High Court Affirms Out-of-State Plaintiffs' Dismissal under Joinder Rule

JACKSON, Miss. -- The Mississippi Supreme Court has affirmed a trial court's retroactive application of changes in the state's joinder rules to dismiss several out-of-state plaintiffs whose asbestos-related causes of action accrued outside Mississippi, saying that the plaintiffs demonstrated no deprivation or constitutional violation. Alexander, et al. v. AC and S Inc., et al., No. 2005-CA-1031-SCT (Miss. Sup. Ct.).

In a Jan. 18 opinion, Chief Justice James W. Smith Jr., writing for the majority, said that the high court addressed similar issues in Albert, et al. v. Allied Glove Corp., et al. (2006 Miss. LEXIS 661 [Miss. 2006]), in which …