Author Archives: Kimber Riley

Jane Meynardie Appointed to Uniform Law Commission

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Jane Wallace Meynardie of Wise Carter’s Gulfport office is appointed to serve as one of Mississippi’s Commissioners to the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, also known as the Uniform Law Commission (ULC).

Selected by Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves, Mrs. Meynardie is honored by the appointment and looks forward to contributing her knowledge and experience to the important work of the Commission.  

The ULC is a law-improvement organization that exists to research, draft, and promote the enactment of uniform and model laws to maintain uniformity of laws among the states. The commissioners are appointed from every state as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Mrs. Meynardie applies her extensive experience in transactional matters in her practice at Wise Carter. She is a valued asset to our team. Wise Carter commends Mrs. Meynardie for this great recognition and is proud to support her through her term on the Commission. 

“Wise Carter Attorneys Receive Favorable Ruling for Railroad Clients”

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Wise Carter attorneys, George H. Ritter and Charles E. Cowan successfully defended the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) and Norfolk Southern subsidiary Alabama Great Southern Railroad Company in a wrongful death lawsuit filed against them in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi.

In a 27 page opinion and order, District Judge Taylor B. McNeel found a fatal accident involving a pedestrian in Hattiesburg, Mississippi was unavoidable and Amtrak’s locomotive engineer was not negligent in his operation of the train. Judge McNeel also found that Alabama Great Southern Railroad Company took reasonable measures to warn pedestrians of the dangers of passing trains.

Judge McNeel held there was no issue of fact for a jury to conclude the railroad companies were negligent or proximately caused the accident. The Court’s order dismissed all the plaintiff’s claims against Wise Carter’s clients.

Wise Carter is one of Mississippi’s leading law firms with a legacy of providing legal expertise for railroads operating in Mississippi for well over a century. Wise Carter has offices located in Jackson, Hattiesburg, Gulfport, in Mississippi, and recently opened an office in Detroit, Michigan. For more information on the firm, please visit www.wisecarter.com.

AMERICA’S TOP 100 HIGH STAKES LITIGATORS®

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Announcing the selection of Charles E. Ross among America’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators® for 2021. Selection to America’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators® is by invitation only and is reserved to identify the nation’s most exceptional trial attorneys in high value, high stakes legal matters. 

To be considered for selection, an attorney must have litigated (for either plaintiff or defendant) a matter (1) with at least $2,000,000 in alleged damages at stake or (2) with the fate of a business worth at least $2,000,000 at stake. These minimum qualifications are required for initial consideration.  Thereafter, candidates are carefully screened through comprehensive Qualitative Comparative Analysis based on a broad array of criteria, including the candidate’s professional experience, litigation experience, significant case results, representative high stakes matters, peer reputation, and community impact in order to rank the candidates throughout the state. 

Only the top 100 qualifying attorneys in each state will receive this honor and be selected for membership among America’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators®.  With these extremely high standards for selection to America’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators®, less than one-half percent (0.5%) of active attorneys in the United States will receive this honor — truly the most exclusive and elite level of attorneys in the community.

If you would like more information about America’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators® or the selection process, please visit our website at www.Top100HighStakesLitigators.com or contact Kevin Wieser – Membership Director at Membership@AmericasTop100Attorneys.com.

Wise Carter is one of Mississippi’s leading law firms with a legacy of providing legal expertise for over a century.  Wise Carter has offices located in Jackson, Hattiesburg, Gulfport, in Mississippi, and recently opened an office in Detroit, Michigan. For more information on the firm, please visit www.wisecarter.com.

Wise Carter Attorney Inducted as Fellow to the College of Workers’ Compensation

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Wise Carter shareholder attorney, Andrew D. Sweat, was inducted as a Fellow to the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers in December 2021, for his distinguished career practicing in workers’ compensation.

Sweat became a Fellow of the College on March 28, 2020. On December 8, 2021, the College held its induction ceremony for the 2020 Fellows in Orlando, Florida. At that induction ceremony, Sweat was formally recognized for his accomplishments in the workers’ compensation legal community. 

Individuals selected as Fellows must demonstrate their commitment to foster and further the objective of the College and must show significant work and contribution to the field of workers’ compensation. In being selected as a Fellow, Sweat is honored for his long and distinguished career in workers’ compensation law and his devotion to his practice area.

“It is an honor to have been accepted into the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers,” said Andrew Sweat. “I am pleased to be recognized as a Fellow and look forward to continuing to serve my clients and the workers’ compensation community.”  

Sweat contributes almost 40 years of experience practicing workers’ compensation at Wise Carter.  He is known for his professional expertise in all areas of workers’ compensation law from claims administration and defense to self-insurance and regulatory matters. He also has shown tremendous leadership in developing the firm’s workers’ compensation practice area, including mentoring other attorneys in the firm.

Charles Cowan Appointed to the Mississippi Advisory Committee to The Commission

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November 19, 2021, Charles Cowan, a Wise Carter shareholder attorney, was appointed by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to a four-year term on Mississippi’s Advisory Committee to the Commission. 

The Commission maintains the United States Territory Advisory Committees, which comprise statutorily mandated Advisory Committees from each state. Committee members have four-year appointments and offer a broad perspective on civil rights concerns at state and local levels.

Charles Cowan, along with other members of the Advisory Committee, serve as the Commission’s “eyes and ears” on the ground and advise the Commission about civil rights matters in Mississippi. Wise Carter proudly commends Cowan for his prestigious appointment and is honored to support him through his term.

The United States Commission was established by the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Its mission is to represent and serve the community as an independent, bipartisan fact-finding federal agency. The Commission is charged with advising the President and Congress on civil rights issues and is meant to inform the development of national civil rights policy and enhance enforcement of federal civil rights laws. 

Wise Carter is one of Mississippi’s leading law firms with a legacy of providing legal expertise for over a century. Wise Carter has offices located in Jackson, Hattiesburg, Gulfport, in Mississippi, and recently opened an office in Detroit, Michigan. For more information on the firm, please visit www.wisecarter.com.

SCOTUS Allows Enforcement of CMS Vaccine Mandate

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As of January 13, 2022, The US Supreme Court issued the decision to allow CMS to begin enforcing its vaccine mandate for covered facilities in Mississippi. The Court viewed the vaccine mandate as an infection control measure that was well within the scope of agency regulation, noting “there can be no doubt that addressing infection problems in Medicare and Medicaid facilities is what [the Secretary of Health and Human Services] does.” Thus, the Court concluded that the agency had statutory authority to require that, in order to remain eligible for Medicare and Medicaid dollars, covered facilities must ensure that their employees are vaccinated against COVID–19. The full opinion of the Court can be read here.

Wise Carter attorneys, Jennifer Scott and Matt Harrell thoroughly reviewed this decision to understand what this means for CMS facilities. Ultimately, it means that covered facilities (including but not limited to hospitals, long-term care facilities, and ASCs) should resume their efforts to comply with the CMS vaccine mandate. We expect the CMS to issue an updated guidance in response to the Court’s decision and will update clients as we learn more. CMS issued guidance on December 28, 2021, exercising agency discretion to extend the compliance deadlines in the 25 states where the mandate was not enjoined and giving facilities there until January 27th for Phase 1 compliance and until February 28th for Phase 2 compliance. CMS may extend the compliance deadlines further for facilities in Mississippi and other states affected by today’s decision, to allow them 30 and 60 days respectively to comply with the mandate. Facilities should work toward compliance as soon as possible, however, as CMS may not extend the deadlines given the current surge in infections.

Jennifer H. Scott, Shareholder 

C. Matthew Harrell, Associate

Stay Blocking CMS Vaccine Mandate Remains Effective for Mississippi Facilities

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On December 15, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld a district court’s preliminary injunction blocking the CMS vaccine mandate from going into effect in 14 states, including Mississippi. The Fifth Circuit determined that the federal government had failed to demonstrate a strong likelihood of success in overcoming challenges under the “major-questions” doctrine, one of the primary bases for issuing the preliminary injunction. Under this doctrine, federal agencies must show clear Congressional authority to support their “novel assertions of authority.” The Fifth Circuit also cited its recent decision enforcing a preliminary injunction blocking the OSHA vaccine mandate, based in part on a finding that OSHA similarly did not have a strong likelihood of successfully establishing clear Congressional authority for that mandate as required by the “major questions” doctrine. 

The Fifth Circuit did disagree with the district court on one key point: the scope of the preliminary injunction staying the CMS mandate. Finding “little justification” had been given by the district court to support a nationwide injunction and noting the value of “the airing of competing views” from other circuits, the Fifth Circuit limited the preliminary injunction to the 14 plaintiff states (Louisiana, Montana, Arizona, Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio). 

The federal government reacted quickly, asking the U.S. Supreme Court on December 17th to stay the Fifth Circuit’s preliminary injunction. The federal government argued, in part, that public interest favored allowing the CMS mandate to become effective while the appellate court decides the underlying issues. The states challenging the mandate must respond to the federal government’s application to stay the preliminary injunction by December 30th.  

December 30th will be a busy day for those following developments in the vaccine mandate saga. In pending challenges to the OSHA vaccination or testing mandate, the Supreme Court has also set December 30th as the deadline for the federal government to respond to the challenging states’ request to reinstate the preliminary injunction, which was lifted by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.  

What do these developments mean for Mississippi facilities covered by the CMS mandate? For now, you can continue to pause any work to implement and enforce the mandatory vaccination policies under the CMS rules published on November 5, 2021. Although you may be required to hit the play button again on that work, the Supreme Court’s briefing schedule indicates that the current pause will continue for at least the remainder of 2021.

Jennifer H. Scott, Shareholder 

Sixth Circuit Lifts Injunction to Allow OSHA Vaccine and Testing Mandate for Large Employers

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On December 17, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit dissolved the injunction that had prevented the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) from enforcing its vaccine and testing mandate for employers with 100 or more employees. The Court, which has been assigned the authority to decide on a consolidated appeal brought by multiple parties, including the Mississippi Attorney General, found that the vaccine and testing mandate was likely within OSHA’s authority. Several applications have already been filed with the Supreme Court seeking to reinstate the injunction.

In light of the new ruling, OSHA has indicated that it plans to begin enforcing the mandate’s requirements on January 10 and will enforce the testing requirement within the mandate on February 9. OSHA may change these dates following any future Supreme Court decision. For now, employers with more than 100 employees should evaluate whether the OSHA mandate applies to them and plan for the possible need to comply with the mandate by January 10.

C. Matthew Harrell, Associate

Wise Carter Participates at National Workers’ Compensation Defense Network 2021 Virtual Annual Conference

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Wise Carter attorneys will lead panel discussions for the National Workers’ Compensation Defense Network’s Annual Conference which will be held virtually on Wednesday, November 10, 2021 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. CST.   

Register for the Conference

There is no cost to register and attend the conference and the speakers are always excellent. Click the link below to sign up today!

Register

Grafton Bragg Unpacks Last Week’s Change to Deference Rules for Mississippi Agencies

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What are the rights of individuals and businesses that are on the receiving end of a damaging decision by one of Mississippi’s many state agencies? For a long time, pretty limited. Under the agency “deference” doctrines, the courts would usually let the agencies interpret and define their own laws, rules, and regulations. This usually meant that in a challenge to an agency decision, the agency was presumed to be right, and the individual or business was presumed to be wrong.

A few years ago, Mississippi courts did away with “deference” for purposes of the statutes (passed by the legislature) that governed state agencies. This was certainly a shift, but oftentimes the “guts” of what an agency does are not through statutes but through the internal rules and regulations that the agency has passed. And on those types of questions, the courts continued to defer to the agencies.

This changed last Thursday, when the Mississippi Supreme Court “overrule[d] past precedent” and decided that it would no longer give agencies the benefit of the doubt on questions about the meaning of agency rules and regulations. This doesn’t mean the aggrieved individual business will necessarily win; in last week’s case (linked below), the Division of Medicaid prevailed. But it does mean that going forward Mississippi citizens will be on more equal footing going forward in challenges to agency decisions.   Click to view the opinion.