The Lampton family and Ergon Properties settled last month a lawsuit filed by Mark Culver on behalf of his son Walker. Mr. Culver filed suit in 2011 in Hinds County Circuit Court after his son was injured in an accident on Kearney Park Farms. Dennis Sweet represented Mr. Culver. Several Lampton family members serve as President and directors of Kearney Park Farms, Inc. The settlement amount was not disclosed but court records state Mr. Culver rejected a settlement offer of $500,000.
Mr. Culver filed his first lawsuit against the defendants on January 14, 2011. The case was assigned to Judge Tomie Green. She re-assigned the case to Judge Winston Kidd on June 1, 2011. The complaint alleged 17-year old Walker Culver was with 16-year old Lewis Lampton and several other teen-agers at Kearney Park Farms, a hunting camp adjacent to a lake. Mr. Culver alleges there was an accident involving a truck that injured Walker. The complaint states Walker broke his back, an suffered a L1 burst fracture and of course, psychological suffering took place. Eight hours of surgery was required and young Walker stayed in the hospital for two weeks. The complaint states he had to wear a TLSO brace and bone growth stimulator for two months. It states he still suffers pain from his injuries that will remain with him through the rest of his life.
The complaint accuses Lewis Lampton of "negligently" operating a truck owned by his father and is thus responsible for the injuries and damages to Walker Culver. The complaint charged the Lamptons with counts of negligent entrustment, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, and negligent supervision. Mr. Culver accused the teens of drinking and blamed it on the Lamptons. He argued allowing Lewis Lampton to operate a "motor vehicle" was a breach of "his duty to exercise reasonable care in the supervision of his minor child in that his own negligence" when he should have it "would pose an unreasonable risk of harm to others with him or on the road." The complaint also asked for punitive damages.
However, this was not the first time this complaint was filed in Hinds County Circuit Court. The Culvers filed suit on October 18, 2010. The case was assigned to Judge Swan Yerger. The Culvers withdrew their case three days later before anyone was served but after they knew which judge would hear the case. The complaint was then refiled on January 14, 2011 and assigned to Judge Winston Kidd. The Lamptons objected and filed a motion to reassign the case to Judge Jeff Weill since Judge Weill assumed Judge Yerger's caseload ( p.16 of the documents posted below). They argued it was the same complaint and the rules did not allow the plaintiffs to "judge-shop" (my phrase). Judge Kidd denied the motion on April 18, 2012.
The Culvers claimed in their response they withdrew the suit because Progressive Insurance made a settlement offer and wanted to settle the case on that day. No final agreement was signed but the Culvers state since offers were made, they removed the complaint. Progressive then later that year raised the offer to $330,000, then $400,000, then $500,000 but to no avail as the plaintiffs rejected each offer. The plaintiffs admit they refiled the same claims (#17 on p. 31) but only because the settlement negotiations collapsed. A Progressive representative stated in an affidavit (p.54) he did not know about the lawsuit filed on October 18 when he spoke to the attorney for the plaintiffs on October 21 nor did he ask for them to dismiss the complaint.
Judge Kidd dismissed the case with prejudice on May 8 after the parties notified him they settled the case on May 7. The settlement terms were not disclosed.
Editorial comment: That was the news now for the opinion. I think Dennis Sweet knew what he was doing the whole time. He drew Judge Yerger, didn't like it, so he pulled the case. Filed again and got Judge Green, who then gave it to Judge Kidd. It doesn't take a genius to figure this one out. And for any Judge Green defenders, all Judge Green had to do to avoid any appearance of impropriety is put the case back before the original judge or his replacement. But then, respect for Judge Weill is not something she has show much of lately.
I always did love this song, btw.
Friday, June 1, 2012
Lamptons settle suit. Did Sweet judge-shop?
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21 comments:
"The Culvers filed suit on October 18, 2010. The case was assigned to Judge Swan Yerger. The Culvers withdrew their case three days later before anyone was served but after they knew which judge would hear the case. The complaint was then refiled on January 14, 2011 and assigned to Judge Winston Kidd. The Lamptons objected and filed a motion to reassign the case to Judge Jeff Weill since Judge Weill assumed Judge Yerger's caseload ( p.16 of the documents posted below). They argued it was the same complaint and the rules did not allow the plaintiffs to "judge-shop" (my phrase). Judge Kidd denied the motion on April 18, 2012"
Excellent observation, KF. Excellent.
Since when do you withdraw a complaint because you are in the process of discussing settlement? Based on what I've read here, I think the Supreme Court would have considered this to be judge shopping and would have sent it to Weill.
If the Defendants didn't like Judge Kidd's ruling they should've appealed to the Supreme Court. Instead they chose to settle the suit.
It's ashamed that some con artist can hire a sleazy attorney to make millions from a nice family who is so generous to our community
Regarding 12:44 post: the defendants are too classy to put their children through the legal circus so obviously chose to settle with the gold diggers
12:44 BWA-HA-HA-HA!!! The defendants were in all likelihood represented by the insurance companies lawyers.
The insurance company and their lawyers called the shots and paid the settlement not the Lamptons, "classy" or not.
This jackpot justice shit is out of control.
Dennis Sweet, Tomie "the poet" Green? Ray Charles could see this!
I got to hand it to the African-American Negroes...they play the game well.
Just another example that Jackson legal system is run by the Black Legal Mafia.
Wow. So the lesson here is don't judge shop. Never mind the fact that the kid had some serious injuries. I mean, what's a broken back compared to family wronged?
Yep, just some bloodsucking gold digger looking for a quick buck. Jackpot justice strikes again...and to such a wonderful family, too.
Where was Kevin Watson?
Does the injured kid himself not bear any liability for riding on the toolbox of a truck in the first place? If the driver and property owner are going to be held accountable, shouldn't the injured be held accountable for his idiotic decision to ride back there in the first place? Sounds like Daddy Culver saw dollar signs and took the "my son can do no wrong" attitude.
The Lamptons are good people. Hate this happened.
to bad..the Lamptons are good people that do good things...now they are being swarmed by savages trying to steal their money...disgusting...
This needs further investigation.
By rule cases are not assigned to judges until an answer is filed. This rule was created in 2001 as a result of this very conduct.
If the case was assigned to Yerger before an answer was filed then the clerk made an error...and given Barbara Dunns incompetence...its possible that Dennis is actually without blame here.
Interesting that everyone ignored the unsupervised teens drinking element.
The relationships between the Yeager and Lampton families is also overlooked.
The injuries are clearly life long and anyone with such an injury can attest to the pain and lack of mobility.
I think the " nice family" is lucky someone wasn't killed.
Not all lawsuits are frivolous. Not everyone who files them are " gold diggers".
Let me see if I have this right...Any family that has wealth and contributes some of it ( forget the tex benefit) should be immune from liabilty?
Spoken like a true plaintiff attorney's stooge.
I think the law played out in this case. It's not cheating unless you get caught. The plaintiffs lawyer represented his client to the best of his ability... And that's why you pay liability insurance... It's not like the lampton's will go broke...
But yes the kid and parents bare responsibility... Unfortunately that just not how our society works anymore.
I hear that the injured party is a hunting guide -how injured could he be?????
I would trust Dennis Sweet to represent me any day. He is a great lawyer but I don't think he takes cases other than major damages cases. Smart.
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