Litigation: August 2008 Archives
Ernest Allan Cook and his wife, Kathleen, hired Oxford, Mississippi attorney Ronald Pierce to represent them and their son in a medical malpractice case in 1997. Not too long after, Pierce began an affair with Kathleen, who soon filed for divorce from her husband.
Ernest Cook then filed suit against Pierce for alienation of affection, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and breach of contract. The verdict: one and a half million dollars.
The Supreme Court of Mississippi affirmed in an interesting opinion.
After the decision, Pierce told the National Law Journal he expected to lose the appeal because he wasn’t allowed to present oral argument. “I knew I was going to get screwed,” he said.
Yes, but what did he think the appellate court was going to do.
Alan Milstein
