Mrs. Katherine S. Kerby

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  IADC - International Association of Defense Counsel - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 7/4/2002    Last Visited: 5/3/2005  

  Among those in attendance were Katherine Kerby, President of the Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association, the Board of Directors of the Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association, and many prospective new members.
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  After explaining the various arguments and different proposals considered, Mr. Dalehite introduced Katherine Kerby, who outlined the efforts of the Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association in promoting tort reform as well as changes to the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure.

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  MS Business Journal Online- Business liability... - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 12/9/2002    Last Visited: 12/11/2002  

  "This is a nice turkey for Thanksgiving," said Katherine Kerby, president of the Mississippi Defense Attorneys Association."Or maybe it's the stuffing."
  
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  "The bill as a whole looks like the real thing," said Kerby."Unlike the med mal bill, this seems to be comprehensive and enforceable and it should bring protection to the doctors that the other bill did not.It's also great news for our economic developers."
  
  Kerby voiced concerns about the constitutionality of the medical malpractice tort reform bill, after her warnings about judicial nullification were ignored and legislators left constitutional provisions intact in the new legislation.A constitutional amendment for the bill could have been added to the Nov. 5 ballot, but was not.
  
  "The constitutionality is based on whether or not (the law) existed at the time Mississippi got its constitution in 1890," said Kerby."If it's old common law, you can probably attack any changed legislation.For example, there were no caps pre-1890.However, the Legislature has made lots of changes in common law that have been upheld, such as workers' comp.Changes to things like products liability, which were not big events pre-1890, are going to stick.Except for the caps, I think the bill is not vulnerable to legitimate attack on a constitutional basis.It'll come, but I predict the laws are going to stand up."

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  MS Business Journal Online- Tort reform or judicial... - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 12/2/2002    Last Visited: 12/4/2002  

  During legislative hearings on tort reform in August, Katherine Kerby, president of the Mississippi Defense Attorneys Association, testified before a joint legislative committee that new tort reform laws could come under court challenge in Mississippi as they have in other states - and be overturned.Roughly 24 states have the same access-to-courts provision as Mississippi; approximately half have been upheld and the other half has not.She handed legislators draft legislation - new statutes - that other attorneys, not trial lawyers, had prepared after researching "successful" constitutional provisions in other states.
  
  "First, we wanted to make it a simple procedure for them," said Kerby."Second, we handed them a package of information on how to go through the merit selection of judges, which is very detailed and has around 60 people that help select nominees.It gets rid of the system we have now.But a third and very significant aspect of why I testified was I wanted to outline for them the dangers of passing anything that is a tort reform law, whether med mal or general business, and being very careful about its constitutionality.I was trying to warn them ahead of time to pre-empt what I knew would be a long, expensive court fight, but just as important, warn them about the instability in the economic environment brought about by an undecided issue of law.If you do it, you get rid of the fight on the front end so we can get back to the business of economic development and get folks here jobs."
  
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  Kerby isn't as convinced."I did ask somebody, ‘Why did y'all do that?' and the response I got was, ‘Oh, we'll let those folks across the street deal with it,' meaning the Supreme Court," she said."But my guess is politically that committee chairmen couldn't get the two-thirds required vote for a constitutional amendment."
  
  No time to kill
  
  It may take years before the Mississippi Supreme Court has to make a ruling.With McRae leaving the bench, and business-friendly Jess Dickinson stepping up, voters are making known their pro-business stance.
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  The situation may stymie economic development, said Kerby.
  
  "Economic developers coming in may say, ‘sure you passed tort reform, but gee, it's stuck in courts for five or 10 years,' and that doesn't help economic development," she said."You're not going to be able to recruit until the issue is stabilized."
  
  Kerby, a Columbus attorney, added: "Up here in the backwoods, we're the ones that lose the doctors first.We're the ones that lose the business opportunities first.If you're going to do reform, do the real thing instead of the hoped-for thing."

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  Print all Elerts - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 8/4/2002    Last Visited: 2/3/2003  

  Katherine Kerby, president of the Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association, had cautious praise for an appointment system and called for a large nominating commission in order to ensure "checks and balances."
  
  Topic: State Judicial Elections
  
  Article Title: New York's Long and Sorry Tradition of Judicial Elections

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  Starkville Daily News Online - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 11/6/2003    Last Visited: 11/6/2003  

  The city of Starkville interim attorney Katherine Kerby was applauded for her efforts that garnered her a national award for her work with tort reform.
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  Kerby, who served as the 2002-2003 president of the Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association, was nominated for the award by Mississippi lawyers.
  
  McLaurin said Kerby will also be honored in a national publication for her efforts.
  
  "I'm almost a little embarrassed," Kerby said.But, Kerby after returning from Washington, D.C. where she received the award Oct. 16 said she received a letter from a New York attorney who asked her advice for overcoming tort reform."I was there because of many others," Kerby said of the honor.
  
  After praising Kerby for her accomplishments, McLaurin also raised concerns about Kerby's work load for the city.
  
  "Everyone's received a farely heavy amount of correspondence from the attorney, and in reviewing some of the items, I'm just issuing words of concern as I did when Bill Stark (former city attorney who was fired by the city) served as the city attorney," McLaurin said.
  
  McLaurin said that there were a number of items on Kerby's to-do list that could be handled administratively but were assigned to Kerby.
  
  McLaurin said that Stark was paid by the hour and did not object to extra assignments, but Kerby is paid a fixed fee."I think we need to minimize those that are administrative and not legal and nature and save the legal matters for Kerby," McLaurin said.
  
  Ward 6 Alderman Roy A. Perkins agreeing with McLaurin said that he too had reviewed Kerby's list of matters to be undertaken by the various city officials.Perkins said he did not know how Kerby had been able to afford her time to attempt to get all of the city's requests done.
  
  "I want to do all we can to retain her (Kerby) services.We are fortunate to have an attorney like Mrs. Kerby that has municipal background," Perkins said."I want to commend her for exemplary work, and I hope and trust that the administrative work will be handled by the city staff."
  
  Ward 5 Alderman Virgil Bolin had reservations saying that some city administrators were uncomfortable about making some decisions without an attorney's guidance.
  
  "I don't want to overwhelm the attorney, but I don't want anyone making decisions they are not sure about."Bolin added that if they needed to pay Kerby more they may need to look into doing so.
  
  Kerby said she welcomed questions, and added that if the matter was not a legal one she would be able to tell them.
  
  "I consider it a privilege to serve," Kerby said of the work she does on behalf of the city.
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  Kerby will look over the deeds and ensure that all information is in order.

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  Starkville Daily News Online - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 8/7/2003    Last Visited: 8/7/2003  

  Kerby named interim city legal counselBy CONSWELLA BENNETT/Starkville Daily News
  
  The Starkville Board of Aldermen welcomed interim city attorney Katherine Kerby during Tuesday night's board meeting.
  
  It was the first meeting for Kerby to attend after the unexpected death of interim city attorney Ben Hilbun last month.Kerby, who practices with of the Gholson, Hicks & Nichols firm in Columbus, submitted a letter of interest to serve as the interim attorney after Hilbun's death.
  
  AD ( middle)
  
  Tuesday, the aldermen approved a contract for services to retain Kerby on a motion by Alderman at-large Vic Zitta and second by Ward 5 Alderman Virgil Bolin.
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  Ward 3 Alderman P.C. "Mac" McLaurin suggested that the motion include that Kerby be paid for mileage as part of her contract for her trips back and forth from Columbus to Starkville to conduct city business.
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  "Kerby travels from Columbus and it's standard practice when traveling out of town," Perkins said of attorneys being paid for mileage when traveling out of town.
  
  "It's a very reasonable request," Perkins said.
  
  All alderman voted in favor of adding the payment of mileage to Kerby's contract.
  
  Mayor Mack Rutledge took the opportunity to welcome Kerby to the board saying that the city was looking forward to benefiting from her services.
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  Kerby taking the opportunity to speak to the board said, "I want to thanks the mayor, each member of the board and the city of Starkville for allowing me to be a part of this dynamic team and community."
  
  Kerby said that serving as interim attorney was giving her an opportunity to fulfill a promise to her friend, although it was sooner than she had expected.
  
  Hilbun had contacted Kerby to help assist him in a highly disputed land use case involving Timber Cove subdivision.Kerby said that she had promised Hilbun that she would always be there when needed. "
  
  This is an opportunity for me to honor a promise I made to a colleague," Kerby said.

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  Starkville Daily News Online - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 9/8/2004    Last Visited: 9/8/2004  

  The confirmation process of the names on the petition got underway Tuesday afternoon -- one day after Starkville City Attorney Katherine Kerby received the updated city voter roll on Labor Day.
  
  "We now have 15,186 voters on the role," said Kerby."That is an accurate number as of July 20, when the petition was created."
  
  Kerby admitted a long delay between the acceptance of the petition and the verification of it's signatures, but stated that the city voter roles are usually only updated in anticipation of an impending election.
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  "The members of the Election Commission have day jobs, and have done a wonderful job in assembling the list that we received over the weekend," said Kerby.

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  Starkville Daily News Online - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 3/10/2004    Last Visited: 3/10/2004  

  The Starkville Planning and Zoning Commission tabled consideration of a request by Sherika Mosley for a special use exception to operate a personal care home in a general commercial zone located at 1278 Highway 12 West until Interim City Attorney Katherine Kerby can research whether or not it is a convalescent or congruent housing for the elderly.

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  Starkville Daily News Online - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 12/5/2003    Last Visited: 12/6/2003  

  Katherine Kerby, interim city attorney, suggested changing some of the language in the Arts Council's requests.Kerby suggested instead of using the words "co-sponsor" to insert "provide support to and at the end to add for marketing purposes for the city."
  
  Kerby also suggested deleting the words "donate" and to insert "provide."

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  Starkville Daily News Online - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 12/3/2003    Last Visited: 12/3/2003  

  Katherine Kerby, interim city attorney, said that the city's policy mirrored the state laws.Kerby said if the employee was on the job the city vehicle could be used to go to lunch and return but could not be used for the purpose of paying bills.
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  Kerby said that she would work with him to develop a policy.

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