Mississippi Litigation Lawyer & Attorney : Bradley Arant Law Firm : Serving Jackson, Gulfport, Biloxi, Tupelo, Hinds County, 5th Circuit

Clark v. Paragon Systems, Inc., No. 06-30934 slip op. (5th Cir. Apr. 3, 2007), an unpublished opinion, considers the effect of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on a litigant’s deadline to file a lawsuit within 90 days of receiving a right-to-sue notice from the EEOC. Construed most liberally in favor of the plaintiff, various orders entered after the hurricanes would have suspended operable deadlines until November 25, 2005. Ninety days from that date – the last day on which the plaintiff’s complaint was required to be filed – was February 23, 2006.

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Wilson v. Strickland, No. 2005-CA-02235-COA slip op. (2007), was tried to a defense verdict in the County Court of Harrison County. The case arose from a car accident, in which the plaintiff – who is white – was a guest passenger in a car that “t-boned” a church van driven by the defendant, who is black. After striking two of three black venire members for cause, plaintiff’s counsel used his first peremptory challenge to strike the last black venire member. Asked to articulate a race-neutral reason for the challenge, see Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986), plaintiff’s counsel responded that the juror’s information card revealed that she was a Baptist, and that she worked at the Department of Human Services. Because the church van belonged to a Baptist church (not a party to the case), plaintiff’s counsel stated that the juror might favor the defense. The juror’s employment at DHS was not mentioned again during the colloquy.

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In Everman Electric Co., Inc. v. Evan Johnson & Sons Construction, Inc., No. 2005-CA-01544-COA (Miss. Ct. App. May 8, 2007), the Mississippi Court of Appeals enforced a “no damages for delay” clause in a construction contract relating to the construction of the new Biloxi High School in Harrison County, Mississippi. The Biloxi Public School District (“BPSD”) entered into direct contracts with Evan Johnson & Sons Construction, Inc. (“Johnson”), W.G. Yates Construction Company (“Yates”) and Everman’s Electric Co., Inc. (“Everman”) for the construction of the new school. As co-prime contractors, they were charged with completion of the project with Yates taking the role of construction manager.

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