News & Knowledge

Nick Giallourakis, Joshua Metcalf, and Ruth Maron won summary judgment on behalf of our client in a King County, Washington living mesothelioma premises liability case on May 6, 2020. Working together with attorneys from Bullivant Houser Bailey, FormanWatkins convinced the Court that the plaintiff’s claims against our client should be dismissed in their entirety because the plaintiff could not present any evidence to support his household exposure claims against our client, rather, his claims were “based on speculation and conjecture.” The Court also noted that the plaintiff conceded that any exposure claims based on his own employment with our client were barred by Washington’s workers’ compensation exclusivity provision. This is a significant victory for our client, in particular in a jurisdiction that does not typically grant summary judgment to defendants. This case is set for trial on August 24, 2020.

Brian Hannula and Caroline Upchurch, members of our commercial litigation group, worked with attorneys from Parsons McEntire McCleary to win summary judgment on behalf of a commercial real estate broker in a fraud/misrepresentation case pending in Harrison County, Mississippi. The plaintiff alleged multiple defendants made fraudulent misrepresentations about occupancy rates during a multi-million dollar real estate transaction and sought more than $3 million in damages. After reviewing the briefs and hearing oral arguments, the Circuit Court Judge determined the plaintiff failed to produce evidence that the broker (1) made any false statements, (2) had knowledge of the allegedly fraudulent representations, or (3) participated in the alleged falsification of rent roll data.

On April 1, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves issued a Shelter-in-Place Order (“SIP Order” – Executive Order No. 1466) requiring all individuals currently living in Mississippi to stay home or in their place of residence (e.g., hotels, shelters, or rental units used as a person’s dwelling), except as specifically allowed by the SIP Order.

With COVID-19 reaching pandemic status and the total number of cases in the United States surging, it has become critical that employers have a response strategy.  Any response strategy to COVID-19 should consider the current and developing labor and employment laws implicated by the COVID-19 crisis along with the concerns that could arise outside the employment context, including potential tort and contract liability.

Win Gault and Spencer Ritchie completed a successful jury trial for an international oil field supply company in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. The plaintiff claimed almost $10 million for property damage to its business and clean-up costs resulting from a spill of hydrochloric acid.

Clients and Friends,

As we monitor, assess, and respond to rapidly-evolving developments related to the spread of COVID-19, the safety and health of FormanWatkins employees, their families, and our communities is our most important objective. This is an unprecedented time filled with unique challenges. To meet these challenges, the Firm has taken a number of actions to protect the safety of our team while ensuring continued service to our clients.

FormanWatkins attorneys Ruth Maron, Joshua Metcalf, and Nick Giallourakis worked with attorneys from Bullivant Houser Bailey to obtain summary judgment in a King County, Washington living mesothelioma case on February 28, 2020. 

Congratulations to all finishers of the 2020 Mississippi Blues Marathon, especially the FormanWatkins relay team (Simine Reed, Mitch McGuffey, Patrick Fields, and Ruth Maron) and FormanWatkins runners of the half marathon, 10k, and 5k.

In another win for our forest products team, on February 21, 2020, FormanWatkins won summary judgment on all counts on behalf of a dimensional lumber manufacturer in a case involving a plaintiff’s alleged childhood exposure to softwood dust in his father’s hobby woodshop.

Win Gault and Spencer Ritchie recently won in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, where the Court affirmed the District Court’s ruling that awarded our client contractual damages, attorney fees, pre-judgment interest, and post-judgment interest totaling more than $900,000.