The Appellate Corner, 0515 ALBJ, 76 The Alabama Lawyer 188 (2015)
| Author | Wilson F. Green, J. Marc A. Starrett, J. |
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0By Wilson F. Green
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Wilson F. Green is a partner in Fleenor & Green LLP in Tuscaloosa. He is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Alabama School of Law and a former law clerk to the Hon. Robert B. Propst, United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. From 2000-09, Green served as adjunct professor at the law school, where he taught courses in class actions and complex litigation. He represents consumers and businesses in consumer and commercial litigation.
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0By Marc A. Starrett
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Marc A. Starrett is an assistant attorney general for the State of Alabama and represents the state in criminal appeals and habeas corpus in all state and federal courts. He is a graduate of the University of Alabama School of Law. Starrett served as staff attorney to justice Kenneth Ingram and justice Mark Kennedy on the Alabama Supreme Court, and was engaged in civil and criminal practice in Montgomery before appointment to the Office of the Attorney General. Among other cases for the office, Starrett successfully prosecuted Bobby Frank Cherry on appeal from his murder convictions for the 1963 bombing of Birmingham's Sixteenth Street Baptist Church.
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0The law relating to same-sex marriage in Alabama, and elsewhere, is on rapidly shifting ground. We have not reported on this barrage of recent cases, however, because on April 28, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in Obergefell v. Hodges, No. 14-556. Obergefell will definitively decide the constitutional questions concerning same-sex marriage. Stay tuned.
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0RECENT CIVIL DECISIONS
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0From the Alabama Supreme Court
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Arbitration
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Porter v. Williamson, No. 1130282 (Ala. Jan. 30, 2015)
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Arbitration agreement in shareholder agreement required that specific performance claims be judicially determined, while monetary claims must be arbitrated; the agreement itself required piecemeal litigation.
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Workers' Compensation
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Ex parte Hanvey, No. 1131235 (Ala. Jan. 30, 2015)
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Substantial evidence supported the trial court's determination that exposure to chemicals caused a worsening and substantial acceleration of employee's medical condition, which rendered her unable to perform her accustomed trade.
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Rule 27
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Ex parte Ferrari, No. 1130679 (Ala. Feb. 6, 2015)
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0The court overruled Ex parte Anderson, 644 So.2d 961 (Ala. 1994), holding that Rule 27 allows discovery before suit only for the purpose of perpetuating evidence.
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Product Liability
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Reyes v. Better Living, Inc., No. 1130716 (Ala. Feb. 6, 2015)
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0This is a no-opinion affirmance, the upshot of which (as determined from Chief Justice Moore's dissent) is that the 2011 amendment to Ala. Code § 6-5-521, which precluded liability findings against product distributors and others who do not alter or produce products, applies retroactively.
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Ore Tenus Rule
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Moultrie v. Wall, No. 1130697 (Ala. Feb. 6, 2015)
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Ore tenus rule supported trial court's determination as to ownership interests in a closely-held LLC, but precluded the trial court's determination that one shareholder had been divested of his interests because of plain language of the operating agreement.
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Estates; Jurisdiction
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Ex parte Baker, No. 1130810 (Ala. Feb. 13, 2015)
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0The circuit court lacked jurisdiction over estate removal for the parties' failure to follow DuBose v. Weaver, 68 So.3d 814, 821 (Ala. 2011), because "no administrator with the will annexed of Higgins's estate was appointed, nor were letters of general administration OTA. issued by the probate court, before the estate was removed to the circuit court."
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Accident Reports
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Crusoe v. Davis, No. 1130798 (Ala. Feb. 20, 2015)
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0The supreme court affirmed the trial court's exclusion of a police accident report, holding: (1) although the portions of report that reflect officer's firsthand knowledge may be admissible, in this case the officer had no first-hand knowledge and did not have an independent recollection of recorded conversations, and thus the officer's report was not admissible under past recollection recorded (and because he had no memory of the conversations or the accident, his testimony could not be buttressed by the report under present recollection revived); and (2) report did not contain actual statements purportedly made by the defendant, and thus statements in report could not be admitted as non-hearsay as a party-opponent admission.
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Class Actions
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Baldwin Mut. Ins. Co. v. McCain, No. 1131058 (Ala. Feb. 20, 2015)
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Because plaintiff sought broader class certification in post-hearing briefing than set forth in the complaint and at the certification hearing, in order to comply with section 6-5-641, the trial court should have set another evidentiary hearing on the certification motion.
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Securities; Intentional Interference
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Walter Energy, Inc. v. Audley Capital Advisors LLP, No. 1131104 (Ala. Feb. 20, 2015)
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Held: (1) ACA's complaint failed to state a claim under the Alabama Securities Act because it did not allege an offer to sell or buy within the state, and the fact that the trades were made on the NYSE did not mean that the offer was directed to Alabama or that it was received in Alabama; (2) ACA's two-part intentional interference claim, which was based on (a) WE's relationship with its other shareholders and (b) WE's relationship with lenders, failed under the "stranger" doctrine, because ACA was a fellow shareholder of WE and thus had a stake in the relationship between WE and its other shareholders and its lenders.
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Default Judgments
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Hilyer v. Fortier, No. 1131174 (Ala. Feb. 20, 2015)
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Because party seeking to vacate default judgment made a threshold showing of each of the three Kirtland factors, the motion therefore should be decided by the trial court's actually applying the Kirtland factors; denial by time under Rule 59.1 was therefore reversed.
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Local Legislation
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Bynum v. City of Oneonta, No. 1130305 (Ala. Feb. 27, 2015)
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0In 1984, the legislature passed Ala. Code § 28-2A-1 et seq., which provided a procedure for municipalities having a population of 7,000 or more to hold an election to change the classification of the municipality from "dry" to "wet" or "wet" to "dry" regarding the sale of alcohol within the municipality. In 2009, the legislature amended that act to include municipalities having populations of 1,000 or more, except in Bibb, Randolph and Clay counties. The supreme court held that the 2003 amendment was unconstitutional on equal protection grounds, and that severability provision could not...
To continue reading
Request your trial