Appeal on Discovery Issue of Interest

The Mississippi Supreme Court granted an interlocutory appeal in Johnson v. Johnson yesterday located here.  The trial court in the case had granted a motion to compel via an email request for production of documents to an opposing parties paralegal.  The Mississippi Supreme Court reversed and rendered finding that this did not count as valid service under Rule 5 of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure and that a request in an email did not count as a request for production under Rule 34 of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure from my reading of the opinion.  As such, the case was reversed for entry of an order denying the motion to compel.  This might be an interesting case to file away as it seems to hint that email service alone of anything may not be sufficient.