The vast majority of my law practice involves divorce and family law matters in Mississippi. As a result, a lot of the work I perform goes through the Mississippi chancery courts, rather than state circuit courts. When I tell many of my clients that their case will be heard in chancery court, they often ask me what’s the difference between the two types of state courts. The distinction is not always the easiest to understand. In short, the Mississippi court system is comprised of both courts of law and courts of equity. Some courts focus on what is “fair,” while others focus on what is “just” under applicable law. Mississippi chancery courts–or family law courts–are courts of equity, while state circuit courts are courts of law.Chancery courts originated in medieval England. The Chancery dynamic is one common law holdover that played a considerable role in legal jurisprudence in the early years of the United States. These courts were developed in England to help fill the inequitable voids created or fostered by the English law courts. English Kings of the time commissioned councils led by Lord Chancellors to oversee and resolve inequities in the law, or those created by a lack of governing law. And interestingly, lawyers that engaged in Chancery practice were known as “solicitors in equity.”
Continue Reading