Jennings v. McCelleis
| Docket Number: | 2007-CA-00404-COA Linked Case(s): 2007-CA-00404-COA ; 2007-CA-00404-COA ; 2007-CT-00404-SCT |
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| Court of Appeals: |
Opinion Link Opinion Date: 04-29-2008 Opinion Author: ISHEE, J. Holding: Appeal Dismissed |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Personal injury - Appealable judgment - M.R.C.P. 54(b) Judge(s) Concurring: KING, C.J., LEE AND MYERS, P.JJ., IRVING, CHANDLER, BARNES, ROBERTS AND CARLTON, JJ. Non Participating Judge(s): GRIFFIS, J. Procedural History: Jury Trial Nature of the Case: CIVIL - PERSONAL INJURY |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 01-10-2007 Appealed from: Hinds County Circuit Court Judge: Bobby DeLaughter Disposition: AFTER TRIAL ON DAMAGES ONLY, MOTION FOR ADDITUR OR NEW TRIAL DENIED. Case Number: 251-05-555CIV |
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| Note: | The current appeal must be considered interlocutory and therefore not ripe for consideration by this Court. | |
| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | Brief(s) Available: | ||
| Appellant: | WILLIAM JENNINGS, JR. |
BILL WALLER |
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| Appellee: | RUDOLPH L. MCCELLEIS | WILLIAM M. DALEHITE, JAMES SETH MCCOY | ||
Synopsis provided by:  If you are interested in subscribing to the weekly synopses of all Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals hand downs please contact Tammy Upton in the MLI Press office. |
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| Topic: | Personal injury - Appealable judgment - M.R.C.P. 54(b) |
| Summary of the Facts: | William Jennings, Jr. and Rudolph McCelleis were involved in an automobile accident. Jennings subsequently filed a complaint against McCelleis for negligence and against his insurer, State Farm Automobile Insurance Company, for bad faith. Both Jennings and McCelleis were insured by State Farm. The trial judge subsequently entered an order severing the cases for trial purposes only. At the conclusion of the trial dealing with the negligence claim between Jennings and McCelleis, the jury returned a verdict for Jennings and awarded damages of $5,000. Jennings appeals. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | McCelleis argues that this case is currently unripe for appeal because a final judgment has not been rendered by the trial court. A final, appealable, judgment is one that adjudicates the merits of the controversy and settles all the issues as to all the parties and requires no further action by the lower court. However, M.R.C.P. 54(b) provides an exception to the final judgment rule by allowing a trial court to enter a judgment that is considered final but adjudicates less than all the claims between all the parties in a particular piece of litigation. In order for Rule 54(b) to take effect, the trial court must enter its final judgment order in a definite, unmistakable manner. Absent a certification under Rule 54(b), any order in a multiple party or multiple claim action, even if it appears to adjudicate a separable portion of the controversy, is interlocutory. In this case, although the judgment order entered was titled “final judgment,” the requirements of Rule 54(b) have clearly not been met. The order gives no indication that it is meant to be a final, appealable judgment with respect to Jennings and McCelleis to the exclusion of Jennings’s cause of action against State Farm. Accordingly, the current appeal must be considered interlocutory. |
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