Opinion ID: 1796333
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: did the trial court err by granting the motion for summary judgment of gene a. wilkinson, j. stephen wright, james c. martin, james a. peden, jr., derryl w. peden, james r. mozingo, stanley q. smith, mark c. carlson?

Text: On January 14, 1991, Circuit Court Judge Fred L. Banks, Jr., granted summary judgment for all defendants except Ward and SW & W, P.A. Summary judgment was granted because, pursuant to Miss. Code Ann. § 79-9-1, et. seq., as well as the common law of the state of Mississippi, shareholders and employees of a professional corporation who had no personal involvement in any alleged act of malpractice are not subject to personal liability. The law in this area is long established in Mississippi: It is universally held, in Mississippi and elsewhere, that the officers, directors, stockholders and employees of a corporation cannot be held responsible for the torts of the corporation unless such officer, director, stockholder or employee personally participated in the commission of the tort, or aided and abetted the commission thereof. Grapico Bottling Co. v. Ennis, 140 Miss. 502, 106 So. 97 (1925). Wilbourn contends the directors of SW & W, P.A., made the decision to represent the Johnston family in the action against Wilbourn, even after SW & W, P.A., was informed of the former representation. All defendants named by Wilbourn, except Martin, were shareholders and directors of SW & W, but because Martin helped investigate the facts of the Johnston suit, Wilbourn also filed against Martin. Professional corporations are formed pursuant to the Mississippi Business Corporation Act, Miss. Code Ann. § 79-4-1, et. seq., Miss. Code Ann. § 79-9-5. Accordingly, shareholders have no liability except to the extent of their personal involvement under Mississippi law. Summary judgment was properly granted to these defendants. No evidence was produced or specific allegation made that these defendants held confidences gained through the prior representation. Thus, confidences could not be breached by these defendants. The defendants had no involvement in the prior representation of Wilbourn. Simply pursuing the Johnston litigation does not show these defendants held confidential information, breached or misused that information, or caused Wilbourn's alleged damages.