Late last month, we blogged about the Mississippi Supreme Court's continuing efforts to settle the question of when, if ever, Rule 702 permits a nurse to testify as a medical expert at trial. At the time, we speculated that continued wrangling should be expected because of Presiding Justice George Carlson's impending retirement.

Although the topic of judicial appointments hasn't come up much during this year's presidential campaign, it's a subject worth thinking about: three U.S. Supreme Court justices (Ginsburg, Scalia, and Kennedy) will celebrate their 80th birthdays during the next president's term, and a fourth (Breyer) will mark his 75th.

With that in mind, ProPublica's Suevon Lee takes a worthwhile look

The Mississippi Supreme Court handed down a powerful reminder today that when it comes to establishing an objective standard of care in a medical malpractice case, words matter.

Mississippi court-watchers collectively turned their radars toward New Orleans on Monday, when -- as Clay Chandler of the Mississippi Business Journal reported -- the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals set a new briefing schedule in Sears, Roebuck, & Co. v. Learmouth.