Latest Mississippi Headlines
All the headlines from our Mississippi Topic Page, ordered by recency.
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,...
Miss. Katrina Lawyer’s Contempt Case Reassigned to Florida Judge
Dec 14 2007 // The criminal contempt case of Mississippi trial lawyer Richard Scruggs was reassigned to a Florida judge Wednesday because 16 federal judges in north Alabama recused themselves from the case. C. Roger Vinson, Northern...
Miss. AG: Bribery Charges Won’t Affect State’s Katrina Cases
Dec 12 2007 // Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood says the bribery charges against the prominent lawyer he used as a “confidential informant” in a Hurricane Katrina investigation won’t affect the state’s...
Miss. Attorney Pleads Guilty, Cooperating in Scruggs Katrina Case
Dec 7 2007 // Mississippi Lawyer Timothy Balducci pleaded guilty to conspiracy to bribe a judge and is assisting federal prosecutors in a case involving one of the nation’s wealthiest trial lawyers. Balducci is allegedly the...
Appeals Court to Review Insurance Claim Verdict in Miss. Katrina Suit
Dec 6 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...
16 Judges Step Aside From Scruggs Contempt Case
Dec 2 2007 // Every eligible federal judge in north Alabama has stepped aside from presiding in the criminal contempt case of Mississippi trial lawyer Richard Scruggs, who is accused of disobeying an order by failing to turn over...
U.S. Grand Jury Indicts “Dickie” Scruggs in Suspected Bribery Scheme
Nov 30 2007 // An attorney who helped negotiate a multibillion-dollar settlement against tobacco companies in the 1990s and has sued insurers over unpaid Hurricane Katrina claims was indicted in a suspected scheme to bribe a Mississippi...
FBI Targets Miss. Lawyer Known for Handling Katrina Insurance Claims
Nov 29 2007 // FBI agents who searched the law offices of Mississippi attorney Richard “Dickie” Scruggs on Tuesday left with copies of the office’s computer hard drives, a lawyer for the firm said Wednesday. Joey...
Federal Panel Asks Miss. Court to Clarify Medical Malpractice Limits
Nov 19 2007 // A federal appeals panel is asking the Mississippi Supreme Court to clarify when the clock starts ticking on the filing of certain medical malpractice claims. Specifically, a panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals...
16 Alabama Federal Judges Step Aside from Scruggs Contempt Case
Nov 19 2007 // Every eligible federal judge in north Alabama has stepped aside from presiding in the criminal contempt case of Mississippi trial lawyer Richard Scruggs, who is accused of disobeying an order by failing to turn over...
Mississippi Asks Companies to Re-bid on Katrina Cottages Program
Nov 19 2007 // The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency has asked companies to re-submit bids to oversee the Hurricane Katrina cottages pilot program. MEMA said it decided not to extend its $8.9 million contract with Florida-based...
Republican Chaney Elected Miss. Commissioner
Nov 18 2007 // Newly elected Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney says he will work to reduce insurance rates but realizes that it can only be accomplished by employing the right combination of factors. “Competition and...
Miss. AG Hood Denies he Threatened to Indict State Farm CEO
Nov 18 2007 // Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood threatened to indict the chairman of State Farm Insurance Companies if the insurer didn’t settle lawsuits over thousands of Hurricane Katrina claims, according to the testimony...
Miss. Development Authority Gets Money for pre-Katrina Homeowners
Nov 15 2007 // The state of Mississippi has cleared the way for at least 186 homeowners to receive partial grants to help rebuild even though they were previously denied federal aid. The Mississippi Development Authority announced the...
N.C. Engineering Firm to be Dropped from Miss. Katrina Insurance Suits
Nov 15 2007 // North Carolina-based Forensic Analysis and Engineering Corp., has reached a settlement with lawyers who have filed hundreds of lawsuits against State Farm Insurance Cos. on behalf of policyholders whose claims were denied...
