Many people think that once you are placed on probation, your problems are over. That is far from true. You are now subject to the whims of a probation officer, and you need to be very careful to maintain a…
Probation is not a “get out of a jail/prison free” card. Your jail or prison sentence is suspended, not ended. The sentence is still in effect, but as long as you follow all of the probation requirements, you may serve…
The words “jail” and “prison” are often used interchangeably, but in reality they are different institutions. In Mississippi and in most states, jail is a county or city facility where arrested individuals are held until they go to trial or strike a…
When clients call seeking advice about a possible personal injury claim, my first question is -- do you have witnesses? My second question is -- was the injury documented in some manner? Sometimes a client has been injured, but there…
I represented a woman who suffered catastrophic brain damage as the result of a car accident in Louisiana. The other driver was at fault, so we pursued a personal injury claim against the driver’s insurance provider. The negligent driver had…
Many people do not know that a Mississippi DUI (driving under the influence) arrest actually triggers two separate cases. The first case is the judicial court case, which, as I have discussed in a previous post "Drunk Driving Arrests in…
I have often had clients call and say they were injured at Wal-Mart or a similar store and believe that because they were injured, they have a personal injury claim. Usually, this is not true. For example, if you slip…
If you are arrested and charged with a crime, your first court appearance will be at an “arraignment.” You will be appearing before a judge, and it is important to remember that you should stand when you speak to the…
This past weekend I was reading Kings of Tort: The True Story of Dickie Scruggs, Paul Minor and Two Decades of Political and Legal Manipulation in Mississippi, written by Alan Lange and Tom Dawson. The authors write that Scruggs strategically…
A little over a month ago, the Georgia Supreme Court unanimously decided that a cap on jury awards for medical malpractice claims is unconstitutional. The Court stated in its opinion that Georgia’s cap of $350,000 violated a person’s right to…