Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Appeal of Summary Judgment Denial

There are two lines of cases dealing with appealing the denial of a summary judgment motion:

The Mississippi Court of Appeals has held that appeals from the denial of a motion for summary judgment are interlocutory in nature and are rendered moot by a trial on the merits.  Gibson v. Wright, 870 So. 2d 1250, 1254 (¶8) (Miss. Ct. App. 2004) (citing Black v. J.I. Case Co., 22 F.3d 568, 569-70 (5th Cir. 1994)).  “[O]nce trial begins, summary judgment motions effectively become moot.”  Id. (quoting Daigle v. Liberty Life Ins. Co., 70 F.3d 394, 397 (5th Cir. 1995)).  Britton v. Am. Legion Post 058, 19 So. 3d 83, 85 (¶7) (Miss. Ct. App. 2008); accord Gibson, 870 So. 2d at 1254 (¶8). 

But see:

U.S. Fid. & Guar. Co. of Miss. v. Martin, 998 So. 2d 956, 962 (¶12) (Miss. 2008) (reviewing
denial of summary-judgment motion, post-jury verdict); Piggly Wiggly of Greenwood Inc.
v. Fipps, 809 So. 2d 722, 726 (¶16) (Miss. Ct. App. 2001) (same).  The review of the denial of the summary-judgment motions in those cases would have concerned issues of fact.  Britton v. Am. Legion Post 058, 19 So. 3d 83, 84 (¶5) (Miss. Ct. App. 2008) (refusing to review summary-judgment motion that concerned status of party as legal entity); Gibson v. Wright, 870 So. 2d 1250, 1254 (¶5) (Miss. Ct. App. 2004) (refusing to review summary-judgment motion that concerned legal status of decedent in wrongful-death suit).

The issue seems to be whether issues of law or fact are involved.  If issue of law reviewable, if of fact up to the jury and not reviewable. 

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