Medical Assur. Co. of Mississippi v. Myers
| Decision Date | 17 May 2007 |
| Docket Number | No. 2005-IA-01001-SCT.,2005-IA-01001-SCT. |
| Citation | 956 So.2d 213 |
| Parties | MEDICAL ASSURANCE COMPANY OF MISSISSIPPI v. Ronald V. MYERS, Sr., M.D. |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
Jeffrey Ryan Baker, Walter T. Johnson, Jackson, C.R. Montgomery, Canton, Robert M. Jones, J. Collins Wohner, Jackson, attorneys for appellant.
H.L. Merideth, Jr., Greenville, David L. Merideth, Ridgeland, Edward Blackmon, Jr., Canton, attorneys for appellee.
EN BANC.
¶ 1. The central issue on appeal in this action between a doctor and his former medical malpractice insurer is venue. The Chancery Court of Holmes County originally granted the insurer's motion to transfer the case to the Circuit Court of Madison County. Five months later, the chancellor granted the doctor's motion to reconsider and transferred the case to the Circuit Court of Holmes County instead. The issue before this Court is whether — after transferring the case to Madison County — the chancery court abused its discretion by granting the doctor's motion to reconsider and transferring the case to the Circuit Court of Holmes County.
¶ 2. Medical Assurance Company of Mississippi ("MACM") insured Dr. Ronald V. Myers from 1998 through 2004, but the company elected not to renew his coverage when his policy expired on January 1, 2005, under its own terms. One reason for MACM's decision was Dr. Myers's refusal to allow its Risk Management Department to conduct a full review of his practices in Tchula (Holmes County), Belzoni (Humphreys County), Greenville (Washington County), and Indianola (Sunflower County).
¶ 3. Believing MACM owed him a statutory duty to renew his policy, Dr. Myers sued the company for damages and petitioned for an injunction to force it to insure him. On December 8, 2004, Dr. Myers filed his complaint in the Chancery Court of Holmes County. One week later, MACM filed a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and, alternatively, moved the court to transfer the case to the Circuit Court of Madison County.
¶ 4. Chancellor Janace H. Goree heard arguments on the issues of jurisdiction and venue on December 16, 2004. That same day, the chancellor ruled from the bench that Dr. Myers's action was essentially a contract claim, so the Chancery Court of Holmes County did not have subject matter jurisdiction. The chancellor concluded by stating "the Court is going to hereby transfer this case to the Circuit Court of Madison County." Thereafter, the parties agreed to prepare an order consistent with this ruling. The order, filed January 27, 2005, incorporated the bench ruling in toto.
¶ 5. On December 22, 2004, Dr. Myers filed with the chancery court a Motion to Reopen and Reconsider. The motion asked the court to reopen the case for the admission of additional evidence and reargument and to reconsider the bench ruling transferring the case to the Circuit Court of Madison County. On January 6, 2005, this Court decided Snyder v. Logan, 905 So.2d 531 (Miss.2005), a case dealing with permissible venues for an action between an insured and her insurer under the former venue statute. Dr. Myers thereafter argued in his February 7, 2005, brief supporting his motion that Snyder represented a change in controlling venue law and justified the court's reconsideration of the case.
¶ 6. On April 12, 2005, the chancellor held a hearing on Dr. Myers's motion to reconsider.1 After taking the matter under advisement, the chancellor granted Dr. Myers's motion to reconsider the issue of venue. The chancellor found that credible evidence satisfactorily established a factual basis to support Dr. Myers's preference of venue in Holmes County. The order concluded, "IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that this case shall be transferred to the Circuit Court of Holmes County, Mississippi."
¶ 7. On May 23, 2005, MACM filed its Petition for Permission for Interlocutory Appeal, which this Court granted. MACM argues that the chancery court had no authority to entertain any motions, including a motion to reconsider, after ruling from the bench and entering an order transferring the case to the Circuit Court of Madison County. MACM also argues that venue is proper in Madison County. Because we conclude that the proper county of venue in this case is Madison County, we need not address the question of whether the chancellor had authority to consider the motion for reconsideration.2
¶ 8. The question before us is whether, after it transferred this case to Madison County, the chancery court abused its discretion by granting Dr. Myers's motion to reconsider, and then transferring the case to the Circuit Court of Holmes County. Relief under Mississippi Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)
¶ 9. MACM argues the chancery court erred in granting Dr. Myers's motion to reconsider because he failed to satisfy the requirements of Mississippi Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b) for relief from an order. Dr. Myers asserts the chancery court properly entertained his motion because the court failed to consider the venue issue when it transferred the case to the Circuit Court of Madison County based on its lack of subject matter jurisdiction, and because the chancery court's ruling was not a "final judgment, order or proceeding."
¶ 10. Rule 60(b) governs relief from a judgment or order based on mistakes, inadvertence, newly discovered evidence, fraud, and other specified circumstances. It states, in part:
On motion and upon such terms as are just, the court may relieve a party or his legal representation from a final judgment, order, or proceeding for the following reasons:
(1) fraud, misrepresentation, or other misconduct of an adverse party;
(2) accident or mistake;
(3) newly discovered evidence which by due diligence could not have been discovered in time to move for a new trial under Rule 59(b);
(4) the judgment is void;
(5) the judgment has been satisfied, released, or discharged, or a prior judgment upon which it is based has been reversed or otherwise vacated, or it is no longer equitable that the judgment should have prospective application;
(6) any other reason justifying relief from the judgment.
The motion shall be made within a reasonable time, and for reasons (1), (2) and (3) not more than six months after the judgment, order, or proceeding was entered or taken.
¶ 11. A trial court's grant of relief under Miss. R. Civ. P. 60(b) is reviewed for abuse of discretion. R.N. Turnbow Oil Invs. v. McIntosh, 873 So.2d 960, 963 (Miss.2004). In his December 20, 2004, motion to reconsider, Dr. Myers simply asked the court to reopen the case for the admission of additional evidence and reargument and to reconsider its bench ruling transferring the case to the Circuit Court of Madison County. In his brief filed two months later, Dr. Myers argued that a case handed down by this Court on January 6, 2005, Snyder v. Logan, 905 So.2d 531 (Miss.2005), constituted an intervening change in controlling law. This basis for reconsideration does not fit within the first five enumerated reasons for relief under 60(b). As such, this Court must determine whether the trial court abused its discretion by granting relief pursuant to the catchall category of 60(b)(6), "any other reason justifying relief from the judgment." Significantly, "[r]elief under Rule 60(b)(6) is reserved for extraordinary and compelling circumstances." Briney v. U.S. Fid. & Guar. Co., 714 So.2d 962, 966 (Miss. 1998).
¶ 12. Although never explicitly stated, the chancery court apparently granted Dr. Myers's motion to reconsider because it did not specifically address and analyze the issue of venue in its original order transferring the case to the Circuit Court of Madison County. In contrast, the court's May 10, 2005, order did include findings of fact and conclusions of law explaining its decision to transfer the case to Dr. Myers's original venue choice — Holmes County. However, unless extraordinary and compelling circumstances justified the transfer from the Circuit Court of Madison County to the Circuit Court of Holmes County, the first order transferring the case to the Circuit Court of Madison County must be enforced.
¶ 13. Both parties agree the circuit court, rather than the chancery court has jurisdiction in this case. The dispute concerns whether the Circuit Court of Holmes County is a proper venue for Dr. Myers's action. While Dr. Myers acknowledges that Madison County would also be a permissible venue, he claims that his choice of venue — Holmes County — should be respected because "the plaintiff is entitled to choose between any of the permissible venue options where credible evidence or factual basis supports the venue selected." Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Johnson, 807 So.2d 382, 387 (Miss.2001). MACM, on the other hand, contends that Madison County is the only proper venue given the facts of this case.
¶ 14. This Court has held that "[a]n application for change of venue is addressed to the discretion of the trial judge, and [her] ruling thereon will not be disturbed on appeal unless it clearly appears that there has been an abuse of discretion or that the discretion has not been justly and properly exercised under the circumstances." Guice v. Miss. Life Ins. Co., 836 So.2d 756, 758 (Miss.2003). Pursuant to Miss.Code Ann. Section 11-11-3 (Rev. 2004), venue is appropriate in the following counties:
Civil actions of which the circuit court has original jurisdiction shall be commenced in the county where the defendant resides, or, if a corporation, in the county of its principal place of business, or in the county where a substantial alleged act or omission occurred or where a substantial event that caused the injury occurred.
The defendant MACM has its principal place of business in Madison County, so a substantial alleged act, omission, or injury-causing event must have occurred in Holmes...
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