Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. v. Anderson
| Docket Number: | 2003-CA-00405-SCT | |
| Supreme Court: | Opinion Link Opinion Date: 05-20-2004 Opinion Author: Dickinson, J. Holding: REVERSED AND REMANDED |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Contract - Time for appeal - Notice of entry of judgment - M.R.A.P. 4 Judge(s) Concurring: Smith, C.J., Waller and Cobb, P.JJ., and Carlson, J. Non Participating Judge(s): Diaz, Graves and Randolph, JJ. Dissenting Author : Easley, J. Procedural History: Summary Judgment Nature of the Case: CIVIL - CONTRACT |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 02-03-2003 Appealed from: Holmes County Circuit Court Judge: Jannie M. Lewis Disposition: Denied the defendants’ Rule 4(h) motion for additional time to appeal. |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | |||
| Appellant: | PRE-PAID LEGAL SERVICES, INC., HARLAND C.
STONECIPHER, BROOKS WERKHEISER, DYRE
LAW FIRM, PLLC AND ARNOLD D. DYRE |
RICHARD L. JONES
ROBERT L. GIBBS
ANNE CLARKE SANDERS
ANDREA LA'VERNE FORD EDNEY
TESELYN AFRIQUE MELTON
BRIAN CRAIG KIMBALL
JOHN BENTON CLARK
C. MICHAEL ELLINGBURG
ERNEST G.TAYLOR
SHANDA L. LEWIS |
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| Appellee: | CLAUDE ANDERSON, JR. | J. DOUGLAS MINOR J. BRAD PIGOTT BARRY W. GILMER |
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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: | Contract - Time for appeal - Notice of entry of judgment - M.R.A.P. 4 |
| Summary of the Facts: | At a hearing before the Holmes County Circuit Court, the judge announced that she would grant plaintiff's motion for partial summary judgment. Counsel for plaintiffs submitted a proposed order to the court. Both the order and final judgment were signed and filed with the Holmes County Circuit Clerk on that same day. Two months later, in a similar case filed in Bolivar County, counsel for defendants received from plaintiff's counsel a copy of a motion which attached as exhibits both the order and judgment which had apparently been entered on the date of the hearing. Five days later, claiming they had never received the signed order or judgment, counsel for defendants filed a motion pursuant to M.R.A.P. 4(h), requesting additional time to file an appeal of the partial summary judgment. The judge denied the defendants’ motion for additional time to appeal. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | Counsel for defendants specifically denied receiving notice of entry of the order and judgment and presented two affidavits specifically denying receipt by their respective law firms of notice of the entry of the judgment and order. The judge’s opinion that the presumption created by the clerk’s records was irrebuttable was erroneous. In fact, the presumption that notice was received, based on the notation in the clerk’s records, was both rebutted and terminated. The announcement of the court’s decision does not start the clock for the filing of an appeal but the time starts running from the entry of judgment into the clerk’s records. |
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