T. Jackson Lyons & Assoc., P. A. v. Precious T. Martin, Sr. & Assoc., PLLC


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Docket Number: 2011-CA-00167-SCT
Linked Case(s): 2011-CA-00167-SCT ; 2011-CA-00167-SCT

Supreme Court: Opinion Link
Opinion Date: 01-26-2012
Opinion Author: Justice Kitchens
Holding: Granted in part, dismissed as moot in part.

Additional Case Information: Topic: Motion to compel - Transmission of appellate record - M.R.A.P. 10(a) - M.R.A.P. 11(d) and (e) - M.R.A.P. 2(b) - Attorney's fees - Sanctions
Non Participating Judge(s): Waller, C.J.

Trial Court: Date of Trial Judgment: 12-09-2010
Judge: Malcolm Harrison
Case Number: 251-10-140

Note: The "Motion to Compel Circuit Clerk to Transmit Complete Record and to Stay Briefing Schedule" and the "Appellant's Response to Circuit Court's Findings on Remand and Motion for Further Remedial Relief" filed by T. Jackson Lyons & Associates, P.A., are granted in part and dismissed as moot in part as discussed herein. On or before March 20, 2012, Honorable Tomie T. Green, Circuit Judge for the First Judicial District of Hinds County, Mississippi, shall calculate and impose the sanctions against the circuit clerk for her failure to comply with Rules 10 and 11 of the Mississippi Rules of Appellate Procedure. This amount shall be paid by Dunn personally and shall not be paid from an account containing public funds. Barbara Dunn immediately shall provide adequate training and education for all of the employees in the office of the Circuit Clerk of Hinds County, Mississippi, as provided herein. The circuit court shall conduct an additional hearing to determine whether Wells falsely testified and, if so, take appropriate action. The Clerk of this Court shall send copies of this order to Barbara Dunn, Circuit Clerk of Hinds County, as well as her employee, Loretta Wells. The Clerk of this Court shall spread this order upon the minutes of the Court and shall forward a true certified copy hereof to West Publishing Company for publication as soon as practical in the advance sheets of Southern Reporter, Third Series (Mississippi Edition).

  Party Name: Attorney Name:   Brief(s) Available:
Appellant: T. Jackson Lyons & Associates, P. A.








 
  • Appellant #1 Brief
  • Appellant #1 Reply Brief

  • Appellee: Precious T. Martin, Sr. & Associates, PLLC  

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    Topic: Motion to compel - Transmission of appellate record - M.R.A.P. 10(a) - M.R.A.P. 11(d) and (e) - M.R.A.P. 2(b) - Attorney's fees - Sanctions

    Summary of the Facts: T. Jackson Lyons & Associates, P.A. filed a “Motion to Compel Circuit Clerk to Transmit Complete Record and to Stay Briefing Schedule” on April 26, 2011. The circuit court conducted a hearing on August 31, 2011, and found that the record, as supplemented, was complete for purposes of this appeal. The circuit court also found that the record, as originally prepared by the circuit clerk, was not prepared in accordance with the Mississippi Rules of Appellate Procedure. The circuit court found that the circuit clerk should bear the costs associated with supplementing the appellate record, but opined that the clerk’s failure to comply with the Mississippi Rules of Appellate Procedure was not the product of ill will or malice. The circuit court further found that Lyons had failed to prove that the circuit clerk’s errors had prejudiced that firm or caused it any damages. By order entered on September 12, 2011, the parties and Circuit Clerk Dunn were given an opportunity to respond to the circuit court’s findings. Lyons filed “Appellant’s Response to Circuit Court’s Findings on Remand and Motion for Further Remedial Relief.” Lyons again requested that the circuit clerk be sanctioned for failure to fulfill her responsibilities. Neither Martin nor Circuit Clerk Dunn filed responses to the circuit court’s order or to Lyons’s latest motion.

    Summary of Opinion Analysis: M.R.A.P. 10(a) provides that “the record shall consist of designated papers and exhibits.” M.R.A.P. 11(d) and (e) establishes certain deadlines within which the clerk is to compile and transmit the appellate record and also requiring the clerk to retain a duplicate record in the trial court. A trial court’s ruling sanctioning its clerk for failure to comply with Rules 10 and 11 of the Mississippi Rules of Appellate Procedure may be reviewed by the Supreme Court under M.R.A.P. 2(b) for an abuse of discretion. The Circuit Clerk of Hinds County shall be ordered to pay T. Jackson Lyons & Associates, P.A., an amount sufficient to compensate it for the reasonable attorney fees and related costs incurred as a result of the circuit clerk’s failure properly to transmit the appellate record. That amount shall include, but not necessarily be limited to, the preparation and filing of the “Motion to Compel Circuit Clerk to Transmit Complete Record and to Stay Briefing Schedule,” the “Appellant’s Motion to Lift Stay and to Re-Start the Briefing Schedule,” the time counsel and/or nonlawyer staff spent preparing for and appearing at the hearing of August 31, 2011, and the preparation and filing of the “Appellant’s Response to Circuit Court’s Findings on Remand and Motion for Further Remedial Relief.” The matter is remanded to the circuit court for calculation, imposition, and collection of appropriate sanctions from the circuit clerk. The sanction shall be paid by Barbara Dunn personally and shall not be paid, in whole or in part, with public funds. The circuit clerk is ordered immediately to provide appropriate and adequate training and education for all of the employees in the office of the Circuit Clerk of Hinds County, and the circuit court shall oversee the implementation of a training program in the circuit clerk’s office.


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