When minutes count

An accounting firm successfully defended against a malpractice claim by relying on Mississippi’s “minutes rule,” under which “Mississippi courts will not give legal effect to a contract with a public board unless the board’s approval of the contract is reflected in its minutes.” After losing a summary judgment, the plaintiff (a county hospital) “attempted to submit additional evidence into the record to prove the existence of a professional relationship with Horne—namely, minutes from the board’s regular session meetings on January 19, 2011 and March 16, 2011, as well as minutes from the board’s executive session meetings. . . . The Medical Center admitted, however, that this evidence was in fact not new at all—the Center had access to its own minutes throughout the proceedings. It nevertheless sought to excuse its tardiness on the ground that the minutes became relevant only when the district court granted summary judgment to Horne.” (emphasis added). The district court rejected that explanation, and so did the Fifth Circuit. Lefoldt v. Horne LLP, No. 18-60581 (Sept. 6, 2019).