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Lexington Insurance Co. v. Buckley9/6/2005
NATURE OF THE CASE: CIVIL - TORTS-OTHER THAN PERSONAL INJURY & PROPERTY DAMAGE
NATURE OF THE CASE: TORTS-OTHER THAN PERSONAL INJURY & PROPERTY DAMAGE
DISPOSITION: REVERSED - 09/06/2005
DISPOSITION: REVERSED - 08/30/2005
BEFORE BRIDGES, P.J., GRIFFIS AND BARNES, JJ.
I. BACKGROUND
. Charles Buckley witnessed a tragic accident and filed emotional distress and negligence claims against Allied Products. Because Allied had purchased a liability insurance policy from Lexington Insurance Company, Buckley and Lexington attempted to negotiate a settlement. Lexington offered to pay Buckley $140,000 to settle the claim, and Buckley accepted the offer with the added provision that Lexington pay the settlement funds within ten days of their agreement. When Lexington did not tender settlement funds, Buckley filed a complaint for specific performance in the Covington County Chancery Court. Lexington did not respond to the suit and Buckley obtained a judgment against Lexington.
. When Lexington discovered the judgment, Lexington filed a motion to extend time for an appeal. The chancellor granted Lexington's motion and Lexington's appeal of the judgment comprises one of the present consolidated appeals.
. After Lexington filed its successful motion for extension of time, Lexington filed a motion to set aside the judgment. Buckley also filed a motion to reconsider granting Lexington's motion for extension of time. The chancellor addressed both motions in one hearing and denied both. Lexington also appeals the chancellor's denial of its motion to set aside the judgment. That appeal is the second of the present consolidated appeals.
. Aggrieved by the two decisions mentioned above, Lexington argues: (1) that the chancery court lacked personal jurisdiction over Lexington due to insufficient service of process, (2) that the chancery court erred when it set the matter for trial, (3) that the chancery court erred when it awarded a judgment, (4) that the chancery court erred when it denied Lexington's motion to set aside the judgment, and (5) that the chancery court erred when it awarded a judgment based on improper amended complaints. Aggrieved by the chancellor's decision to deny his motion to reconsider granting Lexington's motion for extension of time, Buckley cross-appeals and asks this Court to review that decision.
. Finding that the chancery court lacked personal jurisdiction over Lexington because of improper service of process, and that the chancery court erred by conducting a trial on the merits where Lexington failed to answer Buckley's complaint or otherwise appear, we reverse the chancellor's decision to award a judgment in Buckley's favor. Because the chancery court lacked jurisdiction, Lexington's other issues become moot. Likewise, Buckley's cross-appeal becomes moot.
II. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
. This complicated case involves a terrible accident, a lawsuit by a witness to that accident, a failed settlement, litigation over that failed settlement, and an end result of two awards to the original plaintiff. The plaintiff's first award came by way of a settlement related to the original claim. The plaintiff's second award stems from a judgment connected to the litigation over the failed settlement.
. Charles Buckley is the plaintiff in both of the underlying actions and the appellee and cross-appellant in the matter at hand. During August of 1998, Charles Buckley "bush hogged" the medians near the intersection of I-55 and Lakeland Drive in Jackson, Mississippi. As Buckley mowed, the mower blade, manufactured by Allied Products
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