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Fairley v. George County12/6/2001
DATE OF JUDGMENT: 04/17/1998
TRIAL JUDGE: HON. KATHY KING JACKSON
COURT FROM WHICH APPEALED: GEORGE COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT
NATURE OF THE CASE: CIVIL - PERSONAL INJURY
DISPOSITION: REVERSED AND REMANDED - 12/06/2001
. Evelyn Fairley (Fairley) filed a lawsuit in the Circuit Court of George County, Mississippi, against George County and its insurance carrier, The Atlanta Casualty Company (Atlanta Casualty), alleging negligence on the part of a county road crew leaving gravel in the road. The complaint alleges this gravel caused Fairley to lose control of her car and overturn off River Road in George County. The trial court awarded summary judgment for George County after finding Fairley did not comply with the notice provisions of the Mississippi Tort Claims Act (MTCA), Miss. Code Ann. ยงยง 11-46-1 to -23 (Supp. 2001), which, at the time, required strict compliance. After this Court decided Reaves ex rel. Rouse v. Randall, 729 So. 2d 1237 (Miss. 1998), changing the strict compliance requirement to one of substantial compliance, Fairley petitioned the trial court to reconsider its summary judgment order. The court denied the motion as untimely. The trial court later dismissed Atlanta Casualty, after it reached an amicable settlement with Fairley. Fairley filed a notice of appeal from the summary judgment order the following day. Relying on the language of the trial court's order dismissing Atlanta Casualty, this Court dismissed the appeal as interlocutory in an order dated October 3, 2000. This case is now before the Court for rehearing. In her petition for rehearing, Fairley states the language in the order is misleading as the trial court was indicating Fairley's desire to appeal the order granting summary judgment. There being no remaining defendants nor claims to be pursued in the circuit court after the order dismissing Atlanta Casualty, the summary judgment is final for purposes of appeal.
FACTS
. Evelyn Fairley was injured when she lost control of her automobile and it overturned off River Road in George County, Mississippi on May 30, 1996. One month later in June, her first attorney mailed a letter addressed to the George County Board of Supervisors informing it she represented Fairley regarding the accident and asking it to forward the letter to the county's insurance carrier. The subject heading of that letter stated Fairley's name, the date of the accident, and the following: "Nature: Single motor vehicle accident on River Road in George County, Mississippi - gravel in road." The following February, Fairley filed a complaint against George County in the Circuit Court of George County alleging a county road crew negligently left gravel in the road causing her accident. In March of 1997, Fairley hired her present counsel and amended her complaint to include George County's insurance carrier The Atlanta Casualty Company. Over a year later, the circuit court granted George County's motion for summary judgment for failure to provide the county adequate notice under the MTCA. At the time, strict compliance with the notice provisions of the MTCA was necessary to provide adequate notice. On December 31, 1998, this Court decided Reaves which changed the notice standard to one of substantial compliance with the MTCA. Fairley filed a motion to reconsider the summary judgment in light of the change in the law, but the circuit court denied it as untimely. On September 16, 1999, the circuit court entered an order dismissing Atlanta Casualty after it voluntarily settled with Fairley stating:
It is therefore, ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that the motion of the Plaintiffs be, and the same is hereby sustained, and this cause is h
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