 So.2d 960, 963 (Miss.2004). In his December 20, 2004, motion to reconsider, Dr. Myers simply asked the court to reopen the case for the admission of additional evidence and reargument and to reconsider its bench ruling transferring the case to the Circuit Court of Madison County. In his brief filed two months later, Dr. Myers argued that a case handed down by this Court on January 6, 2005, Snyder v. Logan, 905 So.2d 531 (Miss.2005), constituted an intervening change in controlling law. This basis for reconsideration does not fit within the first five enumerated reasons for relief under 60(b).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Herman Grant Co., Inc. v. Jo Ann Washington
214 So. 3d 266 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2017)
Austin Chaz Ramsey v. Auburn University
191 So. 3d 102 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2016)
William Greenwood v. MESA Underwriters Specialty Insurance Company
179 So. 3d 1082 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2015)
Mississippi Department of Human Services v. S.C.
119 So. 3d 1011 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2013)
Wood v. Safeway Insurance Co.
114 So. 3d 714 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2013)
Wilkerson v. Goss
113 So. 3d 544 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2013)
Laurel Ford Lincoln-Mercury, Inc. v. Blakeney
81 So. 3d 1123 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2012)
Pam Wood v. Safeway Insurance Company
Mississippi Supreme Court, 2011
Rickey Wilkerson v. Ronnie Goss
Mississippi Supreme Court, 2011
Holmes v. McMillan
21 So. 3d 614 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2009)
American Family Life Assurance of Columbus v. Ellison
4 So. 3d 1049 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2009)
Shannon Holmes v. Lee McMillan
Mississippi Supreme Court, 2008
In Re Guardianship of Lane
994 So. 2d 775 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2008)
Hedgepeth v. Johnson
975 So. 2d 235 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2008)
Mitchell Hedgepeth v. Melody Johnson
Mississippi Supreme Court, 2006

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
956 So. 2d 213, 2007 WL 1438783, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/medical-assur-co-of-mississippi-v-myers-miss-2007.