William Waller
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William L. Waller, Jr. is a justice on the Mississippi Supreme Court, District 1, Place 1. Justice Waller is a native and current resident of Jackson, and a graduate of Murrah High School and Mississippi State University and received his law degree from the University of Mississippi in 1977.
Presently assigned to the Retired Reserve, Justice Waller served over 29 years in the Mississippi Army National Guard, attaining the rank of Brigadier General while serving as Commander of the 66th Troop Command, Jackson, Mississippi. Justice Waller and his wife, Charlotte, have three children and are members of First Baptist Church Jackson where he has recently served as Chairman of the Deacons.
Legal Career
Justice Waller practiced law with the firm of Waller and Waller in Jackson for over 20 years and served as a Municipal Judge for the City of Jackson. Justice Waller was elected to the Mississippi Supreme Court in November 1996, and reelected in November 2004. Justice Waller assumed the position of Presiding Justice in January 2004.
Accomplishments
Justice Waller supported adoption by the Supreme Court of mediation rules for civil litigation and served as Chairman of the Mississippi Public Defender Task Force from 2000 - 2005. Justice Waller was principal architect of what became legislation which created the Office of Capital Post Conviction Counsel, the Office of Indigent Appeals and the Comprehensive Electronic Court Systems Fund. In addition, Justice Waller serves as Chairman of the Rules Committee. He was the recipient of the Judicial Innovation Award for 2003-2004 by the Hinds County Bar Association and the Jackson Young Lawyers Association. He received the Chief Justice Award in 2005 for his work as chairman of a special study committee to develop a statewide e-filing and docket management system.[1]
Carlson scores high with BIPEC
Judges and judicial candidates are discouraged by Mississippi judicial conduct codes from expressing their individual philosophies on almost all issues. The Business and Industry Political Education Committee (BIPEC) commissioned The Economic Judicial Report (EJR) in order to fill this void of information and give voters a meaningful measuring device for assessing how Mississippi's Supreme Courts and Court of Appeals rule. Specifically, BIPEC's concern is "liability"--as the Committee believes that the public is increasingly more vulnerable to being sued. That, "the fundamental premise behind the evaluations is that the enormous expansion of civil liability in American courts over the past 45 years discourages job growth and changes for the worse how we conduct our personal and professional lives."[2]
Kay Cobb is scored highest with 82%, and Judge George Carlson is scored second highest with a rating of 75%. James Smith was scored with 72%, William Waller with 69%, and Craig Sorrell Pittman with 85%. Those scoring under 50% are James Graves (34%), Oliver Diaz (28%), Charles Easley (27%), and Chuck McRae (8%). To learn more, or read this study, visit BIPEC's Economic Judicial Report
Notable Rulings
Stewart v. Prudential decision
On Oct. 2, 2007 the Mississippi Supreme Court overturned, with a 7-2 decision in Prudential v. Stewart (2007), a Hinds County Circuit Court jury award of $36.4 million against Prudential Insurance. In a dissenting opinion, Justices James Graves and Oliver Diaz said that the case had been decided properly by the jury that heard the case.
The case involved Dr. Edsel Stewart, a McComb physician, who purchased a $1 million life insurance policy from Prudential and wrote out a check for $20,000 to the insurance broker. Stewart had a stroke the following day, slipped into a coma, and died about a month later. When his family attempted to collect on the insurance, Prudential refused to honor the policy. It was Prudential’s position that the policy was never commenced, as there was a "counteroffer" policy prepared, which was never delivered or signed. A Hinds County jury ruled in the Stewarts’ favor, adding more than $35 million in punitive damages.
Journalists were quick to point out that Justice Jess Dickinson, who voted to reverse the $35 million against Prudential, took more than $1 million in 2002 from various insurance companies, physicians and lawyers, including the law firm that represented Prudential. Likewise, Presiding Justice William Waller, who also voted for Prudential, took in $357,799 during 2004 from lawyers, physicians and insurance companies, as did Chief Justice James Smith ($316,077), Justice Mike Randolph ($585,417) and Justice George Carlson ($276,275).[3]
However, several facts from the case reveal these donations to be an obvious post hoc ergo propter hoc error. First, Dr. Stewart's son Larry failed to disclose that his father 1) had a stroke and 2) had fallen into a coma during the period between 9/1/99 (when Dr. Stewart's coma occurred) and when the "counteroffer" policy was completed on 9/17/99 - despite numerous conversations with the broker. Second, contract law dictates that for a valid contract to exist there must be offer, acceptance, and consideration. The "counteroffer" policy (underwritten, notably, absent the material change information withheld by the doctor's son) offered to Dr. Stewart at a slightly higher premium was never accepted because 1) he was in a coma and 2) the policy was never physically delivered for signatures, i.e., never accepted. At trial, Larry Stewart even testified that he "understood that after the issuance of the policy, there was a process for acceptance, which included delivery, to be completed before the policy would be effective."
For the full text of the case, see this link.
