Mangialardi Subject of Current Mississippi State Court Litigation Battles

PORT GIBSON, Miss. - Briefs filed in numerous Mississippi silica cases have set the stage for what likely will be a contentious future of litigation beginning with a battle over the sufficiency of plaintiffs' complaints, according to documents filed recently in state court. Ladner v. 3M Co. Inc., No. 2005-156 (Miss. Cir. Ct., Claiborne Cty.).

Motions were filed Sept. 30 in several state court cases, claiming that plaintiffs' complaints should be dismissed for failure to adhere to pleading requirements that were tightened by the state Supreme Court's recent ruling in Harold's Auto Parts, Inc. v. Flower Mangialardi.

Mangialardi has …