Latest Mississippi Headlines
All the headlines from our Mississippi Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Judge: Miss. Attorney General Must Testify in State Farm Lawsuit
Jan 28 2008 // Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood must testify in a lawsuit filed by State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. that accuses him of violating an agreement to end a criminal investigation of the insurer’s handling of...
Mississippi Official Says Criminal Probe of State Farm has New Focus
Jan 25 2008 // Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood says his office opened a new criminal investigation of State Farm Insurance Cos. that is separate from its earlier probe of the insurer’s “crimes against...
Miss. Ambulance Co. Goes Out of Business, 23 Counties Affected
Jan 25 2008 // Twenty-three Mississippi counties are without regular ambulance service after the only company that provided them coverage went out of business at midnight Thursday. The state Department of Health said Emergystat went out...
Miss. Judge Removes Himself from Cases Amid Federal Probe
Jan 21 2008 // A Mississippi judge says he disqualified himself from hearing several lawsuits because federal authorities were investigating allegations that powerful plaintiffs attorney Richard “Dickie” Scruggs tried to...
Appeals Court Rules for Miss. Lawmakers in Raid on Insurance Fund
Jan 18 2008 // The Mississippi Legislature had authority to raid an insurance fund in 2004 to balance the state budget, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled. The Mississippi Surplus Lines Association sued the state after the...
Miss. Shooting Victim Awarded $4.5M, Nationwide Insurance not Liable
Jan 17 2008 // A Madison County, Miss., jury awarded $4.5 million to a woman who was shot in the arm after an accident at a fast food restaurant in Ridgeland, Miss. The jury on Tuesday found Vicksburg attorney Thomas Randy Clark liable...
Former Miss. Insurance Commissioner Joins Adams and Reese
Jan 16 2008 // Former eight-term Insurance Commissioner of Mississippi, George Dale, joined Adams and Reese LLP as a Senior Governmental Affairs Advisor (non-lawyer) and a member of the Governmental Relations. Adams and Reese Managing...
Miss. Insurance Commissioner Working on Lowering Wind Pool Rates
Jan 14 2008 // Mississippi’s new Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney says he is working with lawmakers and state wind pool officials to lower rates that increased 90 percent for homeowners and 162 percent for businesses after...
Low Salaries Leave Miss. Towns Short of Firefighting Personnel
Jan 13 2008 // Some fire departments in south Mississippi are struggling to fill vacancies as firefighters leave for better paying jobs. Officials in Petal, Miss., are trying to recruit qualified people to work in the physically...
Dramatic Changes in State Building Trends Could Prompt Rise in Losses
Jan 13 2008 // As the financial and housing markets continue to work their way through the fallout of the mortgage lending meltdown, the construction sector faces its share of woes. But as is typically the case, specific conditions —...
Group Settles 22 Mississippi Katrina Cases with Insurer
Jan 7 2008 // State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. reached a settlement on 22 lawsuits stemming from Hurricane Katrina damage. “Obviously, we are pleased to settle without costly and lengthy litigation,” said State Farm...
Insurer Wants Scruggs-Affiliated Attorneys off Mississippi Katrina Case
Jan 7 2008 // State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. is seeking to disqualify several former members of the Scruggs Katrina Group – a Mississippi legal team led by embattled attorney Richard “Dickie” Scruggs – from...
Top Insurance Stories in 2007 in Southeast
Dec 31 2007 // High heat, changing winds put reputations on the line. 1. Florida’s gamble “It’s all about rates,” maintained Sam Miller, of the industry’s Florida Insurance Council. Florida lawmakers in...
Miss. to Share in $72M from Convicted Former Insurance Exec Frankel
Dec 31 2007 // Mississippi will share in $72 million of assets seized from Martin Frankel, a former financier convicted of stealing from insurance companies, Insurance Commissioner George Dale said. Dale said the assets were seized by...
Dale Exits Miss. Commissioner Post; Chaney Takes Over Early
Dec 28 2007 // Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour has appointed incoming Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney to replace outgoing Insurance Commissioner George Dale 10 days early. Dale is resigning from office effective December 31. Chaney, a...
Federal Appeals Court Reviewing Katrina Punitive Damage Award Against State Farm
Dec 23 2007 // State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. is asking a federal appeals court to throw out a landmark $1 million punitive damage award to a Mississippi couple who sued the insurer for refusing to cover Hurricane Katrina damage to...
Low Salaries Leave Mississippi Towns with Few Firefighters
Dec 21 2007 // Some fire departments in south Mississippi are struggling to fill vacancies as firefighters leave for better paying jobs. Officials in Petal, Miss., are trying to recruit qualified people to work in the physically...
State Farm Wants Mississippi Law Group Tossed from Katrina Case
Dec 20 2007 // State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. is seeking to have policyholders’ attorneys thrown off a key Hurricane Katrina insurance case because the insurer claims the Mississippi lawyers have behaved unethically, according to...
OSHA Fines 4 Companies in Deadly Mississippi Bridge Collapse
Dec 14 2007 // A bridge collapse in Mississippi that killed two workers and injured seven others was a “preventable” tragedy and four companies share the blame in the deadly mishap, the Occupational Safety and Health...
Miss. Litigation Group Forms to Maintain Momentum in Katrina Cases
Dec 14 2007 // The Katrina Litigation Group announced its formation in Mississippi to proceed where the Scruggs Katrina Group began with major litigation on behalf of policy holders. This group is comprised of the Barrett Law Office,...
