Peoples Bank of Biloxi, Miss. v. McAdams
Annotate this CaseJohn McAdams, in his official capacity as Chancery Clerk of Harrison County, was appointed guardian of Sybil Bowden and Jonathan Dunn. In October 2003 the Chancery Clerk opened guardianship accounts for Dunn and Bowden at the Peoples Bank of Biloxi, Mississippi. Woodrow "Woody" Pringle III served as the Chancery Clerk's attorney. The Chancery Clerk was the sole signatory on both accounts. Two years later, Pringle closed the Bowden guardianship, without any authority to do so. The Bank issued Pringle a cashier's check payable to Bowden and Pringle, jointly. Pringle forged Bowden's signature, cashed the check, and retained the funds for himself. The Dunn account required a court order before disbursements could be made. The Bank paid checks drawn on the Dunn guardianship account, in the absence of a court order. The Chancery Clerk filed suit against the Bank alleging gross negligence, negligence, and conversion of a negotiable instrument. The Bank pleaded that the statute of limitations had run on these claims and filed a motion for summary judgment. The trial court denied the motion. The Bank petitioned the Supreme Court and was granted leave to file this interlocutory appeal. The Court found that the Chancery Clerk filed his complaint May 8, 2013. The three transactions at issue occurred on January 24, 2005; June 11, 2008; and March 25, 2009. As to the conversion claims, the most recent transaction occurred more than four years before the filing of the complaint (well outside the three-year statute of limitations). However, negligence/gross negligence claims were subject to the "discovery rule." The Bank offered evidence that it sent statements to the Chancery Clerk concerning these transactions on the last day of each month. The Chancery Clerk offered no proof to dispute the Bank's assertion, although he claims he never received a Bank statement because Pringle removed the Bank statements delivered to the Chancery Clerk. "The statute-of-limitations issue is not a question of fact because reasonable minds could not differ [. . .] that the Chancery Clerk lacked diligence in failing to obtain and review any account statements for more than a year and a half on one account and more than eight years on the other." The Supreme Court concluded the circuit court erred in refusing to grant the Bank its motion for summary judgment because the Chancery Clerk's claims expired due to the applicable statutes of limitation.
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