Trial Court Ordered Joinder of Insurer As Party In Interest To A Counterclaim

After the trial court ordered the joinder of an insurer as party in interest to a counterclaim filed by the insured and also ordered the insured to produce four individuals who were out of state employees and agents of the insurer for deposition, a petition for interlocutory appeal was granted.  The Mississippi Supreme Court reversed and remanded both issues first holding that once the insurer submitted its Rule 17(a) Ratification the insurer was not a party in interest and the trial court erred in requiring the insured to be made a party, and second that the trial court abused its discretion in ordering that the insured be compelled to produce for deposition in Mississippi four individuals who were not parties to the litigation, not Mississippi residents and not employees of the insured.