Opinion ID: 1919001
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: whether bellsouth can appeal a dismissal without prejudice as issued by the circuit court.

Text: ¶ 14. As its threshold argument, Hinds County asserts that the dismissals in this case are not ripe for appellate review since both tax appeals were dismissed by the circuit court without prejudice and since BellSouth technically retains its right to relitigate its suits at a later date. Relying on federal precedent, Hinds County maintains that BellSouth must have been legally prejudiced by and not have acquiesced in the conditions imposed in order to pursue this appeal. To this end, Hinds County argues that BellSouth got exactly what it asked for by way of voluntary dismissal and was not legally prejudiced by the reasonable assessment of attorney's fees. ¶ 15. In evaluating Miss. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(2), this Court has considered federal precedent where Mississippi case law has been sparse. In Carter v. Clegg, 557 So.2d 1187 (Miss.1990), we noted that our rule was substantially modeled after Fed. R.Civ.P. 41 and that since this Court has decided only a limited number of cases involving MRCP 41, it is appropriate to discuss the federal courts' analyses of the similar federal rule. Id. at 1190 ( See Shell Oil Co. v. Murrah, 493 So.2d 1274, 1276 (Miss.1986)). Recognizing the dearth of cases on point concerning this issue, it is appropriate to discuss federal precedent. ¶ 16. In Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp. v. Richard Carlyon Co., 904 F.2d 298, 300 (5th Cir.1990), the Fifth Circuit faced the same question regarding Rule 41(a)(2) that we face today. In addressing the issue, the Fifth Circuit summarized its Rule 41(a)(2) jurisprudence: Generally, an order of voluntary dismissal without prejudice entered at the plaintiff's request is not an involuntary adverse judgment. Yoffe v. Keller Industries, Inc., 580 F.2d 126 (5th Cir. 1978), cert. denied, 440 U.S. 915, 99 S.Ct. 1231, 59 L.Ed.2d 464 (1979); LeCompte v. Mister Chip, Inc., 528 F.2d 601, 603 (5th Cir.1976). If the dismissal has given the plaintiff exactly what it sought  dismissal of its current suit and the right to bring an action on the merits at a later date  the courts will not permit the plaintiff to appeal. Yoffe, 580 F.2d at 129. An appeal may sometimes be allowed, however, where the court imposes conditions upon a voluntary dismissal. Rule 41(a)(2) empowers the court to condition voluntary dismissals upon such terms and conditions as the court deems proper. Most often, the courts require plaintiffs to bear the attorneys' fees and costs of the dismissed defendant. LeCompte, 528 F.2d at 603. See 9 Wright & Miller, Federal Practice & Procedure § 2366 (1971). Because onerous conditions may render the plaintiff's dismissal less than voluntary, the Fifth Circuit will permit an appeal if (1) the plaintiff is legally prejudiced by the conditions accompanying the grant of dismissal; and (2) the plaintiff has not agreed to or legally acquiesced in those conditions. Yoffe, 580 F.2d at 130. In LeCompte, legal prejudice was explained as a condition which goes to the heart of plaintiff's legal cause of action and in that case severely circumscribed his ... freedom to bring a later suit. 528 F.2d at 604. 904 F.2d at 300 (emphasis added). ¶ 17. In LeCompte v. Mister Chip, Inc., 528 F.2d 601, 603 (5th Cir.1976), the Fifth Circuit examined the concept of legal prejudice. Moreover, according to the Fifth Circuit, its research evidenced a difference between prejudice in a practical sense  paying costs or expenses, producing documents, producing witnesses  and prejudice in a legal sense  which would entitle a plaintiff to appeal the grant of dismissal he obtains. LeCompte, 528 F.2d at 603. In making this distinction, the Fifth Circuit held that an involuntary dismissal with conditions going beyond payment of fees and costs was indeed appealable. LeCompte, 528 F.2d at 604. To this end, the Fifth Circuit held that the trial judge in LeCompte impeded the plaintiff's ability to re-file when he conditioned the voluntary dismissal on the following: (1) that any subsequent suit must be filed in the same court; (2) that plaintiff must show extraordinary circumstances to justify reopening the case; and (3) that plaintiff must make an affirmative demonstration to the court's satisfaction that a valid cause of action can be maintained against defendants. LeCompte, 528 F.2d at 602. The Fifth Circuit determined that legal prejudice was definitely present. Here the plaintiff is severely circumscribed in his freedom to bring a later suit ... [a]lthough plaintiff is not totally precluded from bringing a second suit, he must, nevertheless, prove his case preliminarily to the district court before being allowed the right to relitigate. This requirement, unlike those normally imposed with a Rule 41(a)(2) dismissal, involves prejudice in a legal sense. It becomes uncertain, as a matter of future court decision, whether he will be allowed to bring the second suit. We view this `legal prejudice' which goes to the heart of plaintiff's legal cause of action as entitling plaintiff to appeal the conditional dismissal of his action. Id. at 604. ¶ 18. Ultimately, it was the addition of the legal conditions to the dismissal which caused the dismissal to move from being exactly that which the plaintiff sought to being an adverse judgment capable of being appealed. In this way, the court found that [a]lthough it is certainly true that plaintiff prompted the issuance of the order of dismissal by the district court, under the circumstances of this case, he cannot be deemed to have acquiesced in or accepted the terms of the order actually entered. LeCompte, 528 F.2d at 604. In determining whether the suit was appealable, the Fifth Circuit posited that the fact that the plaintiff never sought to have the dismissal set aside was not dispositive. Id. What was dispositive was the fact that he never acquiesced in or accepted the terms of the dismissal. Id. ¶ 19. The important consideration in determining whether an issue is appealable is that there has been an adverse final judgment rendered against the appealing party. Accordingly, the ultimate holding in LeCompte follows this basic proposition. In LeCompte, the plaintiff readily accepted the dismissal of his case, but never acquiesced in the trial court's additional conditions to his relitigating his suit. Thus, the trial court entered a judgment to which the plaintiff had not agreed, and that in fact was adverse to his case. ¶ 20. In today's case, BellSouth moved for dismissal with prejudice based on the fact that neither lawsuit could be refiled or relitigated. On this point, the parties filed two separate, adverse motions. On February 7, 2003, BellSouth filed a motion with the circuit court to voluntarily dismiss its actions with prejudice. In response, Hinds County filed a motion asking the circuit court to not only dismiss the appeals without prejudice, but to also award Hinds County litigation expenses and attorney's fees. While Hinds County found it important to include the without prejudice language, citing that dismissal with prejudice impacts only Hinds County, preventing Hinds County from enforcing the laws regulating ad valorem taxation, BellSouth viewed the language as meaningless because it could not refile anyway. In ruling on the issue, the circuit court quite simply, and almost to the letter, granted defendant's [Hinds County's] motion and dismissed the case without prejudice. Accordingly, while BellSouth acquiesced in the dismissal, what it acquiesced in was what it had requested  final adjudication subject to appeal. If we were to now say that the issue is not unappealable, we would saying to the circuit court that it can grant a defendant's motion and deny a plaintiff's ability to appeal the adverse order of the court. In essence, it would be to endorse a trial court's ability to condition the appealability of its own orders. ¶ 21. In LeCompte, the Fifth Circuit acknowledged that a case may be dismissed without prejudice but still have the same effect of a dismissal with prejudice as far as finality for appeal purposes. LeCompte, 528 F.2d at 603. Accordingly, the Fifth Circuit recognized that these cases are properly appealable under general principles of law. Id. Although the district court's order in this case is labeled a `dismissal without prejudice,' at least with respect to determining appealability, we do not believe the order had that effect. As recently noted in Carr v. Grace, 516 F.2d 502, 503 n. 1 (5th Cir.1975), `(t)he appealability of an order depends on its effect rather than its language.' 528 F.2d at 603. ¶ 22. Clearly, in the case sub judice, the grant of dismissal without prejudice and assessment of over $100,000.00 in attorney's fees in favor of Hinds County was contrary to what BellSouth had requested or acquiesced in. It follows that the determination made by the circuit court judge served as an adverse final judgment as it was against the interest of BellSouth who had expressly requested the circuit court for a dismissal with prejudice and voluntarily submitted to the preclusive effect of final adjudication. Moreover, final adjudication was the inevitable effect of the dismissal irregardless of nomenclature. ¶ 23. The circuit court's final order served as a dismissal with prejudice for appeal purposes. The Fifth Circuit recognizes that a [d]ismissal of an action with prejudice is a complete adjudication of the issues presented by the pleadings and is a bar to a further action between the parties, and that an adjudication in favor of the defendants, by court or jury, can rise no higher than this. Schwarz v. Folloder, 767 F.2d 125, 129 (5th Cir.1985) (citing Smoot v. Fox, 340 F.2d 301, 303 (6th Cir. 1964)); see also Sheridan v. Fox, 531 F.Supp. 151, 155 (E.D.Pa.1982). Interestingly, some courts, applying this reasoning, have held that a dismissal with prejudice is not discretionary, but instead must be granted if requested by the plaintiff. Schwarz, 767 F.2d at 129. It stands to follow in today's case that when a plaintiff wants to blow the whistle on its own case, at its own initiative, and permanently conclude litigation, the court should not stand in its way but encourage it to do so. ¶ 24. What BellSouth sought in these cases was a final order with preclusive effect. When the circuit court granted Hinds County's motion, the final order contained language which, if interpreted as Hinds County suggests, would deny BellSouth its opportunity to seek appellate review of a final adverse order, and would ultimately preclude BellSouth from both relitigating its claim and appealing it. In essence, it would condition BellSouth's right not to relitigate on losing its right to appeal. Hinds County's argument that BellSouth is not entitled to an appeal in this matter is wholly without merit.