Estate of Spiegel v. Western Surety Co.8/9/2005
NATURE OF THE CASE: CIVIL - TORTS-OTHER THAN PERSONAL INJURY & PROPERTY DAMAGE
DISPOSITION: AFFIRMED - 08/09/2005
BEFORE KING, C.J., MYERS AND ISHEE, JJ.
. On December 23, 2002, the personal representative of the Estate of Lawrence Spiegel ("Spiegel"), filed a complaint against Western Surety Company, Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland, Gayle Parker, Circuit Clerk of Harrison County, Mississippi, and Webb L. Lee, former Circuit Clerk of Harrison County, Mississippi, and Gail Nicholson in the Circuit Court of the First Judicial District of Harrison County. Western Surety Company and Fidelity Deposit Company were joined as defendants in the case because they were sureties for the circuit clerk and former circuit clerk on their official bonds. The complaint alleged that the circuit clerk failed to properly enroll a foreign judgment held by Spiegel and that this failure ultimately caused Spiegel to be unable to execute the judgment.
. On October 31, 2003, the circuit court granted the appellees' motion to dismiss, or, in the alternative, for judgment on the pleadings, finding that Spiegel's action was barred by the statute of limitations. Spiegel filed a motion for reconsideration, which was denied on March 12, 2004. Also on March 12, 2004, the court entered an amended order, specifically finding that Spiegel's action was time-barred because it accrued on or before June 9, 1997. A judgment of dismissal with prejudice was also entered on March 12, 2004. Gail Nicholson had been dismissed from the suit on December 22, 2003, pursuant to an agreed order of dismissal.
. Aggrieved by the judgment of the circuit court, Spiegel now appeals, raising the following single issue: DID THE CIRCUIT COURT ERR IN FINDING SPIEGEL'S ACTION TO BE BARRED BY THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS?
. Finding no error, we affirm the judgment of the circuit court.
FACTS
. On March 19, 1990, Lawrence Spiegel was awarded a joint and several judgment against Fay Yeager and Lydia Ann Rayner by the United States District Court for New Jersey. The amount of the judgment was roughly $3,000,000. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed this judgment. On or about May 2, 1990, Gail Nicholson was hired by Spiegel to enroll the New Jersey judgment in Harrison County, Mississippi, the known residence of Lydia Ann Rayner. For reasons that are not entirely clear from the record, the judgment was not properly enrolled by the circuit clerk. On or about May 3, 1990, Nicholson also registered the New Jersey judgment in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. Spiegel eventually became aware that his judgment did not appear on the judgment rolls of Harrison County, in spite of Nicholson's delivering of the New Jersey judgment to the circuit clerk for enrollment. Because of this, on June 9, 1997, another attorney in Mississippi re-enrolled the judgment on behalf of Spiegel, and this time the judgment was actually enrolled by the clerk.
. On April 29, 1999, Lawrence Spiegel departed this life, and on December 5, 2000, an estate was opened in Monmouth County, New Jersey for the purpose of administering Spiegel's estate. A little over two years later, as noted above, on December 23, 2002, the personal representative of the estate (hereinafter "Spiegel") filed the complaint, alleging that the circuit clerk caused him damage by failing to enroll the judgment when first presented for enrollment on May 2, 1990.
. Previous to the filing of Spiegel's complaint, on June 21, 2000, Rayner filed for bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. It was this
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