Keathley v. Buddy Ayers
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Date FiledJuly 17, 2026
Docket24-60025
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
United States Court of Appeals
for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
____________ FILED
July 16, 2026
No. 24-60025 Lyle W. Cayce
____________ Clerk
Thomas Keathley,
Plaintiff—Appellant,
versus
Buddy Ayers Construction, Incorporated,
Defendant—Appellee.
______________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Mississippi
USDC No. 3:21-CV-261
______________________________
Before Higginbotham, Stewart, and Haynes, Circuit Judges.
Carl E. Stewart, Circuit Judge:
ON REMAND FROM THE SUPREME COURT
OF THE UNITED STATES
This court affirmed the district court’s dismissal of Plaintiff-
Appellant Thomas Keathley’s personal injury lawsuit as well as its denial of
his motion for reconsideration. Keathley v. Buddy Ayers Constr., Inc., No. 24-
60025, 2025 WL 673434, at *7 (March 3, 2025). On petition for writ of
certiorari, the Supreme Court held that this court erred by “artificially
narrow[ing] its inquiry into whether Keathley’s bankruptcy-schedule
omission was the result of inadvertence or mistake by assessing only whether
No. 24-60025
he had knowledge of the underlying facts or a potential motive to conceal his
personal-injury suit.” Keathley v. Buddy Ayers Constr., Inc., 146 S.Ct. 1532,
1540 (2026). It then vacated and remanded for further proceedings
consistent with its opinion. Id.
This matter is REMANDED in its entirety to the district court in
accordance with the judgment of the Supreme Court. We express no view as
to what proceedings the district court should conduct on remand or what
decisions it should make. The mandate shall issue forthwith.
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