IN THE SUPREME COURT OF MISSISSIPPI

NO. 2017-IA-01558-SCT

LIBERTY MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY

v.

STATE OF MISSISSIPPI EX REL. JIM HOOD

DATE OF JUDGMENT: 10/24/2017

TRIAL JUDGE: HON. TOMIE T. GREEN

TRIAL COURT ATTORNEYS: CECIL MAISON HEIDELBERG

GEORGE W. NEVILLE 

BENJAMIN GILBERT BRYANT 

LUCIEN SMITH

WILLIAM E. COPLEY

WILLIAM L. SMITH 

JACQUELINE H. RAY 

CRYMES G. PITTMAN 

CLIFFORD KAVANAUGH BAILEY, III 

GREGG A. CARAWAY 

MARY JO WOODS 

GEOFFREY C. MORGAN 

AUGUST J. MATTEIS, JR. 

MATTHEW S. KRAUSS 

SEAN J. WILLIAMS

COURT FROM WHICH APPEALED: CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIRST JUDICIAL

DISTRICT OF HINDS COUNTY

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT: GREGG A. CARAWAY 

CLIFFORD KAVANAUGH BAILEY, III 

JUDY Y. BARRASSO 

STEPHEN L. MILES 

CHLOE M. CHETTA 
ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE: GEORGE W. NEVILLE

DONALD L. KILGORE

JACQUELINE H. RAY 

WILLIAM L. SMITH 

W. LUCIEN SMITH

BENJAMIN GILBERT BRYANT

CRYMES G. PITTMAN 

WILLIAM E. COPLEY

CECIL MAISON HEIDELBERG

NATURE OF THE CASE: CIVIL - INSURANCE

DISPOSITION: VACATED AND REMANDED - 08/22/2019

MOTION FOR REHEARING FILED:

MANDATE ISSUED:

EN BANC.

MAXWELL, JUSTICE, FOR THE COURT:

¶1. This is a sister appeal to Safeco Insurance Company of America v. State, No. 2017-

IA-01554-SCT (Miss. Aug. 22, 2019) (Safeco).1 But unlike Safeco, there is no issue of case

reassignment from one judge’s docket to another. The only issue in this appeal is the trial

court’s appointment of a special master. 

¶2. The order appointing the special master to the case against Liberty Mutual Insurance

Company is almost verbatim to the appointment order in Safeco. Thus, this order also falls

outside the discretionary bounds of Mississippi Rule of Civil Procedure 53. For the same

reasons articulated in Safeco, we vacate the order appointing the special master and remand

this case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. 

¶3. LibertyMutual also asks this Court to appoint a special judge to preside over this case. 

1 This appeal previously had been consolidated with two other appeals—Safeco, No.

2017-IA-01554-SCT, and Vinod Khosla et al. v. State, No. 2017-IA-01637-SCT (Miss.

Aug. 22, 2019) (Cannon). But by separate order, the three appeals have been deconsolidated. 

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But a majority of this Court does not find the record before us sufficient for this Court to

invoke Mississippi Code Section 9-1-105(2) (Rev. 2014) in this case. On remand, if Judge

Green is convinced additional judicial resources are necessary, Section 9-1-105(2)2

authorizes her to request the Chief Justice appoint a special judge to preside in this case or

to assist the Hinds County Circuit Court in the prompt administration of justice. 

¶4. VACATED AND REMANDED. 

RANDOLPH, C.J., COLEMAN, BEAM, CHAMBERLIN, ISHEE AND

GRIFFIS, JJ., CONCUR. KING, P.J., DISSENTS WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN

OPINION JOINED BY KITCHENS, P.J. 

KING, PRESIDING JUSTICE, DISSENTING:

¶5. For the reasons stated in the dissenting portion of my opinion in Safeco Insurance Co.

of America v. State, No. 2017-IA-01554-SCT (Miss. Aug. 22, 2019), I respectfully dissent.

KITCHENS, P.J., JOINS THIS OPINION.

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 Subsection (2) of Section 9-1-105 reads as follows:

Upon the request of the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals, the senior judge

of a chancery or circuit court district, the senior judge of a county court, or

upon his own motion, the ChiefJustice of the Mississippi SupremeCourt, with

the advice and consent of a majority of the justices of the Mississippi Supreme

Court, shall have the authority to appoint a special judge to serve on a

temporary basis in a circuit, chancery or county court in the event of an

emergency or overcrowded docket. It shall be the duty of any special judge so

appointed to assist the court to which he is assigned in the disposition of

causes so pending in such court for whatever period of time is designated by

the Chief Justice. The Chief Justice, in his discretion, may appoint the special

judge to hear particular cases, a particular type of case, or a particular portion

of the court’s docket.

Miss. Code Ann. § 9-1-105(2). 

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