Williams v. Winona Manor Healthcare, LLC et al

Filing 54

ORDER granting 35 Motion to Dismiss; granting 45 Motion to Withdraw as Attorney. ; adopting Report and Recommendations re 50 Report and Recommendations.. Signed by Magistrate Judge S. Allan Alexander on 10/9/14. (bnd)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI
GREENVILLE DIVISION
MARY WILLIAMS
VS.

PLAINTIFF
CIVIL ACTION NO. 4:13CV225-SAA

WINONA MANOR HEALTHCARE, LLC, et al.

DEFENDANTS

ORDER ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
On September 18, 2014, Magistrate Judge David A. Sanders submitted a Report and
Recommendation [Docket 50] regarding resolution of defendants’ Motion to Dismiss and
Enforce Settlement [Docket 35] and a Motion to Withdraw as Attorney and Assert Lien [Docket
45] filed by plaintiff’s counsel. The plaintiff has filed pro se an objection to the Report and
Recommendation [Docket 52], and defendants have responded. Docket 53.
The court has reviewed the record, including the filings by the parties relating to the
disputed settlement and the documents to which Judge Sanders referred in his Report and
Recommendation. The plaintiff has made no specific objection to the findings and conclusions
in Judge Sanders’s Report and Recommendation itself, nor has she cited any authority in support
of her position. The plaintiff’s objection therefore does not comport with Federal Rule of Civil
Procedure 72(b)(2).
For the most part, plaintiff simply expresses general dissatisfaction with her attorney,
alleging that he deceived her and pressured her into the settlement. However, she does not
dispute that she agreed to the terms of the settlement at the settlement conference, only regretting
the settlement agreement after she left the courthouse that day. She was in the courtroom during
announcement of the terms of settlement and voiced no objection at that time. After a hearing on
the motion to enforce the settlement, Judge Sanders limited the terms of the settlement to those

specifically articulated on the record in open court at the conclusion of the settlement
conference. He addressed and discounted plaintiff’s articulated concerns, finding that her belief
that her counsel was deceitful grew out of her misperceptions of legal theory and
misinterpretations of legal terminology and pleading. It is therefore,
ORDERED
That the Report and Recommendation of United States Magistrate Judge David A.
Sanders dated September 18, 2014 is approved and adopted as the opinion of the court, and the
proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law therein set out are adopted as the findings of
fact and conclusions of law of the court.
The plaintiff is granted judgment against the defendants in the agreed upon amount.
However, the agreed upon amount is subject to the lien held by plaintiff’s former counsel.
Defendants must satisfy the judgment by sending payment in the amount of $6,301.03 to Moore
Law Office PLLC to satisfy the lien held by plaintiff’s former counsel Carlos Eugene Moore and
Tangala LaNiece Hollis for reasonable attorneys fees and expenses, and the balance due under
the settlement agreement to plaintiff Mary Williams. A separate judgment will be entered this
date. The full amount of the judgment will be reflected in an unredacted Final Judgment, access
to which will be restricted to counsel, the parties and the court, with a redacted version placed on
the public docket.
This, the 9th day of October, 2014.

/s/ S. Allan Alexander
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE