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MARCH ]99]
Volume 52. Number 2
ON THE COVER: Vidtouping court protetd'ng, has comt to AI'Nm", «I\Irtrooms. The imPid oflhis new ttchrloloiY is ilIrody afircti"ll ases now undtr oonsideration. F'or the pros and tonS on the 1,I$C: of video in the courtroom Kt our diKUWion on pagt 88.
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INSIDE TmS ISSUE: Ponlblo Appelblt Court Ru tructuri..,ln Abhall\l BII &rt S. r""It~. _
..__ .....___ ..___ ._._____ ............._..................._...........___ ........_n
\-1m Co ..rt R~ \'ldootapinf .. r Court Procftdin&l BII Associate Jus/icc Ifugh MllddoI ................... _..............._...................................91 \'1 ..... rKOTdi ... Court ProcffiIingJ Cornn to A1Wm. BII The!mn BrIl£We!! .................................................................................................. 92 VIdeotape as the Official RtcOrd of the Trill Br J~ Stuor/ lAach _.............................. _................... _........_. _______ .. _____9-1 \ "Mffo Court Rf1IOr1Int: W1w Juqu anoilawyotrl Thin" Bv ~ RtmtlQlI Cck .____ ... _.. ________ ... ~ .. ___ ......... ~_ ....................... __ ._.... _95
Court RtpOrtin, ln the 1990. BII Jermg Dunn .......................... ...................................................................... ........97
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B;.r 8ri.f............................................... 72 About Members. Among Firms ........... 74 Disciplinary RepoTl ..............................76 M.~Is ............................................. 78
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66 1March ]991
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PRESIDENT'S PAGE LET'S MEET AT THE BEACH
Illl
Beach Olympics. designed for the fun of the spectator!. as winter roc~d.s, it is not too early to begin thinking about a new experience for the Alaba· well M of the participants. Thur$day night's cocktail buffet promises to be out· ma State Bar. This Summer we will tau 011. annual m«ting to the Alabama Gulf Coast. standing. It will be held around tho pool with its beauti. July 18-21. 1991. is the time and the Ptrdido Beach fully landsaoped patio. large deck and the adjoining beach. Hil ton at Orange Beach. Alabama, is the place. The em· This area is one of the finu! fealOres of the hotel. A reg· phasis will be on fun. family and informal it)'. and ~ ,ore gae band will be a special feature of the party. .x~ting this to be the biggest and best convention we Technology for the law office will be in the spotlight on haw ~r held. Friday. We have arranged a presen· tation by two nationally recognized The Perdido Beach Hilton is a great facility. The entire hotel has expert'! in the field. There will be a been rese"",d fOT W, reduced rates pane l discussion with Alabama have been arranged. and the key to lawyers from different types of prac· tice, sol(l practitioners to large the success 0/ this convention will be to bring all of us under Ih. same fi rm•. A large array of equipment roof. [ 1><.>1>" that everyone will plan will be demonstrated and on disto stay at Ihe convention hotol. play, and small group consultations As planning goes (o ..v,i.d. every will be available. tffort i. being made to make this a This year. ......, will extend the con· fun expe rience for the family and vention through Ihe weekend with not just a business meeting. This parties on Friday and Satu rday includes the availability of a topnights and conclude with the notch children's program for those Hilton's famous jazz brunch on lamili.~ staying at the Hilton. The Sunday. And tlltre will be ample opportunities throughout the week for program, designed for children ages W. H.... ld Albritton, III five to I l. will be conducted b)' a obtaining CJ,E credits well ·t rained professional staff and For all of you who have been to will bt available both day and night. Alabama State Bar annual meetings There is a local nanny service which before. I urge you to come all/linmay bt used for help with younger children. this will be the best yet! For those of you who have never Ca.mal dr= wHi be encouraged. A SOlf tournament is attended an annual meeting. I urge you to make this your being organized. and there will be plenty of IT« time in first. the schedule. Lawyers are a unique br«d. Despile our many differ· While the full program has not yet been completed. I onces. differences in background, age, race. sex, types of <:<In share with jlQU some of the things which have now practice, pOlitical beliefs , and ty~. of clients, wo ue bettnseL joined bya common bond_.. are all lawyers. Our differAlabama's judgu will be holding their annual me<:ting encu, Ihe stms of law praclice and Ihe vel» nature of OUr at Gu lf Shores the first thr•• days of thi. same week. adversal» system often make oor relationships with each Judges and lawyers will come together at the Hilton On other difficult. Our common bond allows III t(l put those Thursday for the Iknch and Bar Luncheon. In keeping differencu aside and enjoy each other On a personal !"",,!. with the emphasis On fun. Our speaker will be United And. nowhere is it more possible to Iranscend those differStates District Judge Jerry Buckl1'le}'er. of Dallas, Texa.. In encu and experience the p!easurt! of our common bond addition to being a popular after-dinner speaker, Judge than.1 our annual meeting. Buckmeyer is widely known for his humorou.s series of So, mark jlQur <:<Ilmdau now ~nd begin making jlQUr public service radio spots sponsored by the Texas State plans for July 18·21. 1991. Kick olf jlQur .hoes, pack up the kids and come on down to Beach Convention '91. B". Thursday afternoon witl feature an all·star Iknch v, Bar Jt's going 10 be. blMII !
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68 / March 1991
THE AlABAMA U\WYER
ICE. CAN GO TO LIBRARY. .. OR CAN HAVE THE
II rou Ihoughl rou had no choice, Ihallhe world's largest online library of law and law-relaled malerlal was berond your reach, here's an oller fhal could put fhe LEXIS' service right at rour fingertips. 'SPIIIIl
0!IIr ........ 3O, ....
Alabama
State Bar
THE AI.AHAMA LAWYER
M.i.rchl99l l 69
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT WORKMEN'S COMP REFORM
Ii II
hl W(lr<.\ ·,dorm " U$uall~ (voku In emotionlll .urgt in today', socitty beca~ it il ~1\trJ.l1y WOo elated with change, and change that is usually ovtl"dut in Iht eye,s the ref01l1'\eT. Thfc ~p/lrtmtnt 01 Industrial Relations is uking rtpruentJ.tivu from variolU groups 10 It,.". in an advi$(l'Y apa<:ily 10 twlp the department addms specific 'Ollies for prOPOKd
or
workmen', com~nntion .dorm. J.C. Alltn. director of the dtpllflmen\. 'funtly requuled that Iht Alabima Stlte ~r idtntify th_ aUomtyS from our mtmkrship 10 help in this ~ F'ortulIlIldy. th. Nr ltrudy had in p~ I tuk loin CTQtfd to de((rmilll' tht fusibility of cru.li", I I'.'orkmm ', Compensation Section of the lillie bar. ~ mponK \0 iUl
intern! IU""Y WM
the mOlt ovt rwhtlmin. tve. to such
a su .....y-ovu 400
la~trs
indicated
a duire 10 join Ih. Hclion. Obviously, thle proposed changn will invite
.
significant inttrnl among Gu. mem~
Cni. A. Donley, usiSlant gtnenl counsel 10 tht Dtpartmtnl of IndlUtriaJ Rdilions, adviwd me I~I Alabama's Workme n ', Compensation bw hu remi intd buical1y unchinied .inu its mlCtmtlll in 1920. AJong with edu· « lion, W<:Irkrmn', comlM'nution hilS dtwloped into om 01 the two most Kri· ous problems IlCini our state's economic de.>elopment. The high cost of work,,",n', tomlM'mation insunnce lind/or KII· insurance il vitwed by the department as a lfIl.ior thrut to t'stability of Alabama's eoonolll}'. The Dtparbmnl 01 Industrial Relations is responsible for t'-lIdministntion of tl>e workmen's compensation law in AI· ~. The bw·, four bask objectives are' (I) Provide SUft, promP! and ru..onable inco,,", and mtdi. ~ btndiu to work·Kcident victims.. nganl1w of (ault; (2) Proridt I lingle remedy and reduce court delays. costs and workQds amini out of litigation; (3) EncourJjt muimum trnployrr intunt in WeI)' and ft· ~Iiwion th1'OOih 111 appropriate aperimct·ntina meclll· nism: and (4) Promote fnnk study of auKS of IICcidents to reduce pre.>entable k(idenu and hu""," sufferi"ll. Four arel.! have bun idffitified by the departmtnt as tOn· tributing to t'- perceived problems in Alabama. It is theil ar· eas tlllt will bt the subject of the reform.
70 I March 1991
The area of ldminittration of the '-w, Nlmely a court·ad· ministered system in which the circuit court is the firsl point of resolve, is to bt examined. Alabama and Tennuste are the only two remaining jurisdictions usinQ tht courts as the adminittralive point of fi..,1 re$(llve. OM O\'Ition that could be considered would be use ollldminilintive law judges and in· leNgencyappel,is thl,1 ultimalely could rneh Ihe stile supreme court. Atlomt)'l would bt allOWt<.! to particip;o.te III illln.. 1s of rnoIution with lilt present 1ft schedule remain· ing intact. Medical costs are I Kcond Uti of con«m. The I\lIlicml;ave" for medi. al eOltJ on workmen's tOmlM'nsalion claims is MU 40 perotnt wIlile costs in Alabama Ire Mil. 60 percen\. The .e· forms effort will study medial rosu in other st.otes to find methods ol contain· ment. Su.el ~ 10 bt cont row .. ial wm be d· foru to addrus the concerns with the type of claim being paid under our law. Donley Ind other deparlment officials indialtd tilt KOpt of "I(cidtnu" llri .. ing oul of Ind in tht cour.. of one', employmenl appn" to hllY. h .. n hrwdtnt<i outside tht originAl intml of the law. New definitions and rtddini· lions of key W<:Irds wilhin the law Ire viewed as pos.sihle w.ys to r.duct the costs in Alabima. The last of four areas. vitwed as lilt minimum Il«USlOry by lhe department, Ikals with the Stcond Injury Trust Fund. The inve.trntnt aceount from which plymenlJ are made has de· creased 70 percent over th. last four YOUI, dropping from 51.200,000 to Ius thin Woo,GOO. It would appear that the lump sum a..... rd oflUomeys' Ie .. in SITF casu will bt vi ....... d as lin ilfta in n«d ol reform, A rectnt rtqUtst for • 44.6 percent Tit. incrust in AIahamo for workmen's compensalion insur.\l"lOt Is drivi"ll thit reform effort. The average cost of workmen', COffiI)tnilllion insurance in AIabimI it currmtiy $3.06 per Sioo of WIjft:S. The sooth· eut ave..,. it $2.86lM'r $100 in WIjft:S. the pmdina Tilt. increase, if lP\IfI'Md, would signirocanUy Incrust the AIabamlI nte. the departmenl it sffitiflll 10 bri"lll~ther the ronJIitutn. eiu of the bar, hospit.1 association, medical associlltion lnd insurance industry to work with the Nltional expert il will hire to adviK in this trfort. The ultim.lte goal of the (Callmued Of! _ 73)
THE AlABAMA LAWYER
LEGISLATIVE
WRAP-Up
BV ROBERT L. McClJRLEY, JR.
I II
n Dtttm~r. the l.(gislalur. mtt for two daY' at the Uniwrsity« AlaNmlI School 0( Liw for iIIl ornnlition. SponSO«d by ~ Ablwna law Instilut. iUld I4isLative Coul'lCil, tho Lq:r;Woturt re·
viewed I nng. of subjects from bill draftillj to Iong-m\# plinning. Institute President Oakl.y Melton spOl<t \0 the Itgillators concerning mao jor litigation In which the Stat. of AI · abama is • p,arty. A sllort statemtnt of
not uempt the reti rement income of military rttiren and non·civil Hrvice fedenl gowrnment relirtts. 5. Ttl·Nell}. Sial, 01 Alabama. In· volwJ tho teltphone tn:u re<:ripls t.u: and tho: contmtion by Iona dimnu Q r· riers tNl they are not I teltphone com· pany Ioinet they do not proYide"1oa] o· dwlilt HlVict."
each UK il offered from Melton', rt "
~"'" I. Alabamo C()Qlilion for Equil,. Inc., O. county boards of edUCllOOn and numeroul
indiyjd~lltud.nts
.,,4th.iT
J)lI.tnts) II. the Commtor, Su~inlffl' d.n/ of education. mrmberJ of the Sial. Board of Education, FirnlrlC'/l Di·
,ector, Urulenonl Governor, and
n.. plaintifb claim AllhI.ma's tax support 0( td""ation is unoorutilutiOlUI dlK In stU<knts rtctiving differ-
Speo~
mI ptr apilll _ntJ iIIIXOrdina: 101M
drirec 01 \oc.ll WI 0..,I'l'0l1. 2. The John KniQht ~n·yur·old collt,. deHg .... tion liWSUil now kina tried in the federal court in 8irminl'
"'m3. .Sculh C" " lrol &>11
""I~"" Co. u. Sial, I){ Alabama. Deparlmenl I){ Revtrlue. ThiJ Jult WilS filed on SepttmMT 26. 1990. Ind chalienleJ the Alab.1ma tofl'Ontion franch~ IAL 4. RirwhtJrt ... SUemont. as Commis· sicPm' 01 th. Alabama DeparlrM1lt 01 RtvetrUl. Involva tho untof\$titutionlol. ity of tho AllIbunlI illCOlTN: ID ~ which toItmpU the retirement income ol statt employen (rom income tilll. but dora
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THE ALABAMA
~WYER
6. State 01AIdxtma II. Frrmro N<i<lt/Ig Co. Involvu tht con ttnti on of th tupayer tNt the Silts III lTIidlint nit 01 1.5 percent Jhould be applitd to the salt of pinball machines. ju~ boxtl iInd vendinlmachint$ Jill<;t thue machin .. "procelli eltctridly" and electricity hilS bem held 10 be tangible personal proper·
".
7. State 01 AJabama o. King World Produdioos. tnvolva ~'11ust Or rental til on movin and television lhows which aIT tnrt$milttd into AIaho.. rna by satellitt arnllhown by AlahaIN telmsions stations to telmJion viewers in Alaham ... The Montgomery Circuit Court held lut wtek that the re wao no Ie_ or rental t.u: dut on such transmit· ll.1s sinu the microw.lve signals iIT not tangible. personal property. 8. ChrmkQIII'''st. Management II. SIQI. 01 Ai<dxzma. this i, the twudaus waste fee CiSe which WIS tried in the Montl/O"'fry Circuit Court in late 1990 Ind undtr lubmiuion It the time of publication.
9. Phillips Pelroleum 0,. v. Statr I){ Alabama. Thil case involves the quu· tion 01 the proper method to clttermint the ""Iut ol oil when it is taken out of tht ground ~t the oil ,«II. The ft~tc wnttndl that it lhould be drtermintd 00 the bull 01 the ~rk bKI< mtlhod," and Phillips Pttrolwm contmcls other· wiH. 10. The insurance premium t.u: (.I.H which II the case involving the chal· lenge by (oITign insurance companiu to Alibam~'f inlur~nce pre mium tn ' which i$ ItU for domeltic insurance companies). II. State of Alabama v. U.S. Anng eo.ps 01 Cngm--s. This wattT divt-rsion ~ involving the prOllQ5td withdJllw;1l. of luge amounu of wattT from !.Ih !.Inier. Carlen !.Ike;md We Allatoona in CwTllia. 12. There if a cau 10 requiIT judicial reappOrtionment in III multi-judgt tiro cuits Ind tilt appellate courts. which Is in the U. s. District Court for the Middle DQlrict 01 Alabuna. ll. There if i n i t filed by Mon t · golmry District AtlOrTlt)' Jimmy [ """' against the state auditor and StcTtll.ry of ' tate Ovtr "expense allowances· which they are now rtceivi ng. 14. Pending befo re t he Alabama Supreme Court is a case tuting a 1930 AI:ab.1IN ltatute that taus cndit cud b~i_ from Iwtb oubio.lt 01 Alatwm. The leiiJW,ure dtliwrcd to the CoYernor within lilt last fi-n diYs of the Rtgu4r s-;on of the 1982 Lf1Iislature 140 bills. Thut bills wtre signed but not dtliwred to the StcTtll.ry of sute's offiet with in ten day$after legislative adjourn · ment. The Alabama Supreme Cou rt . on 1}ecember 7. 1990. in Ex purle Robtrt Coker (case no. 89· 1034). dtclartd Ont of theH acts. the "PhITTllllCY Robbery Ad: to be pocket vtlotd. The ~ Ugistalun will mtd lor their Regular Session April 16. 199 1. These CaSts. plul rupporlionmenl. should provide the Legislatur' wilh plenly of problems to keep them busy for their 105-alendar·day Hlliion. • Marth 1991 171
BAR BRIEFS H.,. . .Ieeled to teach Birmingham
attorney Fnnci. II. lialT, Jr., who
practicu wi t h the finn of Har~. Wynn, Ne wdl &; Ntwton. waS
-
stleeted as Iht
George E. Allen
Chair in law 10 Inch at the Uni· .... Qity of Richmond Law School during the month fA Ftbruuy 1991. ~ A1lm Chl.ir was utablWltd in 1988 to allow the law school to invite di.tlnguW,td
legal Khol,I'$ 10 spend time in rui· dent. and Interic! wilh Iht students Ind ["cully 0( Iht Uni .... "ity of Richmond Law School. Han: aa.... a .",in of lectures on "Current Issuts in Complex litigation." lie was admitted to the Alabama State Bar in 1959 and is i membe r of tht bo.ml of bu comrnissiOll(rs. tenth ci r.
cuit. pIKe numbf:r orw:.
ABA book rwmed
one of four be.t by MOINty mllfilalne 1'011 /1JId I~ lAw. 1m ~rian Bar ANoci.otion's rww 60S-page klJal guide
fo r consumen. hu be.n ellonn by MooeV maguine ;as ON' of the foo. best book$ on ptl1()l'l,ll filW'lCt publis.hed in 1990. It introducu the leg;,1 s~st.ms and lawytt'J in 1I/Irious chapt.,,, such lIS "When and How to Use ~ La~r" and "How the LI!",I S)1tem WorkS: and 0ptons speeifle legal problems conSUrMrJ ml)IflCe: family law. including IN.rNge. divot« and children', right5; buying and selling J homr; rmting rai. dential proptrty; consumer credit; bankruptey; contrxt5; buying. owning mel Riling I ar. Ilw mel lhe WOf\(p1a«, ,rduding Jaual hlrassment and rxial discrimimtion: J)(rsonal injury; crimi· ml justice; til. righL! of Olde r Am"i cam; and wills. truslland estate plan· ning. Th.re Ire liso chlrts. graphs and maps thai provide information about
72 / /obrch IWI
tht Inn in fich stlte or fedeT31 laws tNt apply ICTtIM tht United SUits. You (lI>I/ /,.. lAw. from the ABA Division for Public [ duation. dotl nol offer legaol idvice. It cin be purcha..d from ABA Orde r Fulfillment . 750 N. La kt Short Dr ivt. Chicago. Illinois 606 11. for SI9.95. plus Sl.95 postaGe and han dling. SPf(:ii'y product ~ 235-0019.
Chlpt" 01 the Ntwcomtn Society of the United $t.atts.. The Society', purpose. I non.profit rMmbership eo<pOrIlion. i.I to promott private ente'1'"i.. Ind study Ind r«OII" nize IChitvtment in Ame rican bus'''''» i\TId the society it ~lVtI. Max was admitled 10 the.tate bar In 1975.
Zarzaur ,...Iected Ingram and Thigpen
president, AACA
Invested In .January
Btn L ZaTWlr. , member of the Birmfirm 01 ~r Omabur. P.C~ was reanlly rt-iiltcttd to a second term as praidmt of the American AMociation 01 Creditor Altorneyl. Zanour i.I a 1972 ad· mitt« to the Ahlwnlo Sb.le Bu. Founded in 1989. the MCA ;s , m· tional orpnisation of creditor attorneys linked. by a common computer networl<. Tht organization rtpresenLS creditors in the commercial and colltdions busineSi throughout the United Stal••.
New suprtme court Justice Kenneth F. In· llT3rn of AohW>d Ind ntw IPpuis court Judgt: Chlrln A. Thig. pen of C reens· borowere in\tit· ed in ce remon· iu January 23. IWI. at the Monlgomer'jl Civic Center. Justice IngTlm movu to the supreme court from his position as pruiding judge of the court 01 civil apptals. Ingnm WiS eleeted to tho ~ court in 1986. i1fUr Rrving as I circuit judge in the 18th Judicill CiraJillor 18)'fl1TS. Judge Thigpen cornu 10 Ihe o;ourt 01 civil appuis from his , . -. . I . position as preI siding judgt of Ihe fourth Judi· cial Circuit. con· sistinG olllallas. fUl •. PeTr)'o Wil· cOl and Bibb o;ounties. Justict IngT3m isl graduatt 01 Auburn Uni-.:rsity and Jones School 01 Law. Jud# Thigpen is a graduate 01 1M Univtrslty 01 Ahlwnlo md the Uni""lity'l School 01 law.
' ~', ~4
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Max cho.en member of Newcom.n Society Rodr'lty A. Max. I member 01 the Birm· ingham firm of Najjar Den~burg. P.C.. has been Invited to join the Alabama
i~
.Johnson co-authors toxic tort book Birminghirn attorney John M. Johnwn. of the firm of I.i,htfool. Funklin. \',-"'hitt " I.lrocu. rt«f1t· Iy co -autho red and publi.hed Pesticilk Litifl(llion Manual. a Itga l ".trvice man ua l" for handli n G puti · cide litigation casu. Dr. Ceorge W. Ware. an luociatt dirtctor of tht Ag r icultu ral E.perimen t Station of lhe Univtrsity 01 "'i&ON. is the CO-IIU·
--
""".
11w manual includes I drtailtd su,......., of FIFRA., theoritl of liability Ind de· ftnR, I lawyfr'i ,luiM to rresticidts. is· sues fn:quently bridtd in rresticide cu· ts.. and I list 01 aperti in pesticilk cu· ts. 10 order 11 copy conlKt Clark Board· IN.n ComPfJ!y. Ltd .• 375 Hudson Sireet, New York, New York 10014, Or call I-
800-221 ·9428. TltE ALABAMA LAWYER
Tapley resigns
to direct The Institute Adminilt ra · tive Di u ctGr Gf Couru Allen L. Ta pley recent·!y ~nnGunce d hi' mignation from t ht pos t to f""nod and direct The Sentencing Inst itute, I pri · vl te, non .prGrot Grpniution dt,ig""d to dal with AI · 1.1» ......'$ prison overcrowding problem. 1ht Sentencing Institute will be loaottd in Montl/Omery, ~nd initial funding will be provi ded by a grant frum the Edna McConnell CI:or\c Poundatioo. ~Ity his Hm'd lI$ administralNe head of AW!.i· m;I'S toortl)'lkm for 14 l'U1'$ under two thief justices, C.C. Torbert, who lI'!'CIint. ed him to the po:!IIt in 19n. and Sonny Honuby. A native of Camp Hill in TIl · I:opoou Coonty. Alibama.. 'llIplf:jl timed his undergraduate degree in eduCition from Auburn Uniwr$ity and hi.! graduate degm in tdUCllion from the Univmity of Alablrllll. In 1985. he received the Ameriein Judieiture Society', Herbert H.irley AWillrd, which m:ogrtimI "his Ie' compIis/unen~ and mraon!il'Wy com· mitmtnt 10 the ilflPT(J\'m'ltllt of the lid·
minislration 01 justice in AUbarn;a." He _ nominaled (or the Hulf:jl Aw.trd by United States Senalor liooovell Hdlin. 'Ill. pity currmtly is I mnnbtr 01 the board of directors of the Confenrw;:e 01 Slat.. Court ,\dministflltOl1 and ser\'otd 00 the Jury SWldards M Fora: 01 the Nation · , I Center for State Courts. He also is a member of the American Judiature S0ciety. Tipley is I member of Frner Memorial United /oI(lhodist Church and is rlIlIrried 10 the Jonncr EUllmil NilE of F~. Thtyhwo fourthildrm.
Mitchell elected
Fellow of Collqe An"" W. Mitchell. of the Binning/wn fo rm of Berkowi t1. Ltfkovi ts. 150 m &: KU$hner. Wll$ recently elected i Pellow d the American Colle~ of Trust and Estlte CounKl. Mitchell is, graduate of. CUrnWland School d Law. The CoIkg. i'ln intemationallUOCiation of law· ~rs who how been recotniJtd lI$ GUt· i tinding pncti t ionerl in the I'..... of wills. trusts. uute p~nin4 and estate ""mini,tration. Membel'$hip in the Col· lege i, by invi ta tion of the board of regents. •
se,.,.;cu. At times, I get the f«ling thoot the Ipocryph,l cle rgyman purpo rted ly ridden GUt of i certain Pickm's Coonty town might .... ell be tn ve rsing Dexter Avenue wit h hi. ad mGnltion her.: Reform! Reform! Rdorm! •
L~
Qqlc<.u.. PWlkhins.. _
know
01>' Inllyticolleso l ~ot.,r:f,"Y'''''" i. no! c:ornp~1e wi!hGut on. vit.o l link - 01>' roold
CORRECTION!
",p ~ nto tl v... They know wh, r . I v. i l.~. wh, ( • • Ifotdoble •• nd wh.t rnourcn will be 01 ~ &'fllest VII.,. 10 YOU' ptadia. 1I;..e" rou' .....0. and .... rket.
Please make this correction In your copy 01the 1991)·91 Alabama Bar Oirac1ory.
(205) 388 8880 .
depoortmtnt i, , comprellem1ve PlCklee 10 pruent to the Itg i,l. turt in April 1Wl. Comments. , uggestiom and Inqui rin an inviled by the Dep.ulment of indus· trial ReI,tions Workmen's CompeTUI' lion 1lIsk Forcc il 649 Mooroe Simi, Room 204 . Montgomery. AI,bam' 36131. P'ruident Albritton will name thm Allbimi SUit Bar membel'$ with the 6CMct and consenl of the board of commiuiomrs 10 the advisory commit. t«. You should be sure your bar com· missioner has the benefit of your views in this signifiCinl undertaking. ~ not forget thoot pending ;, I Tu Rd orm Comm;$$ion r.port which in. cludu , prOPOUolto tn prGftuiGrIlIl
You can't get closer to the issues than this. AI
The telephone number 01 the firm 01 Pittman. Hooks. Marsh . Dutton & Hollis \!las listed as
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'. REPORT
he~
RiJIht """'. ,..... Ioat ~ntotl'te is rNdy 10
rou set the ...... from .... "",,"led libfoty lot AI ........ prKllce _ (rom
AU 10 Am "" Of
uses 10 us l
Ed.
• you wont 10 be in cho~. Ioil< 10 • '"",<K'IIotr.. ..+.0'. in IOudr with ,..... ne«Io. Contoa yo<H Iocol repreKnto~'te directly. Of coli 1.&01).52 7 -OoIJO.
The corrac1 number is. and alI!Iays has been . (205) 322-8880. The firm's address. 800 Par\( Place Tower. a.nringllam. Alabama 35203. as listed in the directory. is corrac1.
m E ALABAMA U\WYER
March ]99] / 73
ABOUT MEMBERS, AMONG FIRMS ABOUT MEMBERS Wokrt B. Hllk
~nOOlJnces
AMONG FIRMS thi: ..k>-
cation of lIis offICe to 2] 04 Rocky Ri~ Ro,d. BirminQh~m, AI,bama 35216.
POOnt (205)979.)371.
!liaR A. e...nall,h announces u.., relocation of lIis offictl to 4191 Cannie"'el R~d. Montgomery. AlaN· IN. 36101. Phorw: 120S) 2Tl.s444. Clani n IE. RolIl"'OII inoouncu tilt. OIlI'nine of ella"'" E. _MUlto ... p,e •• it 511111 Awn ..,.Co .. . ! Sinel Wnt. Ashville. Ali~rN 35953. Pho"" (205) 594-5 Ill.
lila", Llttl, lIIatlal. 'n,no.mces the opening of hu office it 31 4 Soulh Baylen. Suite 21)6, Penucol •. I'lorida,
32501. Phone (904) 469-8]80. Jell S. Fannl" anllOllncts 1M open· of hi, offke at 303 South. Court Stm:l, boll»dtp. ALibami 35160. Phon. (205) 362-<WZO. in~
Sheffielel, Sheffielel • Sbeffitlel, P.C. i>nnoo",u the chan"e of tho firm name to Shefflel •• Sheffltlel. Sheffie lel " L.ntlne. P.C., and that John A.. Lentine h.u becom. I p;!rtMr of tilt firm. Officu are located at frank Nelson Building, 205 20th Strut. North. Suite 730. Bi r mingham, Alabami> .
Phone (205) 323-1365.. W. ClIa! S ... _. J,.. and Sheme C. Will ••• of Sro...·wm .... an· nourw;e the relocation 01 otrlUl to 118 t. Moulton StrHI.. Suitt 6, IJotcatur. AIlb.i...,. l56O l. Phone (205) JS5..4956. Ro.en • Hayti, P.C., Hael M. C.rter. P.C .. Sale... N. Relb., Jr., Robert W. Sh o ..... and IIIlchael S. Hemn, announce the muger of their firflU. Rlehuel L. Jonel ha, become woeiated with the firm. They will prac· tin under the nime of Roel," • P.C .. at 20 15 fint Avenue, North, Suitt 400, Birmi~. Alabama
H.,...
35203. Phone (205) 32U869. J. Tho ••• IU ..,. Jr .. announces ' hili, dledi .... bnllary I, 1991, ht Marne " vict.prf:sidtnt with Collateral 1II".I •• Lt •• His new address i. 1900 C,ulwood Boultvud. P.O. 80.
,e,
830180, Birminllh.>m, Aliba"", 352830180. Phom (205) 951-4000.
J ...... D. MoU.tt announces a .)(!drUIL. His new officf is lou ted at 213 Sou t h Jdf~uon Strut. Athens. Alabama 35611. Phone (205) 23J..5091. chang~ 0(
J. h al ~ 0lM0U1lCU the relocalion of his otrlC~ to 4183 Carmich-HI R~d , Montgomery, Alabama 36106· "l889. Phone (lOS) 271-08S2.
Rkhanl IL M.aIr. fol"lmr Iiw clerk 10 U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stephen B. Col~...,.n, announces the reloutjon of his office to Park PIa« T~r. Suite 550. 2001 Parle Place. North. Birmi ngham. ,\ Iabama 35203. I'hone (205) 251-3311.
74 1 March 199!
The firm 01 Joh . T. Moor. . . ltb . P.c. announces thl.t J. n.o~ Co,tle bKa.nIt a mt~. 01 tho firm tff~ January I . 1991. Offices. are louted it 100 8rookwood I'tic~, Suite 21)2. Birm· ingham. AlaNml 35209. Phone (205) 871 ·3437. IIIa,n.rel. Cooper, 'rlenon " Cale, P.C. announces thaI C",OI")l H. H... le,. formerly an lUociate 01 the firm.1-.as ~ a mtmber 01 tho firm. and that Mitchell C. Allen . Tho ....1 H. S.llIlde,. Itlth ...lne A. Webu, StllftJl T. Manhall. IIIkhael O. "DI· ......,. iIfId J. A1an Traltt ~ joined tho finn» iWOCWa. Offlta are Iocat· ed lit 1901 Si1th A~nut, North, Suite 2400. AmSouth·Ha~rt PIau.. Birmillll' ham. Alaba.nIa 35203·W)2. I'hont: (205) 254·1000. Clnlner. "Ielelltbroob oi Fl t m· In" P.C. , 16th Ooor. P.O. Drawer 3103. SouthTrult llank Building, Mobile, Ala·
bima 36652, announces thl.t Johll O. Cillbon • • lormer law clerk to Circuit Judge Edward B. McOermoll, and Ol.on Torb ...1 Martino , former as· si ... nt dist.ict attorney 0/ Mobit. County. have become lIuotiated with the firm. Phone (205) 433-8100. Rich ..... Jonl. n • R.n'" MJoen, P.C. announctJ that Benj •• ln L. L.d".r. former IlIW derk to Judge John C. Tyson. Ill, Alllbi....,. Court of Criminal .-\wtllb. has becomt ;wociat· ed with the firm. OffICt:S are Iocat~ at 302 Alibima Sl rttt. Montgomery. A\· W...,. 3611)4. Phone (205} 265-4561. Cab.nl... Johnlloa. C ........ er. Du· mi. " O'Nnl annoullctS that Helen Cume ,.,.t,r and Steve A1an hcftr bttllme membe r. of t he li rm July l. 1990. and thl.t Herbert H.rold Wut. Jr.. O. "uln Vlneent. liIu .. tll W. AeI ..... , £ ... 11, SleI .. 80nel • • lind "elank F. M,rlde ha~ ~:mo ellIt" 0/ the firm. Birminllh.o.m o/fict5 lin located at 1700 AmSouth -Sonllt Town. 8irmlngham. Alabama 35203. Phone (205}252-8800. H.... lltoa. Butler. RI •• ldr, Tarl· toa .. Sal1l ..... P.C. announces that Slt"n C. re.owa I-.as bfoomt woei· ated ",·ith the firm. Officts Ire located at Tenth Ooor. first National Building, P.O. Sox 1743. Moblle. Alabama 36633. Phone (205) 432·7517. The firm 01 Heala,n. BDr,e •
V.rt. annoulKH the relocation of thoir offica to 1500 f'imndal Center. Birm· ingham. AlliIN....,. 35203. dftdi~ De· ambtr 17. 1990. Phone (205) 322·5153. The firm also annountf:S that Jo..,h W. lama,loa has b«omt II member 01 the finn. lind O...leI M. Cowan h.u ~ woe~ted with the fi ....... John D. Rlch.relloll. Mark E. Spe ••• 0 ...1. P. O.nlell and Mart.. J. U,loQ , formerly m~mberi of Brown. Hudgens, Richardson. P.C .. a nnounc.
nn: AlMWolA LAWYE R
s,e.r" V,IO", ",C, Offiea 11«' Iocit·
III, n .. ot~ D. O."u. 1100 Undo J . ....cock h:ovt b«ocm _iltte! with
te! at 1110 Monttilnlr DriYt, P.O. 1101 16428, Mobil<:, A1aNlnI 36616. Phont (205) 344-8181.
the firm. Ome.. In loCi led al 140(1 SouthTTusI TlJWI:r. Birmingham. AIabi· mil lS203.1'hoIK (205) 328~.
The fi rm of 4to1l" "I,u " Cool< InnOUnen th.at Allell E. Gnh .... , Robn1 S. lIkAanall,y lOll Mlc ....1 C. Nle • .,..... ~ Malrrx wocilttd with the firm. Offi~ a~ Ioatte! II 2 North ROYil Strut. P.O. HOI 2727, Mobile. A~ 36652. ~ (%(IS) -tJ2-«81.
0011.1. F. "Ierce, Oul, C.rr and Hdell J.h .....11 Alro,' ~nnounu the OpIning of their firm, JOI.rc., Carr " Alror'. F. rrtll S. LIIn. joined lhe firm of/cctiYt Jinuary I, 1991. Offices ~~ kntt<! at Suite 900, MontlilniTFark Offi« Building, IUO Montlirllllr Drivo:. Mobile. Alabama 36609. "T1\( InIlling ad· drus II P.O. Bo~ 16046, Mobile 36616. Phone (205) 344·5151.
the formation of HlcharUolI, 0..,1,11,
Bun a Fo..... n announces that Robtrt H. R.. thtrrord and GOII' T. I'ric. ha .... bKome p;or\n(r, in the firm. and H.ltert S.W. CI.ea, Vlcl.r L. HII)'I-II" NODCJ L ChU....... Lo ..... W. Brewer, J.IIIIU.. IIohll.IC. Buny. Md J . . . . A. 1"11.110', Jr•. ha.... btcome associated wilh. the firm. 8irm · ingham offices lTe louted at 3000 Soulh. Trust Tower, 4 20 North 20th Stnd, Birmingh.lm, Ala~ml 35203. I'tIone (%(IS) 251·3000. Th.t firm of J.h •• IOat, A •••• , BoUt)', Co.-60 ..... H.ni1 MOOUnct5 that Michael C. Whit. hu btcome a membe r of the fi rm. and Robert S. Fro. 1 has become auociated wilh the firm. Omen are looted al Royal SI. Frano:iJ Building. 104 Sl Frano:iJ Street. Mobile. Alabarllll 36602. The oIfiu of PriItc., Boln!, Tu ...... a Pool., P.C •. anOOUn~ the addilion of former Chnlt Ju',. Jury B. Baln! as a p;ortntr in the firm, dfmi .... bnuary •. 1991. Omen a«' located lit 2501 Siflh Strttl, TUKaloow, AIabaInI 3S401. Phone (205) :u5- I IOS.
The firm 01 No ...... , FUe,.trl..., W...., Wllllaao '" P ...... announct l that Robert D. Nor.... , Jr .. a nd Tho .... A. "'lIdrlcl< have become p;orlntrJ of the form. OIflCa are Iocalte! lit 1800 City FnIt",1 Buildi.." BinningIwn, AIabarna 35203. Phone (205) J28.-
66<!. Cor' 011, Silb...... a, WIUIIl. '" Chll •• , P.C. announcn Ihat N.o .. 1 Hlltoll A,cher, JOI.,h H. C.I.III,
TIlE ALABAMA LAW....;R
The firm of Lonl ..., FON, S"'ftr'" Payll" ".C. announ«1 Ihat M. """ Wapcr, Lewb E. BeU lOll Ccort. E. ""0. ha .... btcomt _ i lled with the fi rm. Offices a rc lonled at 200 West Court Square. Suile 5000, lI untsville,
The firm of Spa"'-, CIIlOII, C........ 81... '" Nettl •• ilfUIOUnctS that nh A. ricb .... J . . . . A. "ct, Jr., lOll Belq hi .... CaUJu ~ been
De""
named partncn in Ihe firm. loaled al 2117 ~con d Avenue, Norlh, Birming· !\am, Alabarllll 35203. Phon. (205) 328· 4 100. The Low Omce 0' Jo .... E. EIlIl... announces lhal P.riee. C. J.laUt.1I hu tlftn made a partner. effective Jan· uary I, 1991. "T1\( name u the firm hu been changed to Elllltll " JO ..... IOII, wit h officn located at H9 S. Main Slrttl. Welumph. Alabama 36092. Phone (205) 567· 2545. Correctl.II' "T1\( ~ress in the Jan· uary iuuc u The A/Q/lql7lQ U1~ytr for Oul. " N•• I should haon read P.O. 0riJJJst 71I. ~Iika. Alabama 36801. •
AlaNrlIII35801. The firm of Sltftll P. Sch.llt, ".C. MOOUnces tIw JIIk ....1 S. H• .,.... be· Clme' member effection february I. 199 1. The new firm will be known is Sch ... ltt" H • .,....., P.C. Offices will be located at 213 Sarnen Ilou!evard. P.O. BOl 606, ralla55tt, Alabama 36078.
I'hone (205) Uil-6855. Wlltoll a p,..roy InnoUIl«S thai T. 8.lce T........, Jr. , has become I p;or\n(r in the fi rm. lOll the rwnc uthe firm has been changed 10 Wlholl, Pu.roy " 'l\omer. Omen are located lot 1431 Leighton A.... nut, P.O. Boll 2333. Anniston, Alabama 36202. Phom (205)
",.m,.
Chtn"J', Clnu, "'"'..." ,u4rlq., "ele.., Lo.lreU a DI •• , P.C. an· nounces Ihe .. Iocalion of lheir Mobil. office 10 401 Church Slreet. Mobile. Al· abama 36602. Phone (205) 432·3700. The LiW Offieu of Jdrny A. F •• hn announen thit D•• leI R. F ...... II, Iormerly pr;octil:i~ in Mobile, hu btcomt assoc;"'lt<! with the firm. flCes Irt located al 900 S. Perry SITHI. Montgomery. Alabama 36104. Phon. (205) 265- 1960.
or·
M.l.rch l991 175
DISCIPLINARY REPORT Disbarment Jl'lootgomel'Jl ~r EI... A. SlIlith. J~. • was
disbllrnd, rtfKtiv! II midnil&ht on Otambtr 31. 199(1, tr.Kd....,on various viobtions 01 the Cotk of Prok#icn. a/ R~bifiIJl, involvin,g nt,ltet 01 diml ~irs.IASB NOlo. 87-642, 87-672, 88-184, 89-413. iUId 89-4521
Public Censure On NoYnnbtr 2. 1990, Charia CIl 'rori Carter. &11 A1Wma la~r prK' tieing in Columbus, GcorrIilo, was publicly WlSurfd lor vloLalin,g Oisc:iplilUry
IIo»rd d tht ~ Slate Bar to haw willfully nel/leeted I lellal matter en· tnuttd to him. to haw failtd 10 seek 1M Ilwful obj«tiYes d his client, int~ntion· illly {liltd to Qrry out a rontnct 01 rm· ploymrnt ~nttrl<l into with his client. prtjudittd Or dur\;o,etd his climt during the course 01. P1'tIkuioNl rtiationship, IIld mgaatd in conduct that is snjudi· (i.1 to the administration of justict.
[ASS No. 89·501 [
PrIva te Reprimands • On Ottrmber 14. 1990. a lawyer WJI
Rules 6-IOIIA), 7-101(A)(I)(2) " (3). and \·102(A)(5) of Iht (Ade of Profes-
privat~1y r~primancltd
sional R,sponsibililV oflht Alabama Siale Bar. ClOrtu filtd I NnknJptey petition in Iht United Swu Bankruptcy Court for Iht Middle Distrkt of Alabama for a dient and. therufler. failed \0 at· tend Ihe first m«Iillll of ,miiIOr'S. flilt<.! to timely ~ubmit. confirmable PTOIlOKd plan, failed to .mnd tW<l show caUK hurings orde red by tht bankruptcy ju~ and ("Itd to rmUl timely muod 01. hill f•• to hill dient when ordered 10 do;> ~ by the Court. Cutu was susptndtd from prlrCtict before the Blnbuptcy Court for one )'eIIr ~"" WJI found by tht l)ikiplin.lry
tives of his clitnt through reasonably ,v,il.ble mun" in violation of DR 7· ]O](A)(I). The lawyer was hired to de· fmd I civil suit and filtd an aPpe!lranct on behalf of hi' client. He, thereafter, without objection or motion to dismiss. allowed the cue to be continued nine times Imr a period of 16 months, ilIld billed his client for his appearances at thue nine ",parat. docKet calls. [ASH NO. 90-.428) • On December 14, 1990. a lawyer was prMtely reprimanded for conduct pr~j. udicill to thf: .dminist.... tion of justict and conduct ldvuuiy rtneeting on
for having inlen·
tioNlI~ fliltd to seek Iht lawful objec·
FALL 1990 BAR EXAM STATISTICS OF INTEREST Number siu ing for eJlam ......................................................... 370 Number certifi ed to Alabama Sup~me Court ........................ 260 Certification rate ....................................................................... 70 % Cerlirlc al ion perce n tages: Universi ty of Alabama .............................................................. 80 %
Cumberland ...............................................................................80 % Binningham School of Law ...................................................... 47 % Jones Law Institute ................................................................... 46% Miles College of Law ................. ............................................... 25 %
76 1March 1991
filnus 10 practice law. l1\( lawyer had filed II suit lind then entered into In ,g rnment with oppOting counsel to grant the drimdantlddilion.ll time, to. spKifltd date. "';thin which to file an ans~r. in order to allow for poISible ",ttlement. The L,wyer. nonethele". filtd ~ """liaotion for drfault iudammt with suppOrtini affidavit prior to the ;llIrmi·upon date, :m d without any notite to oppo$i"ll couns.el. IASO No. 90-
""• On Decembt"r 14. 1990.
~ b"')'tr wu pri,,,,tely ",primancltd for havi"ll willful· Iy Tll'gkcttd I "'gill malin entrusted 10 him. He accepted original docUfT\i'ntl from elienh, after diKuuinQ hi' fee. and ;llIretd 10 file wit on be~lf of the clients or promptly return the docu · mmts to them. lIt did neither. howtvtr. and thereafter failed to return numer· ous telephone Qlls from the "ienU. fIe told the cHents in the fall of 1989 that he would file suil shortly. but did not do so. He igno",d the clients' January 1990 certified m~il request th.t he return their dotumtnU. and did not return the dotumrnts tOlhe clients untilthty filed a tompliint 19Iinst him with the ~r in
Ftbrw.ry 1990. [ASO No. 90-1621 • On Ottember I., 1990. a lawyer WJI printdy ",priminded for conduc:t ;ad • .... !V1y ",fleetinQ on fitrow 10 pnKtict Law. in violation d DR 1· 102(A)(6). l1\( lawyer struck a court clerk in a court· houu ~11w;oy, in front 01 other lawyers and other court personnel. and. usi"ll mild profanily. exp",SKd displeasu re over the recordkttping done in the clerk's offICe, lASS No. 89-3351 • On December I• • 1990. an A.labamI lawyer """,iYtd , private ",primand for v;ol .. tion of OiscLplinifY Rules \ . 1I)2(A)(4 lind 1- 102(A)(6). The Dikl ' plinu)' Commiuion found that the !n.oyer!wl e~ in a persorul busi· nus relitioruhip with a client and had mislud the client. had misinformed the cHent as to the impOrt of certaLn docu· menU necuttd 1»' the client and ptr· formed other lClIthat ildwrsely ",Oeeled on his fitnns to practice law. IASa No. 90-1&01 •
THE A.UJWoIA LAWVE R
POSSIBLE APPELLATE COURT RESTRUCTURING IN ALABAMA
I IJI
By BERT S, NE17'LES
uring tht pail
there
h~vt
t~ d~ades numerQUS
bun
stud,,, and ncommend,_
tioou with rupect to AbbamI'S Olj)ptILnt coorU. The most Teemt study _ madr in 1988 ind 1989 by 1I spc,"] AllIN.1ni StJ.te 8;1. task forct. With OM m(ldifiution as btu noted,
the tuk forct report wlS idopltd on ~pt.mbtr 15. l!IM, by t~ board oibar commiuiOMn. ' Up(N'I an ,md . .. bnd· irllil lila! tM bo»rd was merely lIpproving lM Wk tOlU'1 work and it was not approving in dellil some of the s!,«it'ic.s IlOtt<i thutin." Although the W(lrkload of the Alaba. ma Suprtmt Cwrt tw , ;rlCe fu~r increased approlimattly 20 perctnt ', no cI'w18es in structure ~ bttn mide. In 1989. tilt A~rN Supreme Court publish~ more opiniom than any ot~r court of lui ruort in tht United Stlo\a.' Thaot incrused workloid undoubtedly contributfd to tilt continutd decline in tho use of ora\lrf\1l1'lmL
During the ]989·90 term. the su prtmt court hurd only 4\ orallrgu-
mtnts in approximltely 5 ptn;tnt 01 thf: in whkh written OI>iniorU wert released.' LikewiK, for the 19S8-89 leno. onty 6 percent of the 365 CUl:S decided by opin ion in the court 01 civil appeals wen onlly ~rgued. Duri"ll tl>e put two ~
.. _...
..., &.1$._._
............. _01 ",....0...-. 1liio' _ ..... . _01 ... .......
-_.... .,."'-_
__ <1_.......
-_. I#w Si«>o ' - ' ' ' '
01"' _ _ a.. _ 1'<10» ... _
~--
THE ALABAMA LAWYER
court terms, oral argument was heard in only I percent of tl>e cases docketed in the tourt 01 trimiNI appeals. By ton· trut, tht Unittd Sutu Ci rroit Coort of Apprall for the Elewnth Circuit. during the)'Ur July I. 1989. through JIIIlt 30. 1990, hurd ORill1/llllltnl in 8Z6 t3oK$ (46.5 perun!) out Ii I,ns ~ All projKtions point to slill further substint~1 inc:_ in AWwni'sappelb le workLoad. No "",II... how industri_ OUS ind dedicated our Ippellale judges ue, there is I limit to everyone's capao:ity. A new lOnd Ilrully tnlargtd Judicial Buildinll i$ undu tonst ru ction, That building can eully ~modatr tht addi . tiONI jud.tlts .... ceuary for appellote re_ structuri"ll. 14 a COI\KQuence, tht task forct rtport (now limost two )'Urs old) SHnlS Il'IO« pressi"llthin ever:
JUNE 20, 1989
FINII Report of the AI.tNlm••••te . .,.. T ••k Force on the Possible Restructuring of the Appell.te Courts This task force was formtd by appoint· ment of President Clry Huckaby upon his wsuming offic. in July ]958. Sub· oommillul of the task force met with ill 01 the Apprlbtt Jud.tIts of the Statt Ii AboIwnI. $OIi(iti", lUj/gQtiorl$ - ' gen. tnl input. In addition, the task force has rMwed prrvious nportS - ' 1«ommenlktions, including thOK 01 the Ibrris CommiUion, the Thomas B. Marwll RtpOTI of December 19.'!5, prtpartd jointly by tht Appellatt Justice ~nter Ind the Institutt Ii Judicial Administralion, and the 1973 ""port on the ~I latt PrIXeli in Alabama prepared by
[}avid Halperin of the National Ctntu for Slatt Courts. The task force is particularly iPIlr«~tiw of tht wsisla1'lct rtceivtd from Chid Justic~ E.C. "Sonny" Homsb)l.lormtr Chid Juslice C.C. "80" TOfbtrt. Associitt Justice H~ ~ {who Ittendtd ou r linWlry mteli"ll), Auo!;i;!le Justi(C Soom 'klltty (...'ho ;s II membu of the \/Ilk fo retl. J udge WiIIi;!m Bowm oIlI>e Court of Criminal Appe~1s {who is I rnembtr of the task forcel, Judge Sam TlIytor lithe Coort of Crimi.u.1 Appeils (who allendt<l 0'" of the meetings of the task force). Associ· ate Justict Willis B. Hunt 0( the ~rgia Supremt Court (who atttndtd the Jan· WIry task forte metti"lll. and ~II 0( tht other Awelbte JU<ign of the slate who contributed to the info11fllltion-gather. iog procCSL The task (cm:e is convinctd thlt I cril· ial n«d WIll for ;mmediJ.tr ,",rue· luring of AlatNomi'l appellatt cou rt •. The probltm il particubrly acutt with lI>e wortload preKfltiy thnu;t upon tht members of the Alabama Su preme Coort, who Irt now calltd upon to handlt tllS~lOlds mort than 125 perctnt lboV1i that r«ommcndtd by appellate court cxperU. 14 Justict Hunt slatrd in rrviewing rectnt chinges in the ~rgia Appellate Courtlystem, appellate judges should be mort thin just i paper·grader for law d crils, In addition to the prQfnliy inc"":asi"ll CUI:~ of the Sup«me Coort.IIRy necessiTY chlnlts should be made now in order 10 allow for PfOPI'r utili:rootion 01 the new AIabI"", Judiciil Building for which plans Ire currmliy king dr.rwn. The task (ora his divided its T«O/ll. mendationl inlo \W(IlrellS, thOK per· laini"llto the Supreme Coort and thoM; presently pertaining to the intermediate appellat~ tourts. ((;q"ti",lfti on page 7'9)
March 1991 / 77
• l\l·E·M·O·R·I·A·L·S·
RONALD A. D RU MMO:>lD
Reso lut io n of J lchon Co unty &r Anoci;!.tion Wh ....t<U. lhoe Honorable Ronald A. Drummond de~rttd Ihi5 life on lht Z2nd day of July 1990. &nd I~ ITIfm· btu of this uwdalion wish to ac· knowledge tilt many and muningflll contributions he has ITI3dt to the legal profession and \0 con~ 10 his famil~ ou r dnp sympathy; and
Whenoas, it js fott ing on the occasion of Ihis SIlK" ! meeting of this associatiOll to note the (ol1ow;ng in his lift : Tirol he Wi'S born in Wi11ker County. Alabama, on Stpttrnhtr 28. 1945. and
laler ITIO\>ed \0 ScOIl5OO.o. whue he graduated from lIigh Khool in 1963: Thai he earned his ~hdor of altS <iqI1'tt from ~ UnMnily of AIabarna. in 1967: T'/'wl lit ...-as marTit<! \0 the farmor
gtlltrlli pTlKlice of~. including tIw: Irial \>Ir. until his dtath. ~ ptriod of OVe r 18 yean of KNice to Ihe legal profession; Thai. during hil tenure in our rankl. he se rvt d aJ prnident of Ihis a5$()Cialion. whi le maintai ning an ac· I".. role aJ a member of the State of Alabama and American Bar Associa· tions: and ThiJI h. Itrved from 1987 until hi. death as judge of the City of Scotts· boro Nunicl~1 Court; Thol hi! actiw ~rtki~tion "'... not confined to the legal ~rofusion. but ntended to hi. church. whue he Itl\.. d lOS a member of Ihe ~rd of lrust_ of the Firsl Unitw Methodi!t Chur(h of 5<:otUboro. to the Kiwanis Club. where he K~ as its pruident, to the chambu of commerce. where he .. rvtd as vice· president. and to the Jac kson Counly Hurt Allociat ion . which h. Krvtd as president; and Thai his life was marked by his de· votion to his church. his rami~ and to this profusion. John F. 1'r1rIn; 11/ Ui:irIg5lor1, Porler & Paulk. Pc. Scollsboro. AJabtlmo 1'mkkn1. .I«ksqn CctmIJl Bar AJsorialion
RebtcCll 8arclay. and 1'010 child ren .' :-ere bom of tlul ma.dille. Will and Clai re, all afwhom WMV\' him; Thai he att ended lnd gr. duated
from the Cumberland School of Law of Samford Univuslly. receiving hi. law
degree in 1972, cum laude. having .. ~ iLl a law ,tudent on tht board of editors of the Cumberlami·Samf(mi ll1w Ro!I·w. ;md having publishttl in thai law rtVitw: Thai he th"tafter ."ved ~5 law derlc to the late Justice JMr1t:5 Blood· worth of 1M Supreme Court of Alaba·
=Thai he rttumW first to Jasptr. AI·
abama. and then to this community to begin the private pratt ice of law. where he was actiVl!ly engaged in lhe
78 / March 1991
WALTER FREDERICK E IGENBROD
Rn oluUo n of Huntsville·MadiIOn County Bar Au ociation tl·hereD•. \'IalltT Frederick Eigen· brOIl departed this life in Huntsville. Alabama. on the 8th day of November 1990; and
~ for -l3 )'tars ht ",as apr.><· tieing attorney and member of this as· socialion and .. rvtd aJ iu president in
1963: and LI'heroos. he was awarded a bachelor of arts degrn from Louisiana Sta te Unh .. rsity in 1935 and a Juris Doctor from Tulane Unil'ersity in 194 1 and K!'\Oed in Ihe United Slalu Army Air Co rp, from 1941 th rough 1945 and was dischargw with the rank of major;
"'"
\I'hervas, in 1!H)2 Iv was appOinled by Pruident John r. Kennedy as a member oilht I'midmlial Emergmcy /kIard No. l-t11 to ifl\'tShgilte I dispute ~tween New York Central Railway Company System ~nd Ihe Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad Company; and It'!!;,roo•. in 1967 he was apjlOintw by I'midenl Lyndon B. Johnson as an advilo r 10 lht Fifl h S... ion of th~ Trade and Dewtopment Board of the United Nalion. Confe rence of Trade and Otvelopmtnt at Gent"a. Swiller· land: and Whe,""f. he wu a memlvr of Iht Amrrican Arbitration Association rol· untlt')' I..lbor Arnitrlltion Panel.tht Arbitration P~ntl of Federal Mediation and Concil"'tion Strviu. the National Ac.dtmy of Arbitrators and Iht Ameri· can and Alahama State Bar AslOCi~· tions; and Il htTeas. he has Krvtd his commu· nity as chai rpe rson of the Madison Counly March of Oime.. president of the Ttnnel5ee Valley Chapter of Ass0ciation of U.S. Army. vice·commander of the Huntsville 1'011 American ugion. president of the Kiwanis Club of Huntsville. a member of the /kIard of A\NisoT5 of the Little Thealer. presi. dent of tht o\bI.!iIon County ~rru_ losis Anociahon. a member of Ihe Huntsvill.·Nadison County Railroad Authority; and a member of the Alaba· ma Stat. ~mocrlltic Euruti\lt Com· mitttt. John W. C"Dm. 11/ Presidenl. Nunl$l.·iI/e·Madiwn CaunlJl80r Asrocial ion
Tin; ALAWiA LAI'NER
Recommend.tlons with R.speet to the Alebama Supreme Court I. Jurisdiction 01 the Sup«1N Court shoukl be limited to CCftio<;ori jurisdic· tion. Iiowrwr. direct appall should be Olllowtd U pl'Ul:nlly pn:widtd by sttlute in utility rate CUtl ind lawytr disci· plinary maUtn. further. ipptals should be illO'lWd u a maner 01 right from the Court of Criminal Appnis with respect to caKS for which the death penalty Iw been impostd . further. the tal k force would considtr prOVisions for other di. rect appeals or appe"l. u .. mattu of righl whtrt slICh action is now Sptcially iuthoriud by sblUte. 2. The Supreme Coorlshould ha~ "ruch down" authority. Such ruth down authority should be limited to matters raiKd on the Supreme Court's own motion. 3. Ctrtifoation of particular apprais or questions. such u constitutional issue. of first impre$.lion. should be available 10 the inttrmtdiatt appellate courts. 4. The membership 1)1 the Supreme Cou rt should be reduced from nine to
~n
5. The Supreme Court should sil u iIIl justias, Iltrition. en baroc court.bywith 00 p.l.Mls I)r divi·
.....
Intermedl.t. Courts of Appe.ls I. The prtftnt dilliroction betwHn !he 01 Criminal Appr.ais and the Alibima Cl)urt of Civil Appeal. should be maintaiMd. 2. In view of the greally e ~panded workload that will rt.ull from the above rK<lmmended ~hangu 01 the Supreme Court. the taslc force recommernh that tilt members oI lhe Court I)f Civil Appeal, be irocrf--.l from three to IWtM judges. with thrH 10 be appointtd for tWOo)OUr temu. three elected fl), four· yur terms ........ three electtd /or s;':·year
ALlb;r,ma Court
"= 3. Out 10 the probable Med (1)' still additiotvl judges in tilt fulure I)n tilt Coort 01 Civil Appuls and Iiso the Coort of Criminal Appeals. the task fIlrce rec· ommends lhal a Sp«ial rommis.sion I)r possibly an existing QrouP. such all the Judicial Study Commi$.lion $e$.lion, be
THE AlABAMA LAWYER
directed to pl'OYide perilldic recommen· dations is may be iPllrop.iate with reo spert III the number of judges on both ~
...
4. Juo:iiciall*"l'is should be iUthoriud in onlo:r tNt eitlwr 01 the intermediate court oIappeil, could sit in ""nelol)f thrH I)r more judges as may be neees· Nory. Howt'Vtr. all CIlUrts lind paM]S I)f Cl)u rl. ,hould avoid geog' "phic divi· sions. and I~ should be available for en ban<: ht~rinJi$1.I may be ~ppropriate. S. The inlenllfdiate Courts of Appeals should Il3w the authority to decline is· suing written opinions, I I they may dum aPllropriate. 6, Other INn the above. no cll3nges are recl)mmended with rts~C1 tl) the Court 01 Criminal Appe~b.'
5Iilutional chinges should be pre· dured with the U.s. Dtp;lrtmrnt of Justia • •. The LIoSI! lor« voluntHn iIIld rec· ommends ~ it .-rnWn "va.ilabll: to sis! in the impltmtnWion 01 these rec· I)mmend.ation,. Specifically. the tuk (1)ra: rewmmends that any changes in lhese recommendllHon, dumed necessary Or ippropriate be made ... KIOrl iSS po$.lible by the Bo.lrd 1)1 Ru Commit· sioners rather than referrinQ these rec· I)mmendatil)nI to any othe r Or lurther commiltH. commis.sil)n I)r task foret'. In coroclusion. the tuk Il)rce rtcOm· mends the oonsideration and implemen· tation of Ihelt recommendations ... i highest priority of the Alabama Stale
*'
._Bar.
•
_ _ ....... _ _ _ «>un
Implement.tlon
_ _ '!iIII .. , _ .... -.. ,_
01 Blr Commi$.liontrs. the Chid JU5tiet' of the Alabama Supreme Court iIIld the Office of Courts should be iSSktd to supeovise the drafting of leg· islat"", necemry to implement the rec. ommtndtd recommendlltionl-
Admin i51riti~
..
110_...- .. ........ ....--_
I. All recommended clwlges should bewmt eff«liw in JiIIluary 1991. 2. Upon app""",1 of the ~ma Board
,-
......,_.....,_~_V2
m
~
3
.. '.... _n. <_, _ ..'•.., "..,. "" "'..
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Tho ...........
r-;;~3:.~""~:''''''==~d:':":'":":'=,"",~:':':~===~~~~~~~~~~~~ ·l\1·E·l\1·0·R·I·A·L·S· WlWA.'I HENRY AAMBRECHT. JR. Mobile
Fu:ttIlER LoRD /I'f'1l' Brocktoo
Admit/ed: 1932 Died: February 2, 1991
Admit/ed: 1923 Died: July 16, 1990
ALBERT HARVEY CAsEY. J R.
BAI.PltA LoNNIE NOO)IN. JR.
Birminflhum Admit/ed: 1987 Dkd: NoYtmber 20. 1990
Admilled: 1942 Died: June 26. 1990
low; M.\.'1SI NG HICCL'IS
f.1ElLA CUJlE RODGERS
Cl(11ltoo Admitted: 1967 Died: August 4. 1990
Admitted: 1980 IMd: I>fct'mbtr 30. 1990
"""'... D.",,~
(>l rT(:IlEU.. JENKINS JACKSON Moo/(IIlme>'JI
CHARLES Aucusrus SU(l.lNS
Admilled: 1928 Dkd: february l. 1991
Admilled: 1963 Died: January 7.199\
lIuf1/sl'ille
March 1991 / 79
OPINIONS OF THE GENERAL COUNSEL By ALEX W. JACKSON-
MARKETING LEGAL SERVICES IN THE '90S: Good Taste and Professional Ethics Take on the First Amendment
II JI
uring a menl television sp(dal Roseanne Barr joked
•
about lawyer advutising, d.picting d ient "testimoniaL!" loS meaningless and ripe for mispre.entation. Using visual imagts inappropri·
that uisted under the former Alabama Code of Professional Responsibilit!l. The Rules speak. in most instances interof "advertising'" and "com· municat ion about the lawye r or the laWyer's seNices'. maintaining. for ex·
chan~ilbly.
ate to this artide. Ms. Ba" pointed out that, without all the fact>. it is impoMibit to detennine whether a given settlement figure is adequate, or appropriate.
de.!>il. the apl'lrent $alii/action of the client giving the te,timonial. or the
truth of the client's .tatement. While the wurce or these observations ffiaJ' be .u rprising. they nonetheless demonstrate the delicate balance that ""i.\3 be· ""~en constitutionally guarantud fTff110m of speech and bar authority to) regulat. the form and content of public communic ations regarding an altorney's service•. Some guidance in this area Iwi come from the Unittd Stales Supreme Court. but many markeling concepts have }"el to be ooruidered by thaI Court. As a result state regulatory agencie •• like the Alabama State Bar. haw: had to engage in the uncomfortable business of predkting how the Court might view Ctrtain ma rk eting (L e .• advertising) scherotS. The bar has do"",,, this in th~ ways. the first by formal rule. the nut by formal opinion. interpreting the actual Rul •• of Prok.siOf\llI Conduct, and finally by informal opinion, interprding, for guidance purposes. all SOu rCe. of authorit}·. and seasoning lhat inlerpretation with (it is ho~d) practka l common sense. The "Black utter" rulH on advertising are found in Ruin 7.1 through 7.7 of the Alabama Rules of Professional Conduct. These Rules were adopted in 1990. wilh an effective date of January I, 1991. but they continue in most rupects the regulatory scheme
80 I March 1991
A lawyer awakening from a 1S-year coma would, after a day or two of exposure to current electronic and print media, opine that "anything goes" in regard to attorney advertising. ample. lhat the prohibition on "false and misleading statements" applies to both (Rules 7.1 and 7.2. see also the Comment to Rule 7.1). A la,,-)'er ;!Wakening from a 15')"ea' 0:0ma woold, after a day or two of ellf'OSU1"e to cu mmt oIeclronic and print media . opine that "anything goes" in 1"egard to attorney adoertising. True. much has changed and probably change will ron· tinue, but « rtlin threshold. will probably not be abrogated in the foreseeable future. It is unlikely that the ban on di· 1"ect personal solicitation of clients will be repealed. or even materially altered (Rule 7.3). It is also probable that live telephone solici tation will continue to be prohi bited conduct and. even though a small number of jurisdicitions now allow the operation of computer·
ized, recorded-menage telemar keting schemes, such scheme. al"e, and probably ",ill continue to be. not allQl','ed in AIlbama. Hundre<b of calls a }"e/lr al"e made by Alabama laWyer. to bar counsel to in· quire about permissible fonTl.l of advertising/communication. Some fonTl.l a1"e specifically apprO\'ed in Rule 7:2 (i). including telephone directories, legal di_ rectories. newspapers Or other periodicals. outdoor displays. radio. television, or written communication "not involving solicitation.' The latttr induM. direct mail targeted advertisement> Or Ittters. which. although permitted. must comply in all particulars with requirements attendant to other. more conventional. fonTl.l of communication. The DisciplinaT)' Commission. through formal ethics opinions. Iwi aWised that Alabama lawyers may sponsor little l.ague baseballlfams, may sponsor high school )'ear books. PTA handbooks and the like. and may be named Or recognized for this sponsorship. The line is crosw.t, however, when the lawyer or law f,rm attempts to oue this .-.:cognition for a commercial purpose and includes in the publication information about the lawye. beyond t}-pical "business card" in · formation (Le .. name, addren. phone number). such as arta of practice. When this mo1"e descriptive information is in· cluded the ·communication" btcomu an advertioement, and all of the ,..,Ievant rules appl y. Similar distinctions would apply on announcements regarding the formation or 1"elocation of a law practice such that, depending on the content, the announ« ment might, or might not, be an "adwrtisement." The content tut is not, howev....olely determinative on this question as the method, or context, of the presentation may al$O be sufficient THE ALABAMA Ll.WYER
to dc/1nt a communication as an " .r. lixmmL" For eumple. II firm rwn~ ~ tele . pIloow numbtr. without any other inlor· mlltion but preKnted in 20·foot ull eledric ligllts on the sidt of.l blimp ~r the Super Bowl would. no doubt. be coosidert<l-u an "a",.. rti~mtnt.' In limilar f-uhion. some definitional inferences are to be dra...." by 1M cootut of tht presentation such that a ~wyer list· ing himself under specified artls of practice in telephone diTKIory listinas that art fol'n\llltfll in wt f"",ion tw, thereby, "~rtiRd" and mwt comply with the advtrtising rults. Lawytrs u5t other forms of printed communication to "bring the mw.age" to the public. Among them. and gaining in pOpularity and respectabil ity. is the "finn brochure". which may be iIIl)'lhing from an in·houstc t~itten curriculum vitae to a proftMioniol1y product<!, mul\i-color $ld paprr "hutory and tN. 0IIraphf' 0I11Iw firm and its membtrL Thut brothuru are permiltt<! but ~ b«n defined. on the balis of conttnt. and perhaps inttnt. as ad""rtistmtnts. An<lthu oommon vehicle is tilt "public s.ervice" legal adviu column in a ntWI~per Or othtr periodical. In m<»t in· StllllCfS thue Irt r>OI comidered to be "aIMrtistmmts: but ilK mrthod of~· stntlltion and the dtgree and Nlture 01 informlltion about the respons ible IIIwyer ('an Ie.! to II diffe....,t <kt~rmiNl'
leading by ominion and that. in ~ny twnt. thty crelte unjustili~d ~clll' tions about the r"ulU II IilIrliculu llwytr can obtain. The United States !itJpreme Court II.u denied certiorari on I California CIISt wherein i IIW)'tr WII disciplined for usinll client endoue· ment$ltutimonial •• but to date th ... ~ betn no QPinlon$ on pOint to guide regulatory agencies which mwt. in 1M absence of authority. apply the gentnc principles of frcaud and mlueprtstntlltion in their most toeical ind rusonabIt fashion. Furthtr GiITlplcs of communicllion dumtd imptrmiuible under these standards are statements that I ~W)'tr is "the best" or "the IffiIIrltst" or "the toughnt: whereas the statement that a I""">,,,r is "v;peritr1<td· is. if t~. permitted. A lawyer ~ not c~im Wt he u certified II an "N FL Agent/Attor' MY: b«.iUH that certilicition ;s not m:oenizfll by the Matr..... Stale B;.r. but II Ia_r may Jbte, if trut. Wt ... is I "Certified Civil Trial AdYou.te" by the National 8o.ard of Trial Advocacy, cur· rently the only certifitltion group approved in this statt.
When rud togethe r then rulu part 01 the biosiI 01 the bar'1 Ionnal Opinion holding that AI· IIbarni lawyers ~ not tihically plrtici· ~te In .... rkttil\ll ventu.es such lithe PerSONI Injury Trial ~rl As.iocii' tion. Bankruptcy Attorneys Trust. DUIlOWl Ddenu Uague and the like [see Opinion RO·90-oI9(A) & (BH. Other INrlctiing !-Chernes. quui·leilolll Krvice p~ru. such II those offered by Amtrican EKpnn and Montgomery Wud. hlll't not, 10 date. b«n speciflCllJIy IIl1l1roved or d~ by the bar, but an cur· nntly being studitd to determine what thty lire. haw they Operate ar>d what de. llree of regulation of law)'tr pIIrtklplltion in them is necemry. if any at all. The bar does not seek to rellulate iY1)' of the companlu offering marktling pillns. whaUYtr they may be called. but raIMr Keks to adviK A~IN lawytrs ibout the ethica.l implic>tions of their plrtici· plllOn in such plam. Rult 7.2(c) prohibits lawyer plrticipiOOn in 'ior.proI'it" ~......,..r reftrral Krvicu; other rults Prohibit Jharinillegal feu with non·liwytrs (Comment. Rule 7.2; Rule 5.41. but
fonned II $UbsWltill
,....
Once a communication tw. by con· tent. contut or otherwise. become an advtrtistmtnt certain requirements apply. The fir$l.. alrudy mmtic.>nt<l. is that 1M advertisement not be filK Or milludir\i. Rule 7.1 further cites !Il«it'ic malters that ire, ptf s.e. falx or misIud· ing, including communiutions that contllin I milreprtKnUlion of fact or law. that crute in unjwtified upeClll· t ion IIbout the .nults the IlIwyer Cin achieve. that compllre the Q .... lity of the 1IIwye.·s seMCes with the q.... lity of oth· er liwytr's Krvicn or that communicate (directly or by implication) crrtiflClltion of the IIIwyer by I non·bar ~n;Md cu' ti~ organiution. [Rut. 7.1. (lIHdll. Fine rultlall. but ...-hat do thty mtIIT1 in lIlPiicationl To go back to Rosonne Barr's joke, dient testimonials Ire not illowtd in A1llwna on tilt premist that they. generally. omit facts and are mls·
THE AU.BAMA LAWYER
At Union Bank, Trust Is Our Middle Name. Offe ring Solid T rust Service Since 1901 1\otIn,. U.. I_
I ou.t t:.«UIM0I ....
'IIototn[."",.~""n t'l-"· 1
J_1i
•
Ho.d"".Jr~s.w ""nl'l.oid<.·T"""
• UNION BANK& TAUSTCOMPIIUIY MI CO MM ~IICE s1ltu:r / IoCONTGOMEII:'r'. AIAIIAIoCA I D-lfO-22I!6/ IoIEMEUlI FDIC
March 199 118 1
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82 1 March 1991
lawyt'ru re permitted to pay the "re.uonable cos"" of their own otherwise permissible adv.rtisements or wriUen communications. Once. lawyt'r has elected to "adverti.e" other regulationl .1'0 come into play. For exampl e. each advertisement mwt contain the di.ciaimer and the disclaimer mwt be "ctoarly legible or audible. " The disclaimer set emt in Rule 7.2(e) i. slightly changed from the former Code of Professional Responsibility disclaimer. al though a tr.nsition rule does provide some change OWr time for advertisements that commenced under the former language and continue undOl the new. Each ad\.. rtisement must contain the Mme of at least one lawyer respclI1.ible fo r it s content IRuie 7.2(d ). or the "desigMted target" rulel. even if a trade name is used. Trade names a re pe rmitted by Rule 7.5{al; more on them lat-
" A copy or recording of each advertisement mwt be delivered to the office of th e bar's gener.1 counsel within three dioys its first dis.semination. In addition. the lawyer rUpOnsible for the content must keep" copy for six (6) years. The lawyer is required to tell the bar who is publishing or broadcasting the advertisement and the contemplated duration of the advertisement. This is a filing and recordk.'ping rule, not . prescreening rule_ Receipt of the advertise· ment by the bar is not tantamount to approval of the same. unltss a specific reque,t has been made and acknowl edged. Rule 7.2(1) provides that if f.es are stated in the advertisement then the stated selVie.. musl be available at the stated rate for no lell than si xly (60) days after the last date of broadcast or publication. Failure to comply consti tutes "prima facie ...,idence of misleading advertising and deceplive praclice •." Lawyt'rs may state that they 00. or do not. practice in an area of the law. but they may not state Or imply. in SO dOing. that they specialize or are e ~pert in any areas of practic~. Lawy~rs .dmilted to practice before the U.S . Pat~llt and Trademark Office may .., .p~cify and lawyers engaged in Admiralty Puctice may so designate. The Rules. as men tioned. also specify that certain certificatinns granted b)' out.ide (i.e.. non-bar) organizations may be included in other-
an..
wis~ permissible advertisements. A re view and approval process is set forth in Rule 7.7 wher.b)' .uch outside organiza tions may grant certification to Alabama lawyers and those la"'Ytrs may advertise that certification. Ve'l' few lawyers have taken advantage of this opportunity. and only one ce rtifying organization ha5
b«n approve<.!. For SOme time trade names ha'" been permitted in Alabama. provided thai they are not misleading and do not im ply a conn ~ction with a go-ernm ent ~ncy or with a public or charitable organization. In a reefnt formal opinion on trade name usage IRO-90-loo). the Disciplinary Commission conSidered the developin g trend of lawyers and law firm!; that sekct and use alphabeti cally advantageous Irade names to ob· tain lead-off directory listings (wh ..e such listings are alphabetical). and fail to WI' that trade nam~ in any other context. The Commission held such practices to be in violation of the Rules and determiMd that a trade name. once adopted and used in any permissive public COmmunication .• hould be Wl'd consistently in all public communication. (including advertisements). Thus. John Doe may not use the IrlIde Mme "AAA ugal Clin_ ic' to gain an advantag_ous telephone directo'l' listing and then abandon that nam_ in all of his other public COmmunications_ In addition. of course. the use of a Irade name d"",. not abrogate the requirement that the name of a lawyer be used , meaning that any advertisement for "AAA uga] Clinic" must also contain language similar to "The Low Office of John Doe" Or "John Doe. Attorney." Once this joinder has been tffected it must be continual and consistent. With th phenomenal growth in lawyer ad\-erti,ing in the last few y<>ars many new marketingfadvertising concepts have been developed . Closely related to th~ "legal semu" plans previously mentioned are pt"O\!ralllS whereb)' in.titutional clients. such .. banks and credit un ions. advertise as additional Services a"ailable for their customers/members certain standard legal selVius such as "will review. " Some of thue programs. rendering . .. tvie .. with non lawyer personnel. are prohibited .. the unauthorized practice of law; others. which rely on cOrpOrlIli: in-houSl' coun-
THEALABAMA LAWYER
sd, may allo be proll ibi ted b~ rul .. whiel'! prevent Iht "rICtie! of law by 1IQfl·ltp] o;orpomtions [Rule 5.4. Rules 5.5(l)lI on a .imillo. ~i$. Still othus. which rtty on RrvKu pn:wilkd by 00\' side (but cloKly affililottd) ~I may bt ptrmWiblt. but subject to bar regu. lation in I numbtr of UUJ. including ~rtis.illll. It is niomlltic thlot a I.Iwyt.
Prrparr simplr Or romp/a ..;Us in min~t~1 ,,;,11 AI..,.,.,...,s' C""""'I~r Nn·
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may not do thrwah llhinl party or tn· tity thlot which lit himself is prohibited from doing IRuie 8.4(1)). Insofar as advntisinQ done by non· lawyers, or enti t ies. whiCh benefits a particular lawyer or lawyers. application nf t his prineiplll would impost upon t hlt benefited lawyer or lawytrJ Iht obIiption to ffilUiu thit the il<MrtiooIJ"Cn\ or <;Ommunitilion in qutSlion be in full conformity with bar adwrtising
rults. r or tump1t, a ll~ r """Y not btnerot (rom. or bt party 10. third-party l<ivfl1iRmmtJ thllt 1001 ap(rtiK (i.e ..
"AI • 'Tn wrvice to our customers ...~ willl>f(Widt I will rtvitw by John Dox. Altomf)'. I "",,1I·known fll.llo planning
upert'j. Indeed, laWyer ]lIIrlicipation in such prognnlS, even when properly ad·
probl~matical.
... rt ised.toismany othe r dhial at and best.pnc· and subiect tial considentions.. It ill ccrUin Imt be/om thilllrticle is published new innovative m/lrketing
prognnlS will be dtwloptd and O«ernl to AWlllmil 1Iwytrs.. Pn.ctitiontrs intualtd in ~rtici~ting in iUdl prognms should i;Iortiully COIIlidtr the ptrmislivt ethical boundariU thai uist . being awart lhit lhe righl 10 t()ITUnfTC",1 ff« speech il nOI absolule. Tht Alabama S\i.t~ B;or his madf II good fiith effort Q\'l' r the put Hve,,1 ~l" to keep up wilh dtveloprmnts in thil lrea b)' coor· dinaling the work of the Nr legal staff with Ihree active Nr committ.'5. Ih. Lawyer Advtrti,ing lind Solicitat ion Committee. lhe Prf~id upl Strvicn Committee lind Ih. Pfrmlln.nl Coo. Commiuion. Whfn in doubt about i propos.ed COUnt of conduct. early ron· tact with the bar an be htlpful ir>d in· formatiVl'. AaVl'rtiling is here 10 ILly. but tVen • ribliid comedifnne knows 1m! "not everything goa.." •
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• ]«bon __ in prilX1le pmclia in Monlgomerv, bul strved <u =islanl general counsellor lhe Alobama Siole Bar lor I .... tmd hollveors.
°
THE ALABAMA LAWYER
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Don't Risk A Valuation Penalty. Introduce Your Clients to Business Valuation Services. H. Davi$ il!, PhD. MA l. SRPA. ASA. president oIBusincss Valuation Services Inc., is the only despu:d ASA Business Val· ualion approiser in Alabama. Business Valu.1tion Servicesprovides consultation \,f the hour, appraisal R'p()T1:I and expert testimony in ca.ses 01: John
o Estate planning o Estate settlement o Marital dislolutions o Recapitalizations o Employee SlOe\,: ""Tler$hip
o Bankruptcy pmo;e«!ings o MClgmoracquisitlons D Buy-sell~ o Oi5iSidem $lOCkhoider wits
pl'M COntact John H. Dav is 111. PhD. MAl. SRPA, ASA 4 Officc ParI: Circle . Suite 305 • Binningham_ Alabama 35223 P.O. Box 530733 • Bi nningha m. A labama 35253 (205) 8'X)·1026 Much 1991 f l!3
BUILDING ALABAMA'S COURTHOUSES BESSEMER COURTHOUSE By SAMUEL A. RUMORE, JR.
The fol/owing c()tIIiT/at. tl his/'''II of Alabamo', coun/II courthouse.Iheir origins and some of the people who conlributed 10 their growlh. AI.IJ. m. L."" er p/(ms 10 run one countJl' slory in each issue of IIu! mag. ozine. 1f!JOU ha/lf! =11 photographs of
rio_
ear/v or present cou rthouses. please fortJ:or(/ them II): Samuel A. Rumore, J~ . M igiiDnico & Rumor<!. 1230 Brown
Marx Tower, Birmingham. Alaboma 3S2W
I ;II
H,"" D,B"d,I,b," ;,
remembered as one of the
I'rtmi~r indU$tri~li$ts ~nd
.nt repr~n. ur. in Alabama. He grew up as a ward in the home of Daniel Pran. who had made Pranvil1e in Autauga Count~ the manufacturing center of Alabama prior to the Civil War. Aft •• th~ war, Pratt ""JI1Inded hi5 inte ..sls to railroads. mining and reat estate in Jefferson County. OeBardeleNn lTIIIrried Pratt's daughter and W35 his heir when Pratt died in 1873. DeBardeleben had a dream of building ~ new industrial city from lhe bottom up using the mineral resouren of north Alabama. He hoped that the new town would become a 5teel ~nter and wanted it to have a name related to steelmaking. DeBardeleben prop05ed the name "BeS5<'mer" in honor of Sir Hen!), Besse· mer. an Englishman who had invented the "BeS5<'m.. Pro«ss" of steelmaking, On July 28. 1886. h. helpotd nTganizt the Jl.eS5<'mer Land Company. On April 12. 1887. the Land Company $Old the first lot. in the town of Be...,mer. Besseme r w35 located approximately 13 miles south~st of Birmingham, its older rival in Jefferson County. The new industrial city prospered as investors,
84 1March 1991
capitalists and speculators flocked ther •. By 1390 Bessemer W35 the eighth largest city in Alabama. Even today it is often ca\l«l the "Marvel City." similar to Birmingham's nickname of the "Magic City." The first court h.ld in Be$Umer took place in June 1887 before justice of the peace R.M. McAdory. As early as 1888, the optimism o"er the future of Jl.e$Umer prompted many leaders to seek the ereatinn nf a new county whe .. Jl.e55<'me. would be the county stat and haw ill nwn circuit court. An editnrial in the Bessemer Journal of December 20, 1888, called for the creation of a Be55<'mer County. The editorial al50 warned against the .. Ifish opposfton to this proposal from that other industrial tnwn to the east, Birmingham. By 1891. the Bessemer Journal re o wrsed its editorial policy for a more im· mediate and attainable approach. In an editorial dated December 31. 1891. and
entitled "Drop the New County Subject", the paper pointed out thaI what BeIM' mer rtally ne. ded was a local C()urt be}'<lnd the justice of the peace court. On January 21, ]893, the Alabama Legislature created the Bessemer Divi· sinn of the Jef/trwn County Circuit Coort. The citizens of Be55<'mer had felt "cut ofF from the rest of the cnunty. In respon .. , the new law required that a circuit judge from 8i rmingham, the county seat, WQuld actually hold cnurt on a regular b<lsis in Ile.... mer. Th i. 1aw created what is known today as the Bessemer Cut-off. because it described a sp(cifie terri to!), and e~duded the au· thority of the circuit cnurt in Birming. ham from thi' "cut-<>ff' arta. The circuit court was held in Bessemtr June 5. 1893. on what was called the "Charleston Block." Court was later held at Rebie Hall on the site of the pre.. nt~ Real. ty Building.
TIlE ALABA."1A LAWYER
The cksire for a separate county ~r twlly disappurw. By Nowmber 1900. .. tity .. Idermlln uollfll for l. ruolution by the tity council endorsing .. bill in t ile Ltgisl .. turt IlIlt would c rn te .. BnMlMr County. Anoilltr n,,1M llut WH suuutfli for tilt nfW entity was Pettus Count)' in IIonor of Edmund W. rellus of Selml. who WlI5 .. l.o""Y"r, Civil War gtm.ral and United Slates Senator. The next mileslone in tile Btueme r story took pllce February 28. 1901. The Ltgislature pUStd " bill abolishing tht Bessemer Division of th e Joffuson County Ci rcuit Court. In place of the old system, the new law crelted" DuselMr Cit)' Court. Thil court ~ limil.or lerri· torill jurisdiction ow r tilt Cut...,/f are:a. On M"y 18. 190 1. the 8eJsemer Wed/it slaled Ihlt .. new county wu still ~. If Clntfd-, it would be 13111 in popul.o.tion in A\.o.baIN. Ind ......,nth in !nible I.o.nd 'II1ues.. The paper furthr r editorilliud on the subject is follows: · With Bessemer tilt shin town of its own coonly, ill t .... nsLotion into a thoroughly independent. !.tlf.reliant ...dfgowmed municipality. with its courts 01 records, its public buildings and institu · tions. tht rUidtnce 01 county officials. the stlt 01 a county's official bus;n .... , would be immediate lOI1d notable. 'hlut:s would in COnJfQuence appnciate ind bewmf more -"'bIt; confidence would inftc t and inspi re .wry titi.en ilnd uoose tilt st rongtsl lonl pr ide ilnd BnMIMT ilbroad would command the Ittention lInd inte rest tlut she ne"" r an ",""ile subitct to the civil iInd politi· C.l1 domination oIl1tr silter city, Binn· ingham." The 8tssw1er 1i0rl0m0n. in an editorial date d May 23, 1901. e loquently pleaded tht po.!ition for a n ..... Btsumer
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--~ TIlE ALABAMA u\WYER
County to the 1901 Constitutional Con· venlion deleptn. Tht . ivllry btt"un 8inningllim lJ'Id Bustmtr wu clurly illustrated in the following: "Jeffu son County has long ago ceased to I\a"" a 8Qvtm rmnt rep«:· sentat;ve of her people. Birmi ng. lum IJ ~rful enougllto diclate ils politici and ill policits. The county is great only to tilt uttnt tlut it may Idd to Birmingham·s gn"lntlL The tu ptlltrfr brings the fundi to Binn;ng!wn from all partJ of tilt county .nd then it iI dilburvd as best $oUib tho intntlts 01 the uo~ilal city. In the mltter of distributing tile money for public rO/lds and bridges during the past ten ytars. the discriminati on agIIinst tht llessemer Dist rict would
ilmOUnt to thouwlds of dollars. The law all a\on£ lias been that the road monty .hould be spent in tilt district from wllicll it .... as collected, but this dillrict until quite rece ntly has betn Impotent to enforce the observance of llle law and steure thei r righu. " Tile people of the proposed Btt.stmcr COunty "'~t nothing but t llat wlli ch lhy are tntitled to. Ttlt)' are askin,g lor home rule iInd Ire aI!Ie Ind willin,g to ~ fur it to the utent of taking upon them.. I...,s a just proportion of the indebtednu. of tht counties from which it II formed. "Btsseme r County is • necIWity. its establ ishment a righi, and the delegates to tilt Constitutional Con· ""ntion wIll. Wi: are mO.lt positive. favor the Just demands of a people lP!'fillinQ only for the right of local stlf·government" Despite the dforu of IkSKm... tht greater inOllfnct 01 Binnin&ham can be >ton in tht rUlrictions placed on Ihe formation 01 new -.ntiu by the AIaboo· IN Constitution of 1901. The Conotitu. lion effectively blockfd the cnation of a now county «nlered "t Ba.stlMr. Arti· cle II. S«lion 39 pr<Mdtd that no now count)' could be formed oflw than 600 square miles, and no uist ing county could be redlJ(ed to less than 600 squan milts. Sinet Jefferson County has 1,115 Marcil 1991 185
square mi les, the creation of a new county would require a shifting of terri · tory from one or more ot~r counties in order to reach the nectssary minimum area and still leave 600 S<luare miles in· Iact. No neighboring county would vol ·
untarily give up ils territory so this reo quirement offectively rna<k the creation of a new county impOS>ible. Further, Article II, Section 40 provid · ed that no county line should be alte .. d Or changed, Or in the ewnt of t~ ere·
ation of new counti.., should be established SO as to run within sewn miles of the county courthouse of any existing county. This wquld mean that t~ eastern boundary of lkuemer County could not be closer than seven miles from t~ Bi rmingham Courlhouse. The Cut ·off line would have to be moved farthe r we.t, thus making it mOre difficult to reach the minimum thresMld or area. Various amendmenls were proposed (Ntr the~ .. to assi.t in creating a new county. One proposal was to .. duce to 400 square milts the minimum area necessary for a county. Proponenls ar· gued that a small portion of Walker and Tuscaloosa counties cou ld be joined with western Jdferson Counly to form the new county. This would still have left Jefferson County as the state's most populous, On Nove mber), 1908, an amendment to the Alabama Constitution deali ng with this issue was consid· ered by the voters of Alabama. It was~· feated, In 1915,llessemer's Rep ..sentative in the state Ltgislatu.. , William S Welch, authored t~ legil;lation that created the
The Alabama State Bar - Sponsored Insurance Programs
•
• •
FAM tLY T ER.\I Llfly. features benefits for both eligible members, spouses, children and employees , MAJOR M W ICAL INSURANCE provides benefits for both eligible indi viduals and fmns of3 or more up to$I,OOO,OOO,
HOSI'ITAL L''OFA\INITV pays daily benefits up to 500 days with a max imum of $200 per day. Acceptance G uaranteed to eligible members under age 60 who are either working or anending school full -time,
•
MEDICA RE SUPPU;~II::.'T helps pay bills Medicare covers only paniall y; also some bills Medicare doesn 't pay at all.
•
D(SMIlL ITY L" co.\I £ features " Your Own Specialty" definition of disability.
•
OFFICI;; Q VE RlIt:A D EXPI::."SE reimburses your eligible business expenses, Benefit levels to $10,000 per month available to eligible members underage60 w hoareengaged in full·time practice and noton fu ll·timeduty with any of the anned forces.
I---- - --------------------(~~~ij---------I
I For additional information contact
I Ins urance Specialists , In c. I Su ite 135
. R03 d I 2970 Bran dYWlne I Atlanta, Georgia 30341 I [·404-458·8801 I [·800·241·7753 Toll Free Number I ,·800-458-7246 Fax Number I (Repre!ll:ntatives located statewide)
L
ALABAMA STATE BAR P1eo .. _
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THEALABAMA IJIWYER
prUl'nt BeUtmn CuH~ff. lind finlily put tM issut of l ntw county to rHt. The ~rrcr DivWon 01 tho! Trnth Judie...1 CifOlit would hall! illl 010'11 j . "in ruillrna: Tht Legislatuu lbo IUthoriud th~ C<:In5truction of I courthou~ whuewr circuit wurt Was held, mtaning that Be$o.tm~. W<Juld get iu own courthowe as ~II. Hinningham uchitect Harry B. Whtelock Iltsigned the first offic"'llluserrcr Courlhouo.t. Out to World Wu I. bids wert not Wlm on tho! pr(lj«l until Junt 1919_ Smlllmln·H Construction Comparl)' Hrw<l as ric. ~~r;aJ contrxtor for tht projtc\. The tOlll cost for tht thrtt-story structurt ....as approxilnlttly $175.000. Tht building ....as !'tally for occupancy in October 1920. Tht Act of 1915. which sn up tht BeSH~' Division. has betn lOmendtd by Iocat xU ow. the yurs. Modill(.l . lions of the Cut.off ttrritlM)l ~ .. pustd in 1919. 1935 lII1d 1943.. A lint of ClIHI Iw tvOI\I!d eM' the ynrs conctrninl 1M rdlliorWlip of the Binninghlm lJId IItsHmer divi sions. IlaskaUy. the BtSH' mer Diyision has exclusive "territorial jurisdiction" <Mr any actions arising In illl duc.il><d Uta. As urly lIS 1938 pi""" _n made 10 enlarge tho! IItsHmer Courthouse. How· ever. fundina WllS unavailablt since tilt Fede-nol Works I'rtIguss AdministrlOtion hId tnded, Thtn World WIT II inte r. WMd. and 1M rourthowo addition wu again delayed until 1948. Archi tect Chulti McCllulty of Birmingham dt· si8ntd the three·story annex and Brice Building Compiny wu awarded th e contract that was complettd in the sprina: 01 ]949. ]n 19sa a plan wu proposed for tilt City of BeSHmer to buy tht Besstmt. CourtilouH building lII1d ~mtr City Hall would then I>< rutd for tilt C<:Instruction oIa now rourtilouH. This plln .... as krappi'd aft .. il ...... leamtd thlot .. new courthouse would cost 52·3 million dollaTJ whitt renovation of tht old courthoust would only cost about
$600.000. In 1967.lOnothtr .enovation wu
nmkd ~ 10 lack of space as Mdtnml by the loc:ltion 011 Iltputy ~ritrl 01·
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fiee: in tht 8tunne. CourthouH men',
CITT, STAn, 11f'
room. This rtn(M.lion ....... completed in
CKKK ZIICI,DsaD,
1970.
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....... planned lnd it would be built with the hdp 01 fWtl1ll rtvm .... Ihlrinsl dol· IITI. Tht st~n'ltOTY ItructUrt, tht tJllut in Buumtr. consists of four poorlcing kvtls ind thrtt tloon 01 rourt· rooms itnd officu. 'IlIt lpprollima.te cost of the ntw tower w.u $6.5 million. The build ing was designed by Buddy Colson of Blondh.im. Williams &; Colson. 10(.• and tho! construction wu pl'rformtd by Robins CorporlOtion, This Btssemer Courthou~ "",,"x WM IItdiClled Sun.
ClU!DIT CoUll " UPIRATIOIOOATI ,
By ]976, I new wurt building annu March 1991 187
OPPORTUNITIES The (of/owing programs have been approved by the Alabama Mandatory Continuing Legal Education
Commission for CLE credit. For information regarding other available approoed programs, contact Diane Weldon, admin~tr(llive assistant for programs, al (205) 269-1515, and a complete CLE calendar wm be mailed to you. 21 THURSDAY BoUHIII')' Law In Alab ... Birmingham Natiooal Business Institute Creditl.' 6.0 Cost: $IOB
MARCH 15 FRIDAY
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Montgomery National Business Inslitute Crl!dils: 6.0 Cost: $108 (715) 835·8525 15-1.
Brlilite the C.p Birmingham Alabama Bar Institute for CLE Credits: 12.0 (205) 348·6230
(71S) 835·8525 22 FRIDAY
woder LlabllllJl Harbert Center. Birmingham Birmingham Bar Association Credits: 3.0 (205) 251·80(16 27 WEDM£SDAY Rule Dnoftln. o(Wllb .... Tnuol.l In A.laba_
Birmingham National Bminess institute Credits: 6.0 C(lSt: $\08 (715) 835·8525 28 THURSDAY
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....
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E.plo~enl
DIscrI..... tloo.
Westin Hotel. Dallas Southwestem Legal foundation Credits; 16.5 Cosl: SS95 (214) 690·23n
88 / March 1991
5 FRIDAY EnYlronaeatal Lill •• llo:a
Birmingham Alabama Bar Institute for CLI:: Credits: 6.5 (205) 348·623(1
..."in_e'
Settlemeot Tectonlqatf
Washington Court Hotel. Washington. DC Association of Trial Lawyen
of Amerita Credits: 9.5 Cost St25 (202) 965.3501)
9 TUESDAY Alhtanc:t ' Real Eltale La" In AI .......
Mobile Nalional Busin... Institute Credits; 6.0 Cost: SIOS (715) 835-8525 12 FRIDAY Em,iD]l1aenl La"
Birmingham Alabama Bar Institute for CI.E Crl!dits: 6.0 (205) 348-6230 12-13 Recru.t1_1 .... SpOrta laJ1Irk.
Stouffer Hotel. Dallas Association of Trial ~n of Amerita Crl!dits: ]2.0
Cost: S425
(202) 965-3500 19 FRIDAY Adalo.l. tratfft La"
Montgomery Alabama Bar Institute for e LE Credits: 6.0 (205) 348·6230 05-27 So:albu ttrtt Corpontt La" latlll1llt
Point Cita, Alabama Bar Institute for CLE Crl!dils: 12.0 (2115) 348·6230 ...27 RKA.tlona! an'
Sporta laJ"OO lloston Association ofTriai ~n of America Credits: 12.0 Cost: $425 (202) 965·3500
THE A1.I.BAMA LAWYER
ALABAMA STATE BAR HEALTH LAW SECTION
3 FRIDAY
Trytn, the COIII ... ercl.IIA ..... lt Birmingham Alabama Bar Institut. for eLE
..,.
Credits: 6.0 (205) 341).6230
Members of the Alabama Stale Bar have the opportUnity to becor'ne charter mem· bars In 1118 r.ewIy formed Health Law Sectioo. This S8C1ion's lICIivities w;U Include 1118 Icilowing : (a) Oevelcpm8f1t of a network 01 experierlOed anomeys to sham information
and ideas regarding SUlJetantive health law issoos;
hl. tit .. te on WiII • .aDd Probatt Westin Hotel. Dallas Southwestern Legal Foundation (2] 4) 690·2377
10 FRIDAY Advanced Ru .l £. t. 1t Birmingham Alabama Bar Institute for CLE
Credits: 6,0 (2051348·6230
(b) Presentation of a period'" newsl8ner dealing -Mth health care issoos; (e) Presentation of an annual seminar; (d) Re ........ of legistalive changes and oversight regarding iegisialfve issoos ; and (e) Informational mootings t<> addr&SS state or federal law changes af!9Cling heatth care practitioners. AtIorr>eys who mighf be interesllId in joirong the Alabama State Bar HeaI!I1 Law Section woold ba !hos& who have an inle<eSI In health cam issoos and who rep<eS8f1t hoaltt1 care facil~ies, health care providers, Industries involved in providing services 10 health care provil:Se<s or practitioners, and anomeys who represent the general publ", with mspeel 10 hea~h care ;ssues_The annual dues tor membership -Mil be $15. H you am interested In becoming a charte< member of this section, piease mad the attad1ed form to Keit~ B. Norman at P.O. Box 671 , Montoornery, Atabama 36101 by April 30, 199 1.
17_18
Ollie C.. -,~
Alabama Ba r Institute for eu: Credits: 6.0 (205) 348·6230 Ann ... l St lllin • • On the C ..lr Sande5tin Beach Resort , Destin Alabama Bar In5titute for CLE Credits: 6.0
(205) 348·6230 MAY 30 _ .JUNE 1 CI~.aDd Co .. n~ Ora~ Beach
Membership Application Information and Form
Covernmen t.
Alabama Boo. ln5titut. for CI,E Credils: 6,0 (205) 348·6230
----------------------------------------------. _------(Ched< one) o
t am Wlterestlld in joining the Health Law Section. Enclosod i. my c:hed< tor $ 15, made payat>le to tt1e Alat>ama State Bar Health Law Sadlon.
o I am Interested in additional inlormation regarding tt1e Health Law Sodion .
,-
Firm or Company Mailing address
'~ -:============================:;~========::
Stale _
ZtP
If you are joining the Health Law Section, please ...-.dose )'OUr ched<_ Please return th" form by April 30. 1991, to Ke~h B. Norman. O;rllClor of Programs, Alabama Slate Bar. P.O. eox 671 , MontgOrne<y, Alabama 36101 .
MAY 31-.JUNE 1
"talth lAw Pine Mountain , G«Irgia Alabama Boor Institute for CLE Credits: 6,O (205) 348·6230
POSITION AVAILABLE AppIicaIion. are CUrre<>1iy being so. lidtBd lor the posltion 01 diroctor of Legislal fve Reference s..rvk;es for t he Leg is latur e o! Alaba ma, Fo r more Informalion conl act Alabama Leg lstati ~ Council , c/o Sprtalmr Pro Tem, Ja mes M. Campbell, (205) 242-76&4.
THE ALABAMA LAWYER
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FREE PROOFS Free Samples
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1 - 800-768 -7696 FAX y our ord e r
1 - 800-768-1329 March 1991 189
VIDEO COURT REPORTING
VIDEOTAPING OF COURT PROCEEDINGS 8/1 ASSOCIATE JUSTICE HUGH MADDOX ast
)"Uf. 1M Supreme Court of A~ acIopud an Amen·
un Sir Anoc:lliion Time Stlndlfd for OiJpofiton of Appul$, wh ich Il,tes thu .n appul should be dispcmd of by In 'pptll'lt court within 280 diys ~t1' the notiCfc of appuI is A\tod. One Ii the tlI~ lor do· lly on ~ WH determined to be thot ITWl}' transcripti 0( the evidence. lor om reason Of ,nother. wert noI being filtd ..... ithin 56 dIoys itS providtd by the Ru lu 0( ApptllJte Procedure. In 1M early part of 1990. 1M Adminis-
trative Office of Cou rll determined to find oot how much deilY there was in tnnKript filing.; and the <..1._ of the do· loy. Sttling as its ob;ectiYt I determination oIlhe best court I'fI)Orting system for !!Tovidin"n iKCU'ile. Vtrbllim I'fCOf!.I 01 court prOCttdifli$ in I tilTll'ly mann.. as _ i a l l y as p(lS5ible, stall It AOC. und« the suptMsion ol 1bel· . . 8_11, dim:tor of court optrJ.. (ions. did I dtUiltd study 0( trnucripto filtd in the appellate courts of Alabama belw«n 1981 and the datt of the study. Mer looking a\ all (",tors involwd, the AdminislraliYt OffIce of CQUrts pr~nt rd to tht supreme court in AugUSI 1990
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TH E AU\lIAMA lAWYER
.. TI1o_
I Ihree-v<llume report conlainini ilS findiniS. Butd on its study. AOC concluded INI ~I\II court proc«dings ~ allowini Iht vi~ lo~...., as Iht official record on appnl wu the mOil efficient lnd COil effeclive method." In tht followi1li articltl, wnlrastil\ll view. ;an Ujlreswd C(ltIttmi1li the bt.t melhod for gdlini" -..eroatim record of a lrial, is quicki}' as possible, and IS ec0nomicallyas POuible . Afltr examining Ihe pros and cons of video recording. Bruwtll concludes thai "VideorKOrding court procndiniS pl'OYides many ad;an. ~ for improving the timely delivery 01 jlalict scrvi«$/or litiganll," bul m;. . _ INt it is "not without sorrw dtfj. citncits.." J~. St....-t Lewh 01 Birmingham. when vidtooteOidinl is now heinl~. condudu tNot allhouah there an un· knowns oil 0lIlPUl'1 the henefiu outweigh tht d~~ with the ""-'lIin to he dtttrmi~ after lim..,; actually OPtrated the system for a uasooable period of time." Ju.,. aanhll Cole, who attend· ed a conferenct in Louilvill •. Kentucky. on vldeoncordini. notu lhat "[I[rial Judgu. appellate Judgn. iU1d lltomtys lithe conftrtnce ~ve video nportini mi.ed rtview,. wilh attorneys iivine il the lowm ",,-rlcs." Judat
rooms will provide a VlIluablt OppOrtuni ·
-.
for judgu and attol1'lr)'S 10 Mlluate for Ihemstlvn Ihe pros and cons of ty
J • ..., Dtaua, pul prui<knt 01 the AI· abima Court RePOrlers AssGc:ialion. thinks tNot oidtor«ording should he on· Iy iIfIldjunct 10 lImng a writ· ttn traJUcripi. and the "corn· puler·inttgrated courtroom" is the inswer. and tNot idoption 0( a rule nqui ring videotaping would bu "$hOrtcut." •
Colt concludu lhal the placement of video equipment in three Bi rm ingham court·
March lWI f 91
VIDEO COURT REPORTING
VIDEO RECORDING COURT PROCEEDINGS COMES TO ALABAMA By THELMA 8RASWEU
Ir,11liblma ,
will soon launch
I
v id~ore(OTdinl d~monstrl-
lion projtct in Ih.H courtrooms in Birmingham. Mod · (m sL'Ite-«-IM-<lrt Qmen! lInd video1't'COfdt.. will be instlllcd in c:ourtrooms of ci rcuit judgu SluUI I.nch, 10'11. 11";0 Chemtr and Joe Ba.Nlrd 10 record ill coon protffilings iUId hwings.. The de· sign will follow tht proloIYPf' dew:~ for Kenlud<y eourU where 42 Ii( 91 drcuit judgu uSt video equipmen t \0
rwml COIJrt proceooings. While Kentucky hu more courtrooms .q\lip~d
for vidtortcording llun any
atM. statt. _ral otIwr statts and a few federal coortJ h:lvt embarked on video~i"ll protects in ""I.c~d courU. The lU lU indude OnIon, Wuh ington, Midligin, l'Iorio:a. Nllrth Caroli~ Vi.ginil. District at CoIumbQ. fbwlii. iUId MaryWJd. and ~I district courts in s.n Fnncisco, Phi~lphil iUId New Or-
.....
The Birmingham courtrooms will be equiJl1)td wilh fi1lll fully automatic, permanently lTlOunl«l cameraS which art Quiet and give no indication wh.n they U t b.ing undo 5i. Or Stve" mic.\!pllonu will be Slrilltgi'illy placed throughout th~ courtroom, Four VCRs will simult.neously record the court pr\lCftdil\iS to ~rd Oli'inst MI ~uip-
.
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92 1March 1991
motnt flIilurt at I lingle ~1:R and to mak~ multiple oriainIJ video«am1s. bpes ¥t ~ to rt<;Ord $iJ: hoon of pfO" CHdings to minimiu inteJTUptions dur· ina: I trill to rtpboe \aptl. 'nit dit~ and t~ all' imprint~ on u.: ~ as thqo ~rd for reff:_. A VCR "",1I M available in u.: Dl)Urtroom ""'th a LargeSCrHn telMsion for UK if I video dep0sition is to M preHf1tfd. '""' vidto dep0s ition will be recorded onto the trial tapt. '""' tfftdMntSS olthis eQuipment is mad. possible by a compu ttr-con· lrollfd mler dewlopetllo have \IOI«-Ktivatfd microp/1one.l.lWitch on the cam· .~
Of tile four origiNI Ktl of vidtorecordinill at the court pr\lCftding5, om Kt wilt be _Md "" the o(fJCW reoord for u.: apptlLatt court should u.: caot be 1pptcII1td. 'nit KCXInd Kt at tapeS "",1I be retained as I ptrmlMnl rtcCH'd in Iht tNl courl. Tht Ihird and fourth sns at \.>pel will be a-... i~1t at the mil of t.adt day's proce.dings upon shOWi ng of a purcNK receipt Having the rtcord of the day'l procHdings rudily available at • reuoll4lble cost .IIOWI ilIl attorney to !Wino and pre~re for the ""xt diy's prtstntation. Just as • courl reporter !TIl)' be ISkfd to IUd bick prMou.J testimony, u.: videotape mlIy be rewound to I parlicullor witrow' tnt imony .nd tNt pOrtion mly be rtpl .. yed. II question often raistd Is how testl-
ont person ~aks It i time. Only on<:' cuntra IwitcilU on, but the audio from _riI microphones is ncordtd 50 that all parties spuki"ll would be hard on the vidKbpe. In AWN.ml, the OO$t for vicIrorecords for casts on IpptcIII will be $100 per s;,,h o ur vidtOlipt II It! in a recenlly adopted rult of the luprem~ court. The ,i1·hou r vidtoioope wHi prObably be suflicitn! for a ont-day trial. By comparison, a six-hour trial would pro ·duct lOt lent 250 ~I ot'wri t· ten transcript. At the curnnt plge rat~ o f $1.65, tht cos t o f Iht origin .. l · imprns;on luns" i pl would bt $4] 2..50. Us ing the videot a pt
ITIO!'ll' could be recorded -::',~ on the videotape if more than
nlE AL\6AMA lAWYER
VIDEO COURT REPORTING record will significantly imp.ow the timeliness of the record being available to filt In cases appealtd. The r«Ord will be "ccu.lle and compldt. Attorneys will be required 10 ci lt lilt vidto!apt nurnbtr, dl.lt ~ Ii...... in their b~& 10 the ~Ibtt cooru.. Tho judgn 0( the IppelLllt C()IJru will view the t.Jpu u
...
mcusary In prep.llTlltion of their opin· lIaRd on W"'"YI and intttvifWS with allomey1 who haw worktd with vidto· tape rttOrds the following are some pl'Ol and COlIS UIlrnstd:
PAOS • An illOPl'nPYt, iKCUTlI\e dl.ily record is ...."llable: • The j~ is .. Iwlys in control 0( the court"s schedule without hiving to coordinate with .. court reporter; • No clitntsare unable loappeal bWoUK of tilt rost of l tww::ript of tilti. Iml; • A vidt(OlIpt record upturn the nuances of a trilll showing demwlor, autum and uprusions.; • The rm)fd is 1CCUr.lle and rompklt, removing the nt«SSity 01 suppkmtnt· the record: • A rtCOrd ohll hearings is iMibblt; • ywytl'$ rNly UK vi~1'" rK(Ords 10
ina
In dOSing. a summary of bendil5 of videorecording court proceedings in· cludes: (I} ~vings to litigAnt.! iUld courtsRtJliud in tht difftrenct is tht cost d a IRruCript. cakuwtd on I pH ~ ",tt WI vidtotapt reconI fA sir. hours of tri~. This cost savings accrut to tht sUtt for indigent transcripts. RuJiud in tht differtn« in ulary ~ bencfib lor ptr_ sonnel required to opt. at. the vidto tquip ment as compartd to court reo porters. Realiud btcaUK all procetdings an be rtCOrdtd and prutrvtd. (2) Time delay in hlIving tht record Woliiablt (or appeals i. reductd btcaust videollpn provide an instJnl n<:ord lor u~ on appeal while transcripts must be productd. E~ry trial must be transcribtd. enn though a relatively small ptTCtnt of the total c.ues are appultd.
Advnnce to Jurisn new level of lnw office nutomntion.
ofr"e :automation
u from other asn, and to Inch ntW li~TJ .««tNt INI ttdmiqua.
Is unfolding and juris hasernerged
• Without I ..Tintn transcript. I b~r his mort trouble quoting ~~tim ~ must panphrau tf$timony for brids; • More time i, Rl'tuired to !mport britf,. If tM lawyer on appeal was not the trial lawyer, lhis problem iHxace~ltd: • Somt 1"'')ItTS Itel their movement IIbout tht CClIJrtroom is mtricttd by tht ~ fA the CiITOtIaS; • While I IrJllK ript an be rtviewtd anywhere. rtYiewinQ vidtotapt rtcOrds Rl'tuirtJ vitwing equipment; • Some fur that apptllal. judges ..... ill suintitute tlltir judgment lor that of the trial judgt.
THE ALABAMA LAWYER
Juri. offers:
The futu", in liIw
critique presentations, to assess witnus-
CONS
(3) The vidtorttord is absolutely accurale and reliablt becau~ of no human inlervtntion whe.-- court rtporters CiUl only record trials as iI>t)' ptrceive what they hor. (4) Tht vidto syslem is unobtrusiw beClU~ lhe ClmtTU art small. 'iltnl, oQlI·mounltd unib "';th tht rompuln system locattd outside the courtroom. Thi, isltu obtrusive than a rtpOrter IQ. cattd in front of tht bench "stroking in" testimony. (5) Villeollpts can provide public in· formlotion and tducation. Rtporttrs an KctSS the systtm to reoord protftdings ...;thout ever mitring the courtl'OOlTl&. Just as with all innov:ations, vidtoTtcording COurt proc: •• dings provides many advlnlagts for improving tht tinvly dtliwry 0( justitt serW.u (or liliganu. bul Is not without some deficitncies. A change is alw~ys difflcul!. •
:as the INder in full-l... tu~ software for today·. adva~ tedmology
• Timekteping :and Billing • Management Reporting
• •
Trust A«'OUnting
Ooo:kt1 and Calendar
• ConIlid Avoidance • Gent''''] Ltdger • Accounts Pay~ ble • Payroll
sysle1TI5.
Juris.
•
Report Writer.:and
~
ValCorn.- 200 Clffitt PMk DriVt. Suilt 238 At 35223 05 871·5525 Birmi
March ]99 1/ 93
VIDEO COURT REPORTING
VIDEOTAPE AS THE OFFICIAL RECORD OF THE TRIAL
liYI
By JUDGE STUART LEACH
ideo Qmms and recording equipment, along with $OUnd enhan""mentl, wer~ r.cently
installed in th •• • circuit court room. in the Birmingham Oivision of the Tenth Judicial Circuit. In two of the courts, the trials invoh-ed are almost exdw;vely non-jury. [none court, the subject matt.. iI; 1Iom«!i, relations and the other i. tradibonal equity~ , The third installation i. in ITll' court. and my as.\ignment is to by traditional law casu, 80 percent of the tilm with a jul)'. At the time the vide<) equipment was instal led. nOne nf the th ••• judge. in_ votoed had any "hands on- experience in connection with using ",;dto as the official record. although I had had the benefit of seeing the system in Operation in Kentucky. and the opportunity to talk with both trial and appellate judges and ..,me lawyers in Kentucky, u to their Opinions about the system. II would appear that the advantage. fall primarily into two categories. one re· lating to cwts, and the second to the time within ",·hich the record is available for appeal Or otmr purposes. Our recent· I)i Miopted rule sets the cost of the videa. tape for appellate purposes at $100 per
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94 / March 1991
tape and the cost of the COpy of the tape which ,,'Ould ~ used by counsel in tilt preparation of appellate briefs at S50 per tape. As each tape holds si x hou rs of viewing, this means that for each day's trial. the cost for the appellate record wwld be $100. As a practical matter, $50 wwld haw to ~ added to that =t ~ cause a copy of the tape wwld ~ neces· sary in order to prepare an appellate brief. In usence. there is no elapsed tim e trial, between the conclusion of a and the availabili~ of the record of that day's trial. On appul. the record will con.ist of the judge', log, the tape and the exhibits Or photograph, of the elChibits that ""ere offered at the trial of the case, and possibly the transcription of dtp0.5itiOl"\5, It is hoped that there are other a(!o;an . tages to the use of video as the official record. As I indicated. the installation of the system include, enhanced sound. This means that there will be sevtral mi· crophones located at differ.nt place. in the courtroom. and there will be several speakers; consequently. not only does the video recording system pick up the !\OUnd from the microphones, but the sound is amplified and more effectively distributed throughout the courtroom. II is Ill}' expectation that ewry· one- juro.. , judge and counsel- will be better able to h~';;~
w.y'.
erything lhat;',;;";,, One other i advantage would be the opporlunity fOT other counsel 10 buy a ~"" copy of t he tap e. perhaps
showing tho Op"ning statement. examination of a particular expert, argum.nt or some olher pertinent portion of the trial to gain some iru;ight into the tactic and technique of the pre.ent~tion of similar issues Or facts in a similar case. from the judge's perspective. there would ~ the opportunity to review testi· mony in the trial of a non-jury matler if there were SOme uncer· tainty as to what the judge's notes indicate the testimony to have b.en, or if there is elal'led time belween the hearing and ruling. In conclusion, there are knowns, but it ap· pears the bon.fits ou\\o,·.igh the disadvantages with the margin to be determined after having aC' tually operated the system for a reasonable period
ofh"",.
•
"'_; THE AL\BA!oIA LAWYER
VIDEO COURT REPORTING
VIDEO COURT REPORTING: WHAT JUDGES AND LAWYERS THINK
1" '1 •
By JUDGE RANDALL COLE
judgf; court from Michigan. video nporlingwhm has
b«n
~d
on an
t~~rimenLll
buil for seven! yUrs,
iC -
knowledged tNI his Ihinkir\i might bf okI·luhionfd., but it Sttmtd to him Uwr.1 "a court rtpOrIrr !-imply bdon. in the courtroom." Countering this viN. OU! ' other Michigan)udge compartd thuontinued UK 01 court ~port.rs to mjuir· ing "/lumen" 10 ride on dieKI Iocomo1i~J.
Tht polari zed vifW$ of theK two «II . Iraguu on lilt Michigan brllCh are "IIruentJ.IM of lilt O!)inions which surface
wlltn judgu,
la~rs.
court reporte"
..nd otht< court ptrsonnel liIlk ,bout vidtocourt ~na. As president of Ow: ~nu Al.soci.llion 01 Cil'('Uit Judges. I iUmdtd, ~ with two other participants from Alabi-
mao a three-day conftrtOCl: in Louisville, Kent ucky, on "Videoreco,ding in Iht Courts" sponsored by the Institute for
Court Mlnig.menl. Tht conlutnce brought 1000etJvr trial judgu. ~Il.l.t. jud,gfs, attorneys, court replrUrl, and court adminilt1'll10fS from 22 mIn to diJcws the proi iIId cons of this IKhooLogial illrol)v.llti()n.
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The mn51 utensi~ ust Qf oidw re· porting tw been in Kentucky, but COUTU in ~t IUlt len Qther It~lfS hav. alsQ rrwlt txperimtntll UH of vidtn report· ing in ncenl yurs. Allblml is nnw ~ddtd tQ ~ lisl U vidto ~uiprTlO'nl is in'lalied in Ihru Jdfe-SQn CQunty ~rt~
After uperimentl in OhiQ lnd Ten· ness«. the uH Qf vidwrecording ....as discQntinued in those states. The vidw equipment consists of several unobtrusive Clme ru, supersensitive micrQ_ phoou at flXtd stations, a banlc of VCRs, a computerized ~ratin8 system. ind iWOCialeil ~uipment. The Qrntr.lS art voict..activ:ottd ~ lutO)mlotiall)' viM<>tape ~ person who Is spukint. No OpenotOT is nquirtd ol/ltr lhin IOU_It 10 tum the system on ,nd Qff, ~ function ~nmll)' perfQrmtd by lilt judge. The pu~ of this article is to report lilt pe!'SptCtivu of trial J~. appellate judges ~ Itt01'TltYl to tilt UK of video reporting IS .. Iated at the [.oui"'ille conlermct!.
judge In conduct procudings at un scheduled lirTlO's and ·after hours.· like_ wise, the reporter'. nted fnr vacatiQn time ,nd lick d~y. can rnlritt Ih e judge's aopacity 103 function. 1llty IUagnt Ih.it tilt videoftconling maku i more /Iotcunole TKOI"d of Irial prO( ud in" th.., the writt~n r!COO'd btause it records not on· I)' Jpoken word. but alSOl lhe dtmUnOf, bQdy lan,ulge lnd V03ict jnnection Qf Irial parlici pants. II also tlin\inates tilt tibility that ~ misplactd comma in the lu,,'.~~riP,. lion will :-" tilt lTIWIinQ
the
nQttd Ihe nillivt Ult with which ttltimony cl n be replayed for tilt jul')'. Th~ ,dun U'tI nf yidtQ 103
Tri.1 judge.' perspective TIUl judges from ww,inaton, Michiean and Kentucky who h.iw u-Hd videor«nrdina reported two primal'}' ~'antagu: (I) it ,1I03w, juda.. gruter HuibiHty in schedulina lnd (2) it i
sure. grutc'~'~. ... in They pOinl that IS dtdiQted , oourt reportu be. hi. 01" hu ule is 001 aiwa.ys compatible wilh the needs Qf the
rKy
the::
~tarch
1991 / 95
VIDEO COURT REPORTING court reporting identified by trial judge. mu.! ~ 'Wighed, hQ\O.~r, against the di ... dvantage. al..., identine d. Th. pri.
mary disadvantage noted w.5 the reo quiremenllh.t a log Ix maintained of trial .""nis. The log musl be made in sufficient detail that it will enabl. the user of tht videotape to find the testi· mOIlJl of a particular witness or other
In spite of the inc""""nien"". articulat.d. mo.t of the trial judge. at the Louisville conference exp .. 5.Sed a gener· ally satisfactory experitnce with videorecording. A notable ex""ption was the judge from Washington who said that with his new equipment and the new respOnsibilitits incident to its operation . h. now feels like a movie di .. ctor.
happening in the trial without .,.je\<'jng
the enti re tape. Mo.t judgn .eported
Appellate judg •• '
thai they make th. ", logs thems.lve. while others uy they art provided l
perspective
courtroom tluk or bailiff to discharge this re.pOn>ibility.
The judges reparted thai .djustmen~ .Iso had to be m.tdt to w:omodate the marking and maintaining of "" hibits,
functions which have traditionally ~n performed by the court reporter, and that it is "e,usa!), to designate a staff p..son to identify, 5tO" and distribute
the videotapes.
The perspectives of the appellate judge. in attendance .t the oonfe .. nc. were mixed. In Michigan and Washing· ton. the appellate oourts require that they be furni.hed a written transcript even though the trial court proceedings were .. corded by video. The transcripts are prepartd by official court reporters from the viMotape •. The appellate judges Can req uest the videotape fo r r.view if they wish to do .0 but they
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For Resea rch Assistance contact: Sarah Kath ry n Farnell 112 Moore Building Montgomery. AL36104 C. 1I
96 I March !99!
~205)
27m37
Iii'
.. Idam make ,uch ...qu .. L The appel. late judges in the .. jurisdictions. th...• fore. are affected very little by the videorecording .ystem. In those jurisdictions in which the r.cord on review i. the videotape it~lf. appellate judges complained that the trial logs prtpared by the trial judges fre quently were in.ufficient for them to work With. that the quality of the tapes somdimes was poor. and that it talce. much too long to review the record from videotape. On. appellate judge commented that reviewing a trial from. videotape record wa. lik. ·watching paint dry." The appellatt judges ... cognized. how_ eve r. that it is seldom necessary for them to review an entire record. and that it is gene .... lIy sufficient for them to look only at tho.. portions 10 which the attorneys direct them in their briefs. Another complaint r.gistered by "p-
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COOK & ASSOCIATES
_.....-_..--_... P.O. Box 850517
Mobile. Alabama 36685·0517 ~ 205) 3 41 ·5168
THE ALl.8AMA LAWYER
VIDEO COURT REPORTING prllat~
j\lllgts wu
tmt it if difficult or
impOSSible 10 hor _ ' " giYm during voir dirt eumiNltion ofjuro...
Responding to concerns UJlrused by trial judgn Ihlll
~ideortcords
might
prompt appel1<ote courts to ~don pre-
sumptions 01 <:(I" eelne" afforded trial cou rt findinl$. lhe appellate judges ""knowledged the validity of the COflcom but pointed out Ilia! the lffirrnance rate from >'idror«ords is higher tlwl from written 1'/lllleripls MC;iUU apptllille
judges who view vidto!l,pu ei" get b(tttT "fttr for the trW.
i
Attorney.' pe.-.pec:tlve Four 11t0fllCYl ~1I«,d on the progn.m III tilt LooiMlle eonftrtllU--two civil dtft.ue IttOmtyS and two atlomtyS
from I public defender's office. All 1M at· torneys complaintd that tht use of videotapes doubles or triples the time invoJ\itd in preparing appellate briel's. 11K civil 6dtItK lltorntys rtporkd that !My IlI.I'W
routinely IIi", t)'\'lim Or court «,.
porters to pupare a written transcript from the videotape fo r th.i. un in pr<1>IriAg britfs. Tht ItiomtyS from tht
aKa rtpOI'ted that an additionil itlomry wu lIim! in their offia Sl)fCifitally bra_ of \l'w: un.. time it taItQ to p~ britfs from vi<Im:o. Attorneys in Kentucky we re rou l inely suking extensions fo r filing briefs in ~ideo Ippull, clusin, the sup reme court to double the Ii ,,", lor filing socII briell. The attorneys complained also that in brief prep,arltion it II difficult to use vid«lbpn in srmoll incremenu 01 Ii"",, thil OM needs a block of al lu.'!1 I....., hours 10 do inytlling productM using i
public dtfmdr(1
-.
One idvin(J# that \l'w: itt<)mty.'! i<Jm.
tirltd wu \l'w: ibility 10 get ill inapen1M diily mnrd of the trW by \l'w: lISt of ~ideorecordin" Anotlle r ulvantage pointed out by OM .tto. nty WI) thai he had 00tt used • videoftcord eff«tM' ly to ,ell trial judge re~d from I cue beCluse I he video revul . d Ih. judge', voice inneclion in dealing with the attorneys. The attomeys agrttd that
TIlE ALABAMA I,AWn;R
the vidWre<ordinas ilso ~rw a IIStful purpO$f IS in.aid in Inining new lrial allOmrys.
Conclusion "fl-ial judges. appellate judges and al torneys al the conference ga~ video re porting mixed reviews. wilh attorneys giving it the lowest marks. Thtc attitudt of rTIOII judges an<.! altor· nrys in Alab/lma at lhe prUtnl Ii...., is probably similar 10 that of \l'w: Mi<:higan
obWrwd that i toUrt ~rlt:r limply belong, in Ihe courtroom. The plKemtnt of video tQuipmtnl in Ih..., Alab.lma courtrooms provides I wluahll: opportunity fo r Judgu And il\Orneys her. to evaluate for ou.~lves the pros and cons 01 vidw, but it is hoped that we will awa.it the resullS ollhat evaluation before we coruidtr abandoning our pre· judge who
~nl
court reporting system. which 0\101.
the)'Urs gtnenlly has ~rwd courts. at· tomt)'i iIOd litiioinu wtll. •
rlf;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;~
NOTICE OF ELECTION Notice is given herewith pursuant to the Alabama State Bar Rules Governing Election of President-elect and Commissioner.
Presldent..lect Th" AI,b-llm, Stal.. Bar will """" 8 l".skle-n1·eleclln 1991 10 assume !he I"esidency 01 !he bar In J~ly 1992. My candidate must be a metI"Ibe< in good starding 00 loIarch 1. 1991. PeInions """,mung 8 candidale nr.m bear the signature 01 25 m8fT1bIB in good slallding 01 the Alabama State Bar and be re· ce/Yed by the NCrelClly 01 the Stale bar 00 Of before I.Iarch 1. 1991. Any candidate lor tl"ol oIfice elso musl subrn~ with the nominating t»btion , black and ~ photogrllph .,.., biographical data 10 be "ubIishtod In !he MaV AlI>Oama uwyet. B8IIoIa wiI be maied bel-. May 15 and.kw. 1 and must bI' 1iwo:j at Slllil bar hHdquamn by 5 p.m . on July 16. 1991.
Comml.slone,. Bar cornml$sionet$ wiI be elec!ed by those law)'era with Iheit principal off.::.. In !he toIbwing drarits: 2nd: 41t!: 61t!. place 12: 9th: 10th. pIacH 11 . 2. 5. 8, aM 9; t2th: 13111. place '2: 15th. piac& 12; 16111; 201h; 23rd. place 12; 24111; 27th; 29th: 38111; and 39th. Additional cornmissione<a wUl be elec1ed In these cirruits Jor eedt 300 mernbe<s oj 1I1e Slate bar wilh ""ncipal oIIiOfs Ihr:t<ein. The oow oornmJ..ior>e< PO$itions win be determined by a census on 1oIarc!1 t, t 991. and vacancies cel\Jlled by the secretary 00 t.4arcI1 15. 1991 .
The tat"" 01 1"1' 1ncurnben1 ~ are retaitled. All R!/;IMqI""" ,.,"" will be lor three years
NorrWIabons rnay be made be pelitian bearing the oignat"'" 01 five rTIIKTIbotrs in good standing with princ;paI oIfiOBs in the ~ In which the e/e<:!Jon wiI be I*tI Of by the ~e·. deciaration 01 candidIocy. Eitner must be ,eceivad by !he seca-ltlaty no taler thar1 5 p.m. on the las! FriI3ay In,>,pril (,>,priI26.
_
1991 ). Bdo!I ¥til be P<l'P"'"ed and mailed IO~' beh.,,,, 1.Ia115 and June 1. 1991 . BaJlots mosl be voted and returned by 5 p.m . on !he second Tuesday in June (June 11. 1991) 10 stote bar headquartfH"S.
March 19911 97
COURT REPORTING I N THE
1 990 s
Bg JENNY DUNN
I II
mlgin~ If in Ihe urly 19801 the Ame rican business cOm munity decided not to com· puterize. Whe.t would ~ be today? Would our dtficit be even bigger? Would our indwtriu be ~n rtmottly romptlitive <;I)lTIp.Irtd to the troOOmic powns of Jl.~ and Cermllny! Would ~ ~n be a world powt'f in 1991? 1 think ~ III know the IIn~rl to
100, ~
In lhe nut couple o{~ars,)'OU will
a number ohhe$( advMleed features
in such court rooms: • The capability of all parties in a cast to inmntly viow trill procHdin~ on a computer ttrmi~l, e~bling the judge lo..mow lutimony on which 1I1 ob;telion is ~ Ind lIlso providing attorneys tM opportunity to stuch for \roy
1M... q....slioru. Amuin,ly. 1M court
systems in ALlbaIN and the Tnt 0( 1M rution are now !King Ihr ",me dilemma ill Amtrian bUllj~1o$ did in the '80$: Ii it 1'M:~$S.I.r')' to C(lmputtriu! The answtr is obviously
~J:
and on. of tht
profusions leading the way toward courtroom C()mput.ri ~tion is court r._ porting.
Many in th. I.gal community haw: sun olfici."ll court reporters work with computtNilkd tr.lIJC riplion systems. and ~ MIl rtttiYtd a day's lmimony on a floppy disk lor iruerlion in thrir of-
computer. Still mou 1I110mey0; t.....e workrd ",;Ih the lOI)histiated litill/llion support iOflwart pl'Ollidtd by iOOeptcndenl fru·lanu roporting ag.ncin KrOSS 11M: Ilalt. To p.araphuse in old show tune, whrn it comu to compulers
Proper use of alternative systems can enable court managers to put computerized reporters where they are needed most.
fICI
~nd
court nporlers, · Vou ~in'l leen nolhin ' yel," The AJabaJm Coo rt Reporters AMociation is in the process of installing a computer-Integrated cou rt room in Judge ~m Mook's courtroom in Annis-
---_
-'"""I' 0..... _ .... . ....... _ ... '3
... .......
",,.._do...... Kong.~
.. ..
,.."".__"b ............ h
-.;..
-~~,.',,'.,
words lind phrases iIJId Ulrx! portions
-.
01 procHdinlt$ for bn.f !mporalion....... lion pu.-po$U iIJId impuchmtnl 01 wil · • Mdhods where attorneyl will find contradictions in in_court lestimony with what was Nid in dtp05itions. twn while court is in $f$Sion, • A ttchrooloilY in which IN: computtriztd Iranscript appflrl ;u on-SCrten subtilin to a video 01 court procHdin~ lind ttltimony, .. hereby the opUitor Qn input ktY words lI1d bring up tht .-ideo in IN: n,ht p~, • Mort _t$Siblt stonge procedures ..hut Ihrtt-and-hilf-Inch disks hold hundreds 1M JIilItJ of testimony, easily ICCtSKd lind ntritvtd wlttn nwItd. • Systeml for court lOdministrator management where reporter.inputted information will givt automatic status
to reports on all CiSU in a court system, Many legal professionals su video as an adjunct to the written transcript, not <I repl<lcemen\. BeclOuse if reporter1ess video systems btcome the syslem of cholet: in ALlb.irN courts, the computer age is dud before it t\'tn offICially begins, The cornpllinu about both video and audio rtCOnIi~ systems haw bttn well documenled Kroil 1m country by 1m primlry UKrs oitm product. For nmIpit, ~n ~nistlnt attorney 8tntrlll in Ktntucky $.lid, "I an emphatically state that they ire a disaster: A senior litiplor at New Jerst)"s I"sest law form, McCarter 6< EnSliJh, r«ently tutifoed at a $t~te hearing that. " ~rom my personal ,"puience, (audiotape] transcriplion has not been Jho,.n to be sufficiently acCUTlIte thit we should t rust our cou rt system to it," In addition, an Ortgoo fedtral district court ju~ $.lid after II cast in which video was used, ~ video lind lIudio quality wen nt\'tr good, and i l tilntS, when a litigant Io-red hi. voice Or opoIu! whi~ retumi~ to his _t. l'ltllriy i~udiblt. t:~n if 1m tape qUlOlity wert ptrfect, ~iewing .. ~ideotape requi res much more time thin ruding a transcript" This dots nOI mean that video dots not ha~ a place in the courl.!, In fact, it is .. poasible lltfr~ti~ for thow courts where thert is lill it or no nttd fo r a transcript iIJId few appals, Proper use of altunative systems clln enable court ItlaNStn to put cornputeriw.l nporttn whert they 1ft .... tdtd moot AI~rN courts nttd 10 be rost-tfflCitnt, bul not lI1 IN: UptIUt ollIS fulure. ACRA encourages .. rational ~nd anaIytial lIpprlNlch to improving the .t· porting functio<l in our stat •. Wt offer fou. common-sense steps our judiciary shou ld take IItfor. committing to any new reporting vtnture:
(l) Dtcid~ which courts nwl profes· tion~lly·p r(X!uctd
tflnscTipls-where our high ~nd m~dium volume courts! The ~ court t)"tem needs ~ rf
la C(lfIduct
RIDING THE CIRCUITS
an .,wysu of wht~ the~ is
.. likrlihoGcl of appeals and UK of tnnKript. and wht~ the~ is not.
th~
(2) Look now I I tmt"rging lechnolo.giu; compuleriulion is ~lving at a rapid lIKe. Our judie;"ry netd.s to con· laCI campute r com~nit$ to Ke whal Ihey are de.elGJllng far Ihe caurts. We also need to look at prototypes af sys· terns ""hich combine computen and video 10 determiM thei r fusibility. (3) 00 not KCept the -minimally ac·
Bec.>...... of the reca· ,ian. Ihen is a lendency by some to poonic. In the courlS. thlll Pllnit .....y twuLit. inlo II ~ push inta short· toward term thinkin,_ major _ tapes. ~n if IttGn'lt)l prt)ductivity fers lind cow iocfUlot ta litipnts. ~ptlb~ ~tOrd·.
w'·
(~) Look It aU costs inVO)I~d. front. end and back·end COitl. i .•.. the re port.r is In utra Ilaff person for the judge's office whoK duties include. bul are not limitt<! to. taki"ll .... rbatim testi. many. inlefTUpti"ll where thit testimony is not clur and dil«mibk. is well is marlli"llind GTiI'niling uhibit'- Whik video may elimil\lltt ~ TqIOfIe ..s saboT)'. it may ullimately still nQuin anothtr staff penon to keep an extensive video log. oper~t. the rNChinery. llibel lind fil. videOll with the cl.rk lind keep up with exhibits.•fft(1iWly repbod"ll one Sliff mtmbu wilh lllalher who has a l.u eff.ctive me t hod of keeping the neon!. Ther~ it also a maner of .xtra swf required at the appeal, court 1"",,1 WhOK task il now to view vidtol rath.r writt.n transcripts. Som~ may IlY. · W. cannOI affo rd computen. we canoot lIfford profwion· lis; just gi~ lhe aUarM)'l' tapes, it i. good enou.h." Well. il is nal good tnOIJlII\. and Alab.ima courts will sufk. if shor1o;uts ""I. the <.\loy. R(1TIfmbtr the adig•. " If you unnal affard ta do it righl the fint lime. haw will you Mford to do illill GIlt, ~in?" A lot is hippeni"ll out the~. It is up to OUr judicl.lllwkrs to make sur. tt-q fully understand Ihe technalogical GJltions th.y h~~ Ind not let us f~ll be· hind the rut ofthf Mti"". •
THE ALAJIAMA LAWYER
MOBILE BAR ASSOCIATION 11wFolIOMJingottomevs ..-eltded lo_faT 199/: Prnidtril ......................................................... _............. _........Champ Lyom, Jr. PrnidenHlect ...................................................................... Je'ry A. McOowtll Vi~·pr.sid~nt ................................................................... Thornu E. Bryanl. Jr. s.c~tary ..............................................................................Ronnle L. Wi lliams Tl"fiSurer ................................................................................... Thmara Mitchell Young Lawytn' 5«1.1611 President ............................................................................ Jamu Y. Roberts. Jr. Vla·prt.idenl ........................................................... _........... _..... Mark C. Wolfe SKull.ry!trU$urff ...... ______ ........... __ .... _........................... Judson W. Wells
BIRMINGHAM .AR ASSOCIATION 11w following ollomqs ..-tkcted lo_faT /991.Prnidtnt _.................................................................... ___ .Wamn B. Lightfoot President·.1ect ........................................................................ lQy O. Noojin. Jr. Stcull.ryllrU$urer ...................................................... Madison W. O·Kellt)'. Jr. YO\Ing Lawytrs' S«tlon . ..................................... Jahn tl.mdon President ................................. Prcsident·.lect ................................................................................. I'eltr Bolvig StcUll.ry ....................................... ......................................... J.1imothy Smith Tl"usure, ................ _.. _........... _.................................................... Robtrt Baugh
TALI.AO£GA COUNTY .AR ASSOCIATION 011 Dw:m!ber 14. 1990, 1M foIlottmg ollomqs..- el«lfti 10 _ 1991:
fOr
Prnidtnt .......... _____ ...............................St.phm Morris Machtn. Sylacauga Vi~·praidtnt ........................... _........Winiml E. tlallingsworth.lll. Thlladtga Stcut.l.ryllrU$u~r ....................................................Wandi Batson. Sylacauga
Richard Wilson & Associates Reg istered Profess ional Court Reporte rs 17 Mildred Street Montgomery, 1I.1a~ma 36104
264-6433
AFFIDUITS SUPER RUSH H.ALTM CAFI. AUDITORS, INC. ' .UtlH! . II "..... q
rt n m
CAll IlJ·UI·I0l4 "F.lX .IBn·Un ' Of S.,.Ie. 0 ,
rn ,o,m.,lon
"'cke,
March 199] f 99
CONSULTANT'S CORNER TIle fol/oomg is 0 review of ami rommenlo'1l on <III offtt;(! outomation issue thol hi1$ wrrenl imporltmr;e 10 the legel communi/y. prepared blithe offiCI! Qutomation consullan/ to the slotI' bm; Pau/8Qrrulein, whos.! views an! >wI n«f'.S.SQTi/lllhose of the slole bar. This is the 19th arlide in OOT ·Coosulttml's Comer" _ia. We would like /0 hearfrom!/W. both in critique oF the article wrillen and sut;gejlions of topics (or future artie/es.
Telephone charges
minde l that. "We cannot cion out billing for tht month untilth. phone charges are allocattd." You tum your attention to the pile of detail slips, btgin-
di ents are not IS accepting of rate incrusts as the~ one. were. In fact, one is hud - pres~d to find any client wOO is not downright resistant to rate incruSts. On the other hand. telephone charges billfd as an adjuflCt cost of busi · ness are traditional and gone rally ac ceptable to clients. After all. they make phone caUs (and copies and mail pack· ages, etc.)
ning a laboriom taU of matching your time slip notations of long distance calls to an infuriating list of dates. area cod..
High tech it
Here comes the billl More than 30 days after you lIave made a clien t · chargeable long distance telephone C.lil, your bookkeeper dump<! a sheaf of call detail shps on )'<JUT desk with tile
rtc-
;md exchanges.
Bul there is mo re--what about tht call you made from tht airpOrt, using ~ou r personal credit card? the collect call )'OU atctpted at home on a Saturday afte rnoon? the ca lls made on Mel? Don't change careers; there are alte..,.· ti"..,5.
Ignore it This can be ttmpting. Afttr an, why waste an hour Or more of a la~r'5 time chasing small change? Par th. same reason you ought to chase cop ier charges. namely. they add up to a ,ignil. itant bottom lin. profit contribution. Our studies moeal that law firms incur more than SI50 per la~r per month in phone costs that should be ,«owr· abl. from clients. Ignoring does sa".., the lawyer's time. but it allows more than twice the cost to slip away as missed prof,t OIlpOrtunit)'.
The key to capturing phone charges with a minimum of effort is to record the entire transaction at the time it oc· curs. As you place a call to a client you obviousl~ know whom you a re calling and on what matt. r. What you do not know is the charge ~our friendly long distance tarrier is running up for you. Convently, the telephon e company knows the charges but not the client's name or matte. number. Enter "high tech." Some telephone switches have a feature tallfd"station message distribution reporting." Tht feature accumulates a record of who (which station) placed a long distance tall. and how many min· utes the can lasted. This listing begins to got together the two pieces of the equat ion. With a bit of crutivity. one can enter client/matte, number through a phone instrument prior to dialing the number. The SMDR record produces a ];,;t for manual entry into the billing S)'S' ,,~
Fold it into the rates This is done with some owrhead lac· tors. such as the cost of word process· ing. On that lmi.,)'OU should raise your ,ates about SI per hour, dearly an im· practical notion . Fi..., dollars an hour would be outrageous and cause you mor e g rief than profit. That aside, 100 I March 1991
Taking the process a step further. some vendors of l~ga\·speci fi c bill ing programs off~r some interface software that dynamically captures SMDR infor· mat ion and a u tomaticall~ updates a client's billing record . This is a tech· nique only for medium and large firms. It requi res I digital telephone switch, SMDR, a mini·compute r·based billing
system and a great deal of discipline. The discipline involves ha"';ng to dial in client and matt~r number as a condition of acce,sing the long distance line. Nefdless to say, some la~TS find that a bit much.
Low tech it If you are oot a large firm. nor inter· uted in acqui ring a digi tal telephone switch. nor a mini--oomputer. there is a perfectly sound procedur e you can adopt. and it doesn't cost anything. As· sign a standard cost to long distance telephone call'l, and automatically trigger the toll charge as you fill out the slip for your professional time. A standard cost is simply an average that is easily computed by dividing total long distance charges by the number of calls made. If you are a typical firm your av· erage cost will be in the $1.50 to $2.50 range and will not be an unfair burden for a cHent involvtd ..... ith a brid con"..,r· sation. If you do not habi tually charge for time spent on phone calls. there is a quick calculation th3t should instantly disabu,e you of that practice. Ho ..... much ree income is lost from ignoring 15 minutes per day (at S80 per hour)? Would you beHtvt $5.000 per )/VIr? The Single proft ssion. 1 time charge you (now) habitually generate pursuant to. client plmne conwrsation be<:omes two transactions, one for your lime and one for a standard long di,tance charge. It does become necessary to distinguish these dual transa ctions from tho .. where Ihe dient calls you. Or from local ca lls. Conside r a trigger such as ·STD LOTC" on your time slip. You have loc ked in billable long distance charges to)'OUr professional timekeep. ing. Now you can smirk at the bookkeeper. • TH£ ALABAMA LAWVER
HONOR ROLL
AsoiFebrwr/J 28. 1991, /IN fo(lowirIg al/omep /!Qd mudf pkdgn /0 ,he AJalxrmq Slu/. Bar Building F'Imd. Theil' taama will ~ induded on /1l«1li ii1lhe _ portion of/IN lI<Iilding listing 0/1 conlributkJns. Their pltdgeJ on tlClmowI~ u';lh grolelul tJP{m!dalion.
--
l<>hn Ru/uo Bulle. Jr. \\,11onI R..-1I Bub,J ••
~vid
~"""Roet. HUSh
II,UWn Morn. Bet.. Jr.
Chorl .. OonnioAbbou
Harold Thomu Ackerman John N. Albritton William H.roId A1britlOft, In .....,lliam llaroid A1brittoft. IV
o..n.. SUphtn AlnancIt, 1 _ Patrick AkDndr. Htltn ~ Alford l.C,...gooyAlItn 101)"011 K.. Allonocfift o.r....., W. AlliOOd 1""'11 Mltit AlliIOOd Cha.1a P. Alii ...... J•• Willim! 8ruce AMi"Kifi. Jr. K.n .... th Riek AlYiI W"It.. MI,. Andti"Kifi. III Willim! 8. fo:buthnot Chulel 8 . Arcndolll, J•. Robert E. ~ [I]
..." , -
-'-I'lul~
JoM,h P. Illl.>birCton I)oyjd. R. Wtr \"oct ... H. 8.o11orol I...... Mu....18.o...... J •. Ceori< M. 8.ometl JoM 8i(hom 8.0 ....11. 111 Robert R. lIIuih
TIlE ALABAMA LAWYER
..............
tb<ry F. 1InmnfI. Jr.
H.,...,.."j McCri/I' 1Io1x., Jr. Slt\Oen A. Bmofit\cl Linda D. Btnooo
..... lliam U.I.. 6.......,.,. Jr. tJowmj 1. Bryan. III lhornoo EuIo B~ I •. J....... D.8rya Stan!ty Creg Burge J....... y.au...... J•.
William J. IItnt"". Sr. Wi!liMn lenniHi' IItnlon.
lIonct Ituport Burnlwn A1borl Sim Butl.,
~ Jr.
c-ao Itou a.U
lhornoo Reuben Bell
Jr,
Douillu Maral Blo<:k Bao C.,. Abo ..
P. BTOOmt
Clynn D;lniol Brown
C<0IlI< A. Blotk J...... Uriah 8Locksho. Cartltdge Wttden 81a.ckwoll. k J....... H>ny Blalock Michael DMd Blalo<k [ ......... NoItn 81aoi.,...,... Jr. Earl 00arIts BI«m. Ir. EliDbtth C. 1IooIo:waItt. I'>lrido. H"",,* Boono lor n.om. Booth, III l'iid"oo:>bo Owfn Bouln. III Robert !.too Bowden J.""" Robert 1IowI•• Julim B. BtlCkin. Jr. Sl<\IOn ~ 8t1Ckin J........ Philip 8rodford Lot C. 8i"ldlty, J•. Robert P. 8 rod1t:r William Mln:us 8rlkd"..1d J...... IIftnlrd 8 ............ Jr.
---
_ltiUB.-1I Alb<rt Prutoro Bmoot. I...... Robert Brewste. .I<>hn M. Britloll Edword It. B"'IId<n Maty Lynn Bron .... r Willim! Wide Brook.
1).lmodg< Butl., Oovid F. Bytrs, Jr. JamtS A. Byram, Jr. n.nry Ibm. CacI<IoIi John Wnw Caddell Chatla 0. CacIdd Josqoh Ilinn> caMn, III AndrtwI'.~11
Itorl< Ibmont campbtU
Eric ~U Carlton Richard P. C>nno:od,
....
~""'"
Joe ~n C.....,.Jy Joe ~n Cauady. Jr. NielloW I.... ph c."", .. Willim!"Thomas ChIpmrn. II B. M. Mille, Childen Robert T. I. ChilderS TerHl K.. ChilderS "Thomas Weldon ChruI<op/>er CIlrk. Scott & Sulliv>n CharIu tyler CIori< J...... LowiI CIlrk V{~1ilm No>rttoin(l<on CIul Rithlord It~ Cluro James R. Clition Cheryl D. Cobb Sue Boll Cobb Cl ...... Col. Coch"", Chlrl .. Miehatl CoI.iTIli1
JoM Joma Colo....". Jr.
"""'" ""'~ William D.
CoItman Keith Motltooo ColI;'.
Jock HichMl ~ William Wtlb eo.-tl Camillo lI-'riCht Coot .km ....'inttt Coopo. l'Iul R. Coopt.. RotNIl'\ E. Coopo. Buford 1.. Copeland Gto.1ft R. Coptllnd, Jr. Ltt H.II CO!'<land William Thomu Coplin. Jr. Dune K• ...........my Corli» IkImo. W. Comtrt John I. Cou\t, III s - t McKinnon COl: ~ JokDowtII C__ "'lit., PantrC,ooo._. CftIIOIY S. CuIionono
Eliololot\h T. Cwlflio:
""-""""
WiUim! Ki .... ~"""""" Cimn L. Dovidoon Jootph Roy OMs Willim! Eqlr om. WiIlim1 M. o"W$Oi"i, Jr. Edwlird A. OOln Mom. Stli(mln Dt«. Jr. Rlymoond Ib.My Otibert I.. Ot~nl s...- SlUnIdo Ot~ \\~D.~
Ceorp Jo/Iro o... ..bue. J•. "Thomas Eol'ootIrd Dido Don C. DKI<ort JoIwI Forrat Dillon. IV IIi ..... Dodd. Ir. ~C.O"'4.1 .. J•. BW>din( \Iou ...... Drinlwd, k
MJ.rch 1991 / 10 1
flo"",r" Shoyo Dri'kill Mit,,""1 L- Edwa...u Rogtr Wil"", Ell;' Willi< lornes EII;"'n Thomas Eric Embry My~n R. Engel o.l'id McKoy E.... lrn John E. I-: .... I.n Lt:l>nd C.. nl Eowr Jr. Robtrt Crar..m Esdal.
Isaac Pugh E,W
EIlw,rd M. Goo'll< Riohard Hamilton Cill RoboT! Mm111 G,rorduu lohn Brondon Civhan Sttphtn R. Clwroth Chari.. R. Godwin Thomas Miohatl Goodrioh Will"", VioctntGoodwyn Curt .. Wil"", Cordon. Ir. Lindo &l«r Cort Chorl .. W. C¢rlWn
Larry Will"'" Harptr Cloud< Harno. Ir. Donald Ritho.d Harrison Goorgo Woodruff Ham. I. ..... Add;"'" Har""
"
Ka,1 Ct<il H",rl"", Chorlts W. lI.rt. 111 I...,.. Edward Hart, Ir. lohn Mo,k Hart C.rald W. Hanloy
loseph C. Espy. III Thomas B. E,t.. Cto,* o.ni.1 !WMI, CrtU Branlloy Everetl I.b Stuart Fann;n loseph McCon ..1I forley Lator A. for""'r. Ir. Eaward OwiQht fly. Ir. Harold ......"'" f.rguson. Ir. I"",ph U<¥I fi ... Ir.
I 02fMarch 1991
'"
Rodnoy N.ililyatl Sam",1 WHI .."" Ing< Doulll.. lI'ayno Ingram John Fredric Ingram Larry La"",r Ingram loe.. , O·N ...1lsom lerry lI'ayno I",bon IMn l1olli. I",kson. Ir. Lynn Robortson JoclGon Sidnoy W.r .. n I",kson. 1lI William Paul Jackson. Ir. D"yton N<>blt. J.",.. Fr>nk Sam",1 I.."... 1!I S...." Craham lomtS lltl)bit Unds.oy /art<! 1I'.1t.. F. IMIWy
1>IAn1"lll1 H. fi~trick
Lir><l> Coil Flippo H,nry Bock fond< I. rnes D. Pontman lohn Donald"", f ... t .. Conrad MUlpl...... fowl ... Jr. Conr><l Murph ... fa..·I.r H.nry P: Fowl«. I •. 10"'" "Ilrnolh)' Frn>ci. /(oi\h m.i", I'nnklin Albert o.n",r Fruer.lr. Oougl.u Chari .. f ......." Ct.,1d A1.n f,itd4ndtr 1...... 11. Fro>\ Roben Sj><J>C, r Fro>\ lI,nntl" T. Fuller SH.. Wayno Fu ll,r loseph Noah l'undtrbulll Eui/.nt Willi..., Fu~""l' Ralph Dewar Coineo. Ir. fomn'" , . Col •• III Norman I. Col •• Ir. Michatl lO.Itph Combl. I.me> C. Cann. h. Coo,* Chari.. Corike. Richard B CorTtlt Ian I'redorkkc...ton EIlgor C. Ctntl •• III
I.",.. Cor"",n Hou.ton. If. l""'lJh Li>1 .. Hubbard Patrick Pauillughu \\r,IIiMT1 Charln Hugh<. Cl>uyl A.. Hu it Ctorge Elli. Hulch;noon It, nry Hamilton Hutchinoon.
u ri V. mtr loh""", Eliubtth loIuuon V...1arHl C.r>ld lohnson ~Edwineo..
I.""", SI. phon C.and Blake Alan C... " Edwanl Chuloy Crt... lohn Edward Cr.nitr CU)' Fltmi"g Cunt ... III Chari.. A.. Cuyton SI..... " Ell;' Itoddod< I...,.. AltDndtr llaggoriy. Ir. Thomas Sum"",rsllale I.mo, Olivor 1I.loy lohn W. Haley MOe,,""I!.to fWI William $I.ph<""", 11iliq. III Ltwi. H. Hamntr Will;'m Jwph Hamntr V.mon N.thon;'] H>n>ford Roilin It Harbin I...,.. TOy ... H.rdin lI'illiam CU)' lI.rd...kk Chari.. Riley Hart. Ir. LI"n Ethtridll. lla,..
lohn M. H.aoock. I •. Oli.. r P. Head I."... H. my H,ndo""". Ir. Lindo W. H. H. ndo""" Sitphtn D. H.ninger H.r<>ld F. H.rring I • ..,.,. Edward Hill. h. Robon M,Cltllan Hill. h. Thomas Bowen Hill. 111 William Inge Hill loseph lI,nry Hilloy Carolint W,I1o Hind> u..,.rd T. IIi .... LtiloAki Hirayama Truman MeCHI Hobbs Robe" Lowtlll1odg<. Roben Ed'war<lltodnttl •• Ir. Carl CiMon Holladay Alex L. Holuford. Ir. Bobby lOt Hornsby Emoot Cl>yton Hornsby R.lph lI'oynt Horru.by
lI'illiMT1 HOOptr loIuutcIn. Ir. lohn Dovid lolly AII,n (;QJ; Cha,I~. Larimo .. 10.... Coolll' Hugh lonts Cwrge Hurx\h.ll I.,...., Jr. Co""",, R. JontO. Jr.
'ontO
I...... MKI""". l.ai,d R. I."... M.li ... Mon\Qomory lonel Mit,,""1 Eug<", I"",. Rooalyn L- I"",. Thomas Elliottl ..... Robon Kant lordan Samu,1 Kaufman Thomas It".....rd Kt<ne Irby A.. Kt<ner, Ir. Larry Ii. lIt<ne. luli.n Park< K.ith Cloftoc. B. K~lIty J."... \I'ynton Rolly Ltonard Cilbert /{ond' iok
THE Al,AIIA."IA LAWYER
Thornu A1btrl KendriCk Sttphtn Monty Kenrwntr Douilu L. KO)'
J....... e",,,..,., Kie", •• Jr. J.no W. Killim Frtderlck Wi lli.m Killion. Jr. J<>M Thonw Kin" Jr. Hobo" IIdward Kim,.. Jr. Jolin n.om.. KI.... William O. Ki ..... J•. Hobo" II"'" K,rksoy Alloy Aihr1 K'tc h . J •• John Louis KMwIa
h-nollo Hi.... Mlrsh Mlnon Dolo Mlrsh Lltf'>yettt Ttlfair Jome. Mashbum Willie 1'm)- Masst)' Erskino R Mothl. M.ory Uttlr Mattalr J<thn IbndoIph Motthrwt. Jr. WiUiam B. Matlhrws. Jr. 1I'illiam B. Matlhrws. Sr. 'Thorna.s E. _ l l J r.
J.mes
""'",n
Htdllrl JohnMcIblt James Anthony McLain Lloyd Thompson McMurtrir I'lnutta Pmn McPhr""" Julim L. McPhilli~. Jr. O.ni.1 J<>M M....x.r John Eldoo Mo:daris Rkl'llord A. Mttlhoim ()akIfy W-.r Mrlton.lT. WiIIiamD.Mdton Kennrth J. Mtndellohn
""'-Mc~1I
Langhom
Willilm C)-ruI Lanham. J•• ~mut b)' Lara< Byrd !lor Llttl'llom Morprrt Lou;'" Lothum ChISOlIobrrl Laurendino John Loymoro l.owIe<
"""'" '"' ....... LuI'
HONld Ht.... Allor Finch I.ft IIobrn II-'ydh I.ft. Jr. IIobrn Fredr-rict Lowio Edwin KqI J<>M It. Living>l"". II J...... Smith Lloyd Sam ... II:. Lottln . Jr. Robo" IbndoIph Lonw Wililom LM LontlSho ... III
LM....-
IIetlyC. LIM
_.....HutIM.!'-
Arthu. Fulton !.-II. Jr. IohnW.'-
HrflNn II-~ MIdrb WiD;' Aw.loct Hoi>< Hobson Monuco. k Thornu CIrM MM>two ltoward Allyn Mlndell rltricia Trott MIndt M..... MI...I
n lEALABAMA lAWYER
Itu,," Pot<)' Nkbobon John Aubtl)/ I'lchob J~
Brt"'- N;"J •.
r.eor,. \\illiam Noblt eIr,. Tt .... Mtllot Norman Keith 8ymo Normon
Alba-drr Sholt"" ~ Goors< W....n Laird. n Wttky ~ Laird EIil*thAnnrLand John M.LanO)'. Jr. Steplo<n
Carol Sut I'.1$oro &oto"n L Nel$oro PhyIli. S. Ntobit TMmuA.I'.ttle •. IV Willlom V. Neville. Jr, MlkoIm Itanct Nowman Mlr~ ¥vette Nowman
Goors< f. Moynord
r. Tirnolby McAbtc Donold Cecil McCabr Emit Luthrr McC./JOlIy. III Daniel T. MoCaI1.Jr. Crady Milt"" McCo.rthy. Jr. Mu rray r.ue""" McCluskoy Ma"u. E. McC""""II. Jr. J_ph C, McCorquodolt. III _rt L McCurlO)', Jr, Henri B. McDaniel John Mark M.Doniel John Land McDoWl J...... Horlry McOt:tnlld. Jr. John F»rIry McDo:lNId. III Thom&s Dennis HcDonold William rn..:iI McDonnell Jadrit MUrrin JokOoupI OanitICnyMc~n
Francis BUlltr McCili. Jr. TI'tomas Cloudr McC..!IO" F",nk L McCui ... III
Nino Millionico Cerald L Milltr "",lIiam Allen Millican 8<n \\illiam Minina. Jr. James J'1,oyd Minor Swan Ankenl>w>dt Mitchrll William Itenr}' Mitchrll Cloudr McC.in Moncus
Crorir And .... MonI: l!oract Moon. Jr.
c...,AWt-.
James 1I'anI.it _ . k William lIon)ornin /IkIon, Jr.
Chartu Edward Morpn Charlo< Thom&s Mom. Charlo< Henr}' Morn.. III o.w..,. N. Moms Char1a ~ ""-- J•. Milt"" t..wrma """" E\Iwud WuI Mullen Cuy [IoMis N>bon Cro'110 M.rion N..1. Jr.
Owid BoNY Norris, St. Robr" I\'hotltr Norris Arnold 51 ...." O'Bonnon, Jr. Arnold St...-." O'Bonnon, III Conlon Crlffith O·Rt>r It • • old I.ft Odom Jolm Po'C>' Olive" II Samutl W. 01;"',. J" Piul O. 0..."" J" Jl(k Cidton Podtn Roborl Shlnnon I'idm I.twn Wtnl;ltUh&t,Jr. John Earl hi"",,; EMnIIIu... Pukrr. II Connie Wallo. Po,p""", b)' ru-
Fronk 811onc:1wd h'-'l
Robon Ellis h....,.. Drborah 8<11 i"a>tur Robort Gordon ht. Robon Earl Pitte ....... M.,t"" J.no l'itton William J_ph P. ul Jot Lulie P.yne Jotlllo,,1O)' P..""" t:.... Souchollr PIny. Jr. Abram I.twn Philipt., J•. k>Itnny IticNrd PirI 00n>Id f. Pit," ~c-lynP;ke
JoM-ph StaIIord Pittman. Jr. JoM-ph Statrord I'ittMln RicI'IIonI Hooke. I\IrJInit%
William S, PooIt. Jr. Max Cltvclandl'O!>< lack B. Porlerf'tld. If.
March ]991/ 103
Jam.. Wallaa Porte., II R<>btrt Le.liePotu Hoben Francis Powo" WilliMn 511<lt"" Prilchard. J,. Caryl P. Privtn 10000h W,loy 1'nl\>S1. II Alia B. PruoU Ilm<$ ~;'I Pruott M>o<well H, PulliMn.I •. lohn M. Pul)lO>' Georg< I.. Quinnell}' WilliMn Lukin IQdney.11I Rolph Mic .....1 Roif",d Borden Martin Roy William N. Roy La"TeIIct 0 ...... Rodden Cu rtis CleYela'ld Reding. J•• Archibald Thomas Roeves. J•.
Ronald W. Stlf lerry Kem Stlman Cha.t.. Ed",. Sentell POIrit;" Emfing.. Shan.. I...,.. R<>n>ld Show Robert Harris Shaw, I" Bill}' I, Sheffield l4";d Oo.ml Shelby K.n .... th Wayne Shelt"" W""man G, She,.,... W,ll"m Bruce Sherrill H.nry Floyd She,r<KlI, Roland Thomas Short, J,. Willi.." A. Short. J,.
Jame. Myron Smith Maury On .... Smith Robert Md)r:id Smith RO\I Lte Smith EIOUbeth Cruty Smithart Claud. Kendall Snow Reginald Lte So"otls flo.oId La;rn>n $pUko Fnnd. Willi.m S!>uk>.I., Clifft>Td Morris Sptn« •. I._ I_ph l'.illiMn Spnray A/y<e Manley Sp .... 11 Dovid F. St..1e Robert E. Stei .... ,. III
Albort L. ShurnaJ<., lohn WiIliMn1 Sibl<)'. )r. Gordon Griffin Sik ... I., Michael Reid Silbo,man Wilbu, C. Silborman David L Sil .... Choryl Wilkinson Si"."...11i Htnry Evan< SimpsOn La.ry U_Sims Thomas Hoyt Sin .. rd Wi iliMn Eo,I Sin"rd. I,. Morris K. Sirote Mary Ellen Si.. mo .. Rudolph W. 51.'11'
CIu..te. R. Stophtn< Sam ... l R, St<pheruon Julia Smed> Stewart Michael Allen Stewart. S" Thomas L Stewan Wilso!1 Ed-;,·.rd Still ChlJ-I .. Mic .....1Sliison Sl .... n Thomas Sline Norbome C_ Stone.J., Robert Straub Euge .... Phillip SMU Ed"" Clark Summerford I, mes Laud;' Sumner, Jr, William W, lk .. "DJ1}' I.m.. \\,.,.,..n borU"". III Ann English TOy"" Hoff,cd Neilllylor./,. IWfred Neil llylor I,md Oti£ bylo., II
W. BoydR.-s
Adolph Philip Roich. II MMru$ Wondtll Roid lul"n Mo.!oty Rolfo, IT. Cha,I" Gndy R<)"'OIdJ. ST_ I...... Oonokl R<)"'Okls Robert Roil .. Roynoids Patrick William Richardson B.JoonRic"l A,le ... \'a'ldi... Robbins Roscoe ()wen Roberts, J •. Jock;' Da";d Rooinson Roben G. Rooison ScoIt Alfred Roge .. WilliMn H(lWOIi Rog. .. Wm"m H"",... d Roh. John As" Rounlrn. III Benjamen T. Rowe Thomas Sidney Rut LtnnY,~I ..,'.,
Maunu Loui, S>Jmon Thomas o.--.ko s"mft>Td. III WilliMn Ilm<$ 5.>mf<>rd. I., Elli. Loon Sande" Bent"" S. s"noom Ematine Siubbl.r.old Saw Marl< And ...... Scogin \\"olli.m D_ S<;ruW.I._ J...... Oonold s..... R<>btrt D. Se",11 Ie .. eo. Stgresl
104 I Much 1991
"i"
CI>,."". W, SI>ught<. Amy A. Slaydon
CIa,.""e M. Small. J,. Jam.. Dwight Smith I..,.,., Timothy Smith
10 Alison bo~lo. Rob<rt lerom< T<tl Robin 8. iglwn ""Iford Dovid 1.owson Thomas William Thompoon William ~, ThompsOn lohn Edward Thom!O<l RO\I Thrash. Ir. lohn Snow Throwt •• I •. H~rold Kenan Til'l"lborlake lohn A. Tinn<)' And,,' Maretl TofT.'
Am ""ylOT·~rry I.,. C, funl lerome llxk<T Rob<rt Henry'l\Jme. WilliMn H""".d 'l\J ..... Hugh W, IInderwood. III Abig,oil P. VOlnfi>tyne Ctorge M.ni. Van...Tassol. Ir. lorry M. Vanrkrhotf R<>btrtl, v..1 WilliMn 'Ihornas VenIreS.<, I., Nelson Vinson J .... Siring.. VO]!lle lohn Scott V""",II COroll.. nni .... \\,.I4ct David Bonks \\,.1,1"" Goorgo 1'. W.llhall. J,. WiIIiMn On Walt"". Ir. James 51 ...... Ward Raymond Larry Ward ~ ;.tTcdford Wames Melindo Milch<1I \\'JI ... William Keit~ Watkins L. Cilondl.. \\'atson. Jr. Winfred N. Watson David c.:unpboll W... lohn~IIW... A_II DUn \\,..lhu{ord Bill}' Ray \\,...thington. J,_ J...,.. Wi!>on Webb David I'lokone, Wobbe, CIIo,I .. R. Wiggins, Jr, e.ry Sup"n Wiggin< e.ry Palin Wilkiru<)ll Henry florold Williams J.... M. Williams. III Wayne La""" Williams
mE ALA8A.'1A U\WYER
M·C·L·E Je/l'rqI Abn Willis Eric L Wiloon FW\k /oIooM1t)- Wibon Joma CNrlu Wilson. Jr. Robert Tori)' Wilson. Jr. RaymMd Clifton Winston Miokty Womble Joma Jeri)' Wood Will .... CO\It4tl4 Wood. Jr. Robtrt Iltn!)' Wood"",. lJJ
Emo>I Fwd<lin WOOIbon. Jr. Dovid H. "'ooIdridl< Robtrt Donalcl WON. 111 John Curti. Wrillht Rich.>rd Lynn Wy>lL J.y A....lin York
W" urge we>'Jllowver Ulho has rlOI 01'Nliv doni .solojoin this 141.
As if PdJrut1T1I 28. 1M fol/ot£ing rlmU hod mo<k 10 1'- bui/ding fund. Thftr _ UliU olso lie indudtd on 0 woll in 1"- new building lisling 01/ conlriliulrn. 'TMi, pkdgn art ~ wilh
~
NEW S
MCLE Commission approves regulation to encourage Rules of Professional Conduct education
graltlul CIPP'Kiolion. B"'n" Qu>nleb>um
Murcru.on & Sulky
CMnbI •• CMnbI •• CaWne
Owtl'l$. W...... r & ANoc:i.(CI
" Wi lson c..mll.11Iom;IIOn " !Ii .... 1I.,n.. Caddoll" SIwlIu IIoyfoocl Cltwland " Piora It.ni .... ' . \':0 .... It...,.... " ./IWq Lonta, N.bon. " 'l't'lmirt
Port.rfi.ld. ltarptr & Mill. MU & Young "'-11. T111y & Frtdtrick Ri(thql " Ri(thry
&,.."
...... . .
.-
~"W" HcRiiIht 1xbon.1oIyrick
-
......
Simmons. Btu"""" & Moe.in
Skin" B~
-r..nn.. " Cuin II"ICbn. Riis. Mul"nO!' &Cu.......
As ifPebnNJr'/I 28. the foJlowing special p1~ or hod IJeen receiliM 10 dedicalll rooms or Om1S in the slate bor~ new building:
~uruttmliol rot,lribuliolu
B>1ch " Bingham
......
Burr & ~0rnwI
.........-
""'""'-
Gardner. 0.. ...... "O"NnI c.ll How>rd. Knobo
""
!WId. AmIdaIllIaboIt.
,,-
Ibn. Wynn, N..... II liopn. Smith. A!JpoUilh. Sampltt " Pntt
JohrulOll<. hIl ..... Soilt)-. Cordon & lI.rri. THE Al.A8AMA LAWYER
UIllI<.S i _ . Robi.-.
.....
& Som<rville
Lillhtfoot. fnnkIin. " 'hilt '"""'" P;pa & Cook Hoynord. Cooprr. Frio..on
."'"o...n..
JcnIcino Ciboon & F-'<-r
I'holps.
C"~SmalI
Sirott " Pcnnutt Spoi", Cillon, Grooms. Blln & HUlks
The MClE Commission has approved a rtgulation change to encourage I~Wytrs' aUendance of approved "mina .. ,ddre$$ing the Alabama Rules of Profeu;onal Conduct which Mcame dfecti''t in January. The MCLE Comm;u;on approved the r.gulation clumgt b.... d on the r«ommfndat;on of the Alabama S(a(e Bar's E(hies Education Committee. The chan~ will ~now ~ttomeys ~ttmding apprtM'd Cu: prOl!rJmf ~.,.Ii"ll with tho Rules of Professional Conduct 10 claim two CLX crtdil$ for .ach hour of i",truction atttndtd. The Ethics Education Cool· mittte. chairtd by Richard Thilllt"n of TusatQ05.l. proposed this rtaKnn1endtd clwlgt U I part cI il$ plan 10 implemen( lawyer educa(ion for the new rulu. The chango is tff«ti\.'t for the 1991 and 1992 CLX repol1i"ll periods. The change is impltmen(td by the addition 01 Regula· tion 3.10 10 (he Alabama State liar Mandatory Continuing 1.egal Education Rules and Regulalions. Regulation 3.10 rtad$ ... follOW$: For 1991 and 1992. attorneys attending appr"""d CLE adnilit$ devoted to (he Alabama Rules of Pr0fessional Conduct may claim two (Z) CU: crediu for t:Kh hou, of instruction attended . Reporting of attendar>ee of appr(}\'td CLE programs dealing with the new ruin of ronduct will remain the same <OS for a.ny programs.. Any queshons concerning thi$ regulation clwlgt may tit. addrused 10 either Kei(h Norman. dirt<:lOr 01 p....,gra.nu. or DiM>t Weldon. admini$tra· tive winant of programs. at tilt Alabama State Bar headquart ..." .
Stamt$ & "'((hUon
March 19911 l OS
THE SOVIET EXPERIMENT The Perspective of an Alabama Lawyer By JAr.tES G, SPEAKE
Marxism is in relative eclipse. An era in its history has ended. - Edmund Wilson, To The Finland Station, 1940'
W
hat is now emerging on the territory traditionally known as Russia will not be - cannot be-the Russia of the Czars. Nor can it be the Russia of the Communists. It can only be something essentially new, the contours of which are still for us and for the Russians themselves, obscure.... The Russian people are today poorly prepared. The events of this century have, as we have seen, taken a terrible toll on their social and spiritual resources. Their own history has pathetically little to tell them. A great deal will have to be slarted from scratch, the Tood will be long, rough and perilous. The greatest help we can give will be of two kinds: (J) understanding and (2) example. -George F. Kennan, 1990' II}6 / March 1991
Journey to Moscow
~
In the lale afternoon of Sunday. Septeffikr 16. 1990. Pr,;.f~sso r Cha rles D. Colt of the Cumberland School of Law . nd I Irri .... d in Moscow from frankfurt. M the two deleg;.tes from AI.bama, we w~re to join 700 Americans as participants with 2.000 Soviets in the Moscow Conference on Law .nd Economic Bilateral Relations. The sky was ~rcast with a cold and steady rain. We did not anticipate lhat this dark and dreary day W<luld set the ton. for our experitnce in the capital of the Russian Republic and the Soviet Union. As we proceeded through th. line for vi ... inspection, w. were greeted by the stare of a young Soviet soldier. whose de· meanor was as chilli ng as the wintry rain. As we wailed in the dark and dingy She .. myetovo Airport for our baggage ....·e were told by representatives of our organizing committee that our hote1 accomodations had been changed from the Hotel Moscow aerO$5 the street from the Kremlin to the Hotel Ukraine. which ..." tate, dd .. mined was buil t by Josepll Stalin at the end of World War IJ, to commemorate tile victories of tile Red Army, We were informed that the chang. WaS re, quired becaUSf- of an emergency meding of til. Supreme So. viet in tile Kre mlin Pal",e. In the mid·aftemoon before our arrival. SO ,OOO protesters. led by Boris Ve ltsin, president of the Russian Republic. _ re demonst rating in Red Square. demanding conversion to • market economy within 500 days, Troops and security police were massed in th. subways. following OUT negotiation of til. $20 fare witilihe Russian cab d,i",r (he had commenced negotiatioN al SSO) , _ pr<r <<<d.d 10 Moscow in lIis small. vin tage 19505. poorly-main -
TH E Al.O.8AMA l.O.WYER
tli!lfd "fhicl(.' In lhe disWlCe, I 5aW an antiq\lllted, bl.m.like structUrt with J rusl)' lin roof. This "''''' the ooiy suc:h build. ing l would lI'e in Moscow. There art no private homts in Moscow UUpl fOJr tilt official dacha,., tOn\:ealtd behind high fencts anod WIlOdtd lOTUS of beautiful fir and white birch trees. Got ob$ervts mill: dler milt of lTW$ivt yellIlWStOM. poorly nWnUlined lIpartments with fllding while trim. Most of the apartments occupied by SlJyiet citinns lITe CIWO,d by the SUt•. Rtctntly. limittd Of)IlOrIunities ha"f bffiIrnt .....ilable to some Sovids to purclwt their <.>Wn apartments in Moscow. [t il difficult for outsiders to comprehend thai in the CO}!llmunist sUItt there is virt\lllily no ownership of private property. So:M.t ciliuns Ire fmnodly. ellusive anod courteous in their grming toward Ameoom. SoYitt w..~rs tmll to ~ you with I strong lind vigorous hirlI.IWke. I ~ with no 5cMd. lawyer or citizm who appeared Optimistic for the future of their tl'lUntry. Young, articulatt ;md bright Sovi.u spoke to me with pessimism anod hoptlessness that tilti. Iyst.m would emerge from the chaos and delpa; r which il evident to Iht obItMr;n Moscow. Moscow is II city of ptnttritlng odors of infinite Volirtty--,tll unplelYnl_ The Moscow River. pamng throuth thot cil)'. is poIluled. Nlo~ one of our offICiAl gui~ hom the ministry of jusli(:t. told us that. oN<)! one fish un livt in the Moscow Ri"fr." Moscoviles b}' the thouloInds. when not stllnding in IonS line .. are conllantly Itrolling night or~. It;1 a cil)' of musi"f .t'Oclu... and poor houltkeeping. Smog and poilulioxl ,re pel'ViSi"f. Some Soviet young ptopll: and children art modent.1y W!ll-<lrtsStd. bullhe majority of So:Mtts. inr;:lud. inII otriciiob iUId ~rs I obM:rvt<I inside the Kremlin. ~ wwing elothillil d poor fit. maleri.ll and worknwlship. Swid $OIdiers. numerous notrywhtre in Moscow. ~ immacu· lat. in tan uniforms with red ItripeS. Older Russiion "fi.nns .... ar their civilian lu iu CO'JerW above the pock.t with ribbons reprtMnting participalion in World War 11 campaigns.
The Moscow Conference
~
AI t.... osxning SotsSion in the Kremlin .... were w&rn.d by the Honorllble Willi~m P. Rog.rs. former McreUlI)' of st~tt ~nd chair. man of our dtlegatioxl. thaI a de.p "chasm" of undtrJUlnding would become apparent ill .... mgagtd Sovid lawyers in disclWions of our rtiptdi"f COflltl· lutioNl arid judicial ccncepts. II, ...... predltly rorTtd.. Our """I MMiom with SoMeI bwytn MId schoQn. which indudrei t(lJIia wch ill "Tht Rule of Yw", "Tht Rol. d I.lIW)'I'rs in
TIlt: Al.A8AMA lAWYER
the United Stotes and the So:MtI Union". "COn$tilutiorW I...;ow and 11$ implemenUltion" and "Tht Role 01 lhe Judiciiory (including Administrative I...;ow Judges)" would appear to have afforded practical OppOrtunities for exchang. of vltwI and concepti bel ..... n La~rs. W. had no opportunity 10 tllk with IiW)'l'n in the Union of Mvobts. which if the orpniralion d indtpmdmt SoMet LaW)'l'I"I. Most So\itt ~n 'rt ~Iialrel with the SoWI Sbte. Thtir $pHchH and rtmark$ in \Ilu'oos ItUlonJ .... re wtract. theorttical and WlClur ill 10 how lhe _ping changes proposed in the Soviet legal syst.m would be implemented on a cast·b}'·cue and day·IOoday billis. A S0viet scholar at our conference spoke eloqu.ntly on what ap. purtd to be J clUJ' unokrltanding of dtftdJ in the Soviet judic~ $)'$Iem: "Juslic. is a "fry KCUril. indiClllor of the degrH of Iht lOCial malurity of I lOCitty. The hight:r the role of luthority in tl'lUrt and justic. as litat. powfr, the higher tilt deg... of Ie· g~lity Ind democ racy. the more effectively art the rights and freedoms 01 tlK ciliuns prott<:ttd. Unfortunately. because of Ih. pr.vious neglig.nc. of the law and substitution of Law rulu b}' administrative Ids. the prestige 01 court ;'Ilill "fry low. Court dots not o«upy tht uniClllf pIKe it has in a ru.l law-1fOYm1td st.alt. Prtsmt judicii! powfr dots not. neither in lheory nor in prKIict. eq\llli legislative and aecuti"f powers. II is charaderiud b}' rutrided jurisdiction. inluf. ficient democratic procedure of functioning and rntricted ind.pendenc •.... [t is nec.ssary to .nsure ind.pend.nc. to court-th. mlin condition of il$ succusfui functioning." (sic) The remarks of the Sovid professor ruggutrd further proIound dwlgts ntaSIoIry for revision of the SoYitl I~ system, but IhtIt changes I11iY be mort of the "Tnt high·sound· ing flfOll'OSlls for which the SoYitb are experts. Hedrick Smith. the author of the recently published and important work. TM New Russians, has obseMd this tendency in the Soviet chaooer:"Of COlI1'K the system looks betler 00 paper than in rulity; Soviet le~n are Uperts It niC<'· sounding pTOp'lS.lI" ..... t bad II putting \h.m into prxtiee. especially when they CUI IoCI'OII the inttrtSt of the rum... Although the infamous Artid. VII of the S<Mtt Corutitutioxl. granting 10 the COmmunilt Party the dominant role in the Sovitl judicial system. had been repealed b}' the time of our coofertrlCt. no Sovitllawyer spoIct in I pracliCiJ sense ill to how the theory of judicial independence, to nsentiallo our own $)'$tern....... to be imp!tmt1lted in tht Sovitl Union. LillI( mention was mI<It oIlhe t't1l1(M1 and ull'Ktion of tht Communist Party from its tnditionalgoyemina infilltnce up. on the So:MtI judiciary. A member of our del.gation has commented with part icular reQard to the Sovitt tend.ncy for abltrlCtlon and g.ntralillltlon. BeCllu!t the Sovitts ha~ I "fundamtntally dillertnt, ir>quisitoriiol, continentlJ 1'111.1 sys. trm. tomdimes irs IiI\( tllking to a ...... n.... Althouih the Soviets appar 10 be grOPing for UI unokrlllInding of the neussity for judicial reform owurillil indtpm· dtnct of the j\ldicillry. they do not lJlI)Ur to be ~pproachi"ll il$ ualir.:otioxl. One 01 our delegates. Judge Abne. J. Mikva. spoke bluntly 10 Ml.f(:h 1991/ 107
the Soviets 0( the Il«essity for judicial indtptndtnet: "The judicial 'ystem mlll!t have $ubluntial indeptndence from the political system. The role 0( the judge must be distinct from tha.t of the proleCutor and other representatives 0( the legislative or executive bnIDchel of government."' He also made this observation for the benefit of our Soviet hosts: "There is oIwiously a very thin line betw.en judge! providing an appropriate forum for individuals unhappy with their government and judge. inurting thernulvel inappropriately into the political process." Our o....n U.S. Attorney ~neral, Richard Thornburgh, and a leader of OUr delegation. abo ha5 made thi$ obs<>rvation .... ith resptct to the Soviet understanding of judicial indeptndenco: "I discerned from my meetings in Moscow that the Soviets simply do not comprehend how a political structure can exist with deliberate ttru;ions built in among government branches and political factions. since in their tradition deci$;on$ are reached either through the unanimity of dictatorial r!at Or by ronsell$US motivated by utopian vision .... Although our schedulw visit to the Soviet academy of indt· ptlldent lawyers. the Advokats .....as cancelled without explana· tion, we did visit the la.... department of Moscow State University. This .... as the first opportunity for our group in the del.· gation to direct questio"" to Our Soviet counte",..rts. We ad. dressed a question to our hosts iIS to how the Soviets propose, within the framtwQrk of a market economy, to implement a system for buying and ..,lling real estate upon the privatiu· tion of the collective farms. The interpreter did not apptar to undeTlund our question and we were required to ilSk it ;,gain. A bright, )'(lung Soviet profe=r gave uS a lengthy and impas' sioned respoTl5t in Russian. At the condlll!ion of his remarks the interpreter simply advilotd: "He is ag,liru;t it. the collecti\'e farms are the lands of the ptople."1t There are deep divisions in the Sovitt Union from the followen of Sobhenitsyn who seek to restore some fonn 0( the Rill!' sian monarchy to the so-called "libe ral left" once lead by the oow-silent voiet 0( Andrei SakI!oTQ\/. A5 evidenced by devel· opments at the time of this writing, it is dear that the right wing of the Soviet Communist Party now dominates official Soviet policy. Thtso: developments apptar to respond to the S0viet deptndence upon central control to ill$ure stability and ordor. If One is 0( the view that the ownership of private property with the freedom to buy and sell that property i$ indi5ptnsable to a muket economy. the Soviets have not arrived. In my opinion, they will not arrive in 500 days nOr in 5.000 days.
Perspective of one
~
Our limited tlCptrience in Moscow does not dimini5h the inescapable conclusion that the Soviet Union is a country approaching eco· nomic and pOlitical col lapse. Rhetoric may 5~k profoundly of "a new world order", but it is the consequences of the "new world order" which ~. iIS I~TI. must address. IncreilSingly. I believe Alabama lawyers will interact with Soviet citizens and Soviet lawyeTl. I .... ould re5pt<;tfully enI08 / March 1991
courage my coll eagues 0( the b.ar to exercise such opportunity should it be presented. ~Iopments in the Soviet Union in the immediate future will be increilSingly volatile and dangerOUS. yet in the long term. mutually desirable economic oppor· tunities may emerge. I believe that ....,.. iIS lawyers, mUlt play the leading role in the pr... rvation of the indtptndence of our own judicial~ tern and thereby set an example for the Soviets who witt be oblotrvers of our conduct. We, iIS Alab.ama lawyen, can contribute in at leilSt two ways: (I) Continue to insist upon the integrity of an independent judicia!)' while maintaining our awareness of the danger of USU'l'3tiOn by the judiciary of the legillative and executive proctS>: and (2) Maintain an awareness 0( a judicial bureaucracy..... hich. although formulated with good intentions. may envelope the legal prof.ssion. Our failure to impose restrictions upon an npanding judicial bureaucracy will stine legal and judicial creativity and render its ptr/ormanco rigid and ~ttTile. Despite my ilSStrtions to the contrary. at the closing ,tate banquet in the Kremlin Palace of the Congresses. my Soviet counterpart. Professor Karimova of the Red Institute in fuh kent. insisted that I Will a rich man. A5 ~ viewed the city of Birmingham, Alabama, from lilt airplane upon our return. and ~ I drove to my offiet in the little town of Moulton, Alabama. on a bright, clear morning, I knew 'he was right. J knew that 1 Wils lucky to be an American and lucky to be an Alabama lawyer. •
•
••, •• HENDERSON PRIVATE INVESTIGATIONS MATRIMONIAUDOMESTlcsuaV~lllANCE
CONFIDENTIAl ·
OISCR~E"T
liCENSED · 80NDED
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THE ALl.BAMA LAWYER
RECENT DECISIONS By DAVID B. BYRNE, JR. amllVILBlJR C. SILBERNAN
UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT Doctrine of Edwards ....
Arlzo". e.t.nded Minnick u. MiJSiulppi. 89·6332.59 USLW 4037 (lkcember 3, 1990). May tht poIi«. aftt r I cTimi~ swptd has uquesttd I lawyer. ~i niliatt interrogation wilhoultnr ~r's beillll pnstnt? The Su!,«ITW Court Aid no. by I six-to-
Minnick _ arTWtd on a Mu-iss.ippi WirlOlnt for capill,1 murder. Inln. .lion by ffdenl IiIw mforammt officials endfd whtn he rtquntt1l a Ia.~r, iItId he subsequently communicat~ with ap-
pointed counsel two or three limu. interrogation was rtiniUated by a Missis.ippi deputy sheriff afttr Minnick was told tNt he could not •• (UK 10 ulk to hlm;and Minnick conrwed. The motion 10 l upprU$ 1M confusion wu denied, iItId the dritnduot _ ~ctrd. The MissWippi Suprtmt Court rtj«ttd Minnick'll>'tUmtnt tIw his confusion _ ~n in violation of lIis fifth Amrndnw:n\ rill/>l of counst"1 under the rule of £thDarrb ... Arizono. 451 U.LS. 4n. Jusli« Kennedy focused the iss...
fo-llows: Th. jUut in \h. cut bdore uS i. whtthtr Edwud s' protection cta.~. onc~ the susP«t has consulted with om attorney. The Su~rtme Court held that when counKl iJ requtSted. interrogation must CUK in KCOfd with Edu>arrb ". Ari.rona and Mi'lIndll, ~nd officiab may not rrinitiau intemJC,ition without toonKl ~usent. whether the accused """ <;On. suited with his llltomey. In contut.. the r~qu i .. ment th"t co un"' be " mlde "v"ilable" to the ~<;"Wtd refers not to the opportunity to consult with om at· torney outside the interrogation room, but to the ria:htto han the 1tt0Tney present during C\LItodill interrogation. Justi« Kennedy re.uon.ed that, "Thi. rule is appropriate and nectsUT)'. since I0Il
THE Al.AHAMA LAWYER
" single consulu.lion with an attorney <Iou not rern(lYt the SUSptCI from pt •• sistent attempts by offICials to ptrliu,:od., him to wai~ his rights and from the roerein preHuru thaI accompany cus· I(ldy and may incrult as it is pro· 10nQed." Finally. the Supreme Court provided a "brlghtlin.e test" with the fol· lowing holdina: In our view." fair rudi"ll 01 £AI. lIJ07fb and wbwquent CUH delTl(ln' Antes that we hi'/! Interpreted the rule to ~r poli«· initialfd interroPIlon unlts.5 the I«Wtd hu toon· "I with him al Ihe lime of qun· lion ina:. WNI~r the ambia:uitiu 01 our urlier cues on thii point. we now hold IhIot when toollStl ii reo qunted , interrogation mlLlt tease, and officialJ mlIy II(It ninitiate interrogation without counsel pre.. nl. whether Ihe .c<;u~ has con· suited wilh his attomt)'.
SUPREME COURT OF ALABAMA
Chllileng. for c."•• Ellinglon II. SllIle, 24 ABR 4884 ISeptem/)cr 28. ]\1901. In Elling/OIl, the AlWIN Suprtmt Court a:ranted «rti(>. nri to addrus the defendant's argumenl that the trial toUrt erred in refusing to Jtrik ... juror for t-auu. The Alabama Supreme Court revused and remanded the c.ue. On appeal, Elti"llton IIrgutd IhIoI one 01 the mtmlltrs of the JUT)' venire ad· mitted that the fict that htr hus.band
__
worIced for the police department. coupled with the fact that two 01 the del«· th'tll from the police dlpartment would lit testifyina: in the lrial, would affoct her ability to fairly Judge the issues at trill. following the uchlngt between Ellington'i attorney and the potential juror, coun$C1 ehallenQed Ih. juror fur cause. The trial court dlnied. Justice Ad .. mJ reversed Ellington's conviction btaoust the evidence before the court indit-ated probable prejudiu. and. thus. ..... abuse Q/ discntion on the PiTt of the ITiil cuurt in refusing tu itrike fof caUit the potent;"l juror. ]n rnch ing iIi conclusiQfl, the 5up.. mt court ruffinntd its Opinion in KnIIp Do McOJin. 56] So.2d 2291Ali. ]9891. In /(nop, suprll, the iupreme court ob·
.. Ned: In challenging a juror for cause. the test to lit applied ii that of prob· able prejudio:t. AlllbilmIJ I'w!er Co. u. H""de,son, ~2 So.2d 323. 321 (AI ... 1916). While probable preju· di« lor any rtlI500 will serve to diJ· qualify 1I PfOiIl«tivt juror, qualifi_ cation 01 a juror is a INIter within the discretion 01 the trill COUrL_ This court mUll IooIt to the ques· tions prOl)Qunded to, and the an· wers given by, the pTOSptClive juror to _ ifthiJ diJCntion was properly eurcistd .... UltilNltly, tm tut to lit applied ;s wh.thtr the juror can set aside her opinions and tT)' the ca.st fairly and implTtiilly. according to tht law ~ to the tvidtl'lC •.•.. Thus. a pl'QiPtClive juror should 001 be disqualified lor prejudices or
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110 I March ]991
biases if it appears from his Or hOT ans',:~rs and demeanor that the influ~nce 01 those prtjudices ilnd bias· es can be eliminat~d and ~ ""rdiet rendered according to the (Vidence. See ~Iso Woodv. Woodham, 561 So.2d 224 (Ala.. 1989).
Psychologist expert cannot base opini on upon unsworn statement of others Nash v. Cosb" clarified Wesle" v. Slale, 24 ABR 4952 (September 23. 1990). In alls/eV, the Suprtme Court of
AJabama reversed Wesley', capital murder conviction because the trial judge allowW the State of Alabama's pSyoChologist_.. ~rt to testify {rom reports and reconb whkh ""ere not in (Vidence . In Bra~lci" v. Slal~, 417 So.2d 602. 606 (AI~.Crim.App. ]982). the court of criminal appeals set forth the traditional rule regarding oxpert te.timony as fol-
lows; The traditional rule in this cOuntry has been that an expert, in giv-
ing his opinion, cannot rely upon the opinion of othe .... The basis lor this rule 0( tJlciusion has bun that such testim<m;' is based upon what oth~rs haw said, ~nd, COnkqUently, constitutes h~~rsay. In light of this rule a ph~ician.witness' testimony to hi' opinion wi th respect to th~ condition of his patient may not be supported by testimony by sudl witness that cert~in opinions or reports ... concerning the patient had been made to him by other ph~i
dans. In Nash v. CosflV, 1M .. 88·\068. July 20, 199()) _ So.2d _ (Ala. 1990). the
AI~bama
Supreme Court modified traditional rule. In Nash, the supreme court adopted a standard which ~lIows a mtdical expert to gi~ opinion testimony based in part on the opinions of othe,." when tt-.o.e other Opinions are found in medical r«ortIs admitttd into evidence. In reaching this result, Justice Houston OOstNtd: th~t
Thus. in Nash. we modified the Court of Criminal Appeals' holding in Brodtin as it relates to the testimony of medical experl3 based on the opinions 0( othe,.". but Nash has
not changed the tr~ditional rule fol-
lowW in Alabama that the informa· tion upon which the npert relies must be in evidence . It ;s interesti ng to note from JUitice Houston's footnote that the Alabama Supreme Court has not adopted the trend whkh would allow topert testimony based upon medical o r hospital reoords even in some cases where t~ r(Wrds are not in (Vidence. In SO doing, the supremt court clearly stopped short of allowing an Alabaffi/l exptrt to base his expert opinion upon mediC/ll. Impital Or psychological r«ord! that are not into'idence.
BANKRUPTCY Postopetilion enhancement of pre-petition security interest /n re Jessie C. J""es. 908 F.2d 859 (lith Cir. 1990). An iHue of ront im· prusion in the Eleventh Circuit con· cerned interprttation of §552(b) of the &m1crup1~!I Code relatn.. to ~ pre·peti· tion security interest .. tending to en· hancement 01 an uset, to wit: cash ,·~I. Ut of an insurance policy. afte r bankrupt!)'. The bankruptcy court and the district court had ruled that a security interest of the first National Bank of Atl~nta did not extend to an increaie. post·petition. in the cash surrender '·al. ue of a life insurance policy. The Eleventh Circuit determined that the pru;t-petition incre~se in the cash surrender value of the policy which had been iWigntd by the debtor to the bank, was not subject to the credi tor's litn. but was property of the estate. The court stated that the situation was similar to that of post'petition deposil3 into a bank account which do not increase th o lender's lien. In the instant cast the increased cash surrender v~lu. came about by reason of subsequent premium paymenl3 m.>de by debtor'5 wife and son from their own separate """,13.
Determination of reasonable fees under Bankruptcy Code Granl v. George Schumann Tire &: &lite", Ca. 908 F.2d 874 (llth Cir. AuTHE AlABAMA L.AWYER
lust 10, 19901. TM EI~~nth Circuit further ~fintd _nol prior UHS n· g.udinl attorney's ftts inciudinl th~ non·bankruptcy cau of Norman u. /lousing Authoritv of Citv 01 !>IMt· ~,836 F.2d 1m, 1302 (lIth Cir. 19881. which had held thit succe" in litig.ition was a prerequisite for compen· 5IItion for services rendtTed with reprd to the litigation. This hid b«n lottowtd in the bankruptcy (an of In n PorI Rojpl Umd & l1mber Co.. lOS B.R. 77·
,.
In Cnmt. thr EI~nlh Circuil held INt in rorui\krinl In attorney'S t\aim for fets, the issue is not whether the ser· vias rendertd were rasonable and 0fC· elary 10 the idminiltt"J.lion of the " . \.Iote. ~ PDrt Rr!gal QS,t is on ippall1 this time bdon the Elewnth Circuit RellTdlen. it il recommended thit IlwytFJ who Ire inVOlvtd in bankruptcy u.!oU whe", the Itt is paid from thr u · \.:Ite URfully rud the Ct"J.nt a... as un· doubtedly bllnkruplcy judges in Ihe EleYtnth Circuit will UK it ;OS , guillt· lint.
Excusable neglect .nd due proce•• In n Dermis 0. Mlile, deIJIor: FanmoQ F'irItmt:id $enJka Corp. II. Mu'I' "fAnJr-, 908 F.2d 691 {11th Cir. July 19, 1990}. This is a cast which was ap. puled from the Northern Oistrici of A~ma.. The ~ptcy court omilltd II cmlitor fromlll~oI sewmlor prior. ity (!.lims in the ~tr 13 Confirma· tion Order. \\Ih~n the bankruptcy court denied I r«OrUideration of formal status as i se· cuml cmlilor. the~ havil1ll bttn no 0bjection to the claim by any jI¥ty. Fore· IIIO$l appultd 10 the United Sutts Oi$triet Court which found the Ippalto be untimely because the Motion for Recon· sillention WIS filed mort than ten days iftU confirmation. Fo remost then lIppnled to the Ele~nth Circuit contending 1111.1 tM proeedural errou in the bink ruptcy cut ClIused il 10 be Ilenitd adeqU/l\e n0tice of lhe court 's adverse ruling, which "'loS the ru.s on for. two· month deliY in requesting rtconsidtTlItion . The Elewnth Circuitllrffil with r OrtlllO$l, holding tNt urnkr the ci rcumstlnctli whtrt there Wal no objection to the cLl.im and no notice to ror'rrIO$I other
TIlE AUI.BAMA tAWY£R
appul is <l«mrd timely due 10 the lppellanll beinll milled by iKlI 0( judiciil OfficeR undu the doctrine of ·unique circumsLmcu."
than ltnual notice of confirmition hwilll ClIusrd romnost to .uffu prej. udice. The court also hfld Ihat there was I mort fundamental nason for il 10 txtr· cist ill _1"$ to insure due
,.rvi$oTy
Attorney/client privilege In n Cumberland InlleSlmenl Corp..
"'""'" ... that
the~ is a jusll(.,J)lt rt· liance that the ~nkruplcy court would follow nquired notice proce· dures and rule only on matters properly before it This is COIllPifil· bit 10 the "'tultion wIlert i pUty'.
~O D.C.O. 1%7 (J»nkr. O.R.I., Oclober 23. 1990). This cut invotw. the right 01 thr trus!H to conductll Rule 200.t VI· /CorIImutd ... , . IIJi
Doing Business & Practicing Law with the Japanese I'f\E5[NTING AN INFOI\MATIONAl !>£MINAf\
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This seminar hoos bE't'n developtod 101 lhe lowyer ond bu$.inessmon 5et'king the foreig n morkel
by MI. Tosh lmluu Tokoesu. Jop o n ·s o w n re n owned Ollo m ey. busln essmon , OUlhor ond p rofessor.
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Hexagon
International, Inc.
' NTlR,.. Tl OM. ( ( H; cO N 'U<1 ~Nl ' 16862 NoI Rood. SU:te A, PoUoso. WA 98370 OFC: HIOO·845·5794 • FAX: (2Ol'I) tbl-9'N1 ~
by Goohom. "aId.. ~ . s , _ . ~ 6 DIyon,. P.e. llIImInghom. "lobo"",
Man:h 1991 1 111
CLASSIFIED NOTICES FOR SALE For S".: AI",blm. CD<n wilh CUfrenl ~k.1 parte, '''0 .atl. Contlct Coda Sal.., P.O. Box 57, .. ontgo .... ry, AI-
_
.... :Ml01 .
ForSllIe: An!ique~ ..... 1112Os1B6Ot. GrNlIor oIIiI» dlc:cfalion Of gilt. Guaran\Nd 1lIIIhInIic. wm.. c.II 01 FAX lor 11.,. Sol " ll1ar, P.O . Bo~ 1207, Kunlnllll , Alablma 35107 , Phon, (205) 53&-1521 , FAX (205) 534-0533. For s.: law Offk:to. FOfITIe/ty York Engin •• rlng Building on Soulh Oecatu,
St,"" Moo'11gOmary. 3,500 square 'eel. Centrally heatltd ,rod cooled , with pari<. ir9stc)/~ building In ...... 0Nne< financIng I va ll.tll • . pr\c:lt .I'duc.d 10 $65,000. One and hall bIod<s to ' - Mon1gomery County JaH and Courthou. .. R&My 101 ~
.. law oItioI. Send Inquiry to
cannon • YMIg,-, P.O.
0 . - E, EJ. ba, " ..1>10.... 36323. PhD .... (205) 897·
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For Stole, s.v. SO perc:enI on I""K law book, . Call Nellana' law RnourCi. "'-lea" ~ ra.. book dealer. Huge m..IIOIIft, Low prioft. F . lent qualiIy. y.,.,. UIlIIKlion aotut.ty gouar .... tMd. Allo. cal l Amaricl " 'I'gn, law boc ~ ~.I.' whan you wanl to .. II your unneeded bool<a. C.lllo. you. I,"" noobl~'lon qUOl. ., (800) 2~7799. NIl· lIo....1 law At-..c..
WANTED WanMd: ~ CrirninIII.bsIioo loanIng c.nt., SIIma. ~ MI~ smal l&-. library 10< 51uden1 use. "-Welt • ....., SIatM SuprwTe Ccut fW. pon.r, Vol. 1·7$1. l0:2ooC:UfNO'11. arw:l Ftd8f· .. ~ :!d. Vol. 295-603. Ivrt dona· lion. acc.pt.cl. A!! donation. tax dl' ~. WII pId< up a' your oI!ice. eon. lI<:t eorpor.l PllrIcI< MIoMney, A..".· mil OejHrtmenl 0 1 Publk: $.I1.1y, P.O. Bo. 1511, Montgom .. y, Alablml 36102. Plio'" (205) 242-4392.
11:l 1Mu<:h.1991
POSITIONS WANTED ~Ion w.m.d, Al\OI"ney with LL.M. In Ill>: ..,.;I \hi.. Y"I$' l119ition e xperience
in gln"ll praCllca teek. cha lilnging poaiIion with law IIrm 01" o;orporation. Ex· I**oc. In ' .......,... '" ifIII"IIgII"I\8 in empkIy"*lt disaiminttion suits. SlI"ong ""ardl and writing sl<lIl,. Mtmoor 01 AIIIbtm-. S1aIt 8tr line» 1986. Respond to AHomey, 8138 S .L Hobt AIdgt Ay· InUI . Hobl Sound , Flor ida 33~55. PI-. (407) W6-0157. PO.lllon Wlntld : Altornly wilh lour yu ..' . xpeMnce II "rge AV·raled firm aeekilD rlllocat. In north AWwna. Ex· IInllv. lit lgallon IXP"llncI Involving produc\l Il l bility. mllpractlce arid com· plex I~lgat ion. Excellent acadRmles and . . " ' " IOIIi. Lk:Instd to practice in Alaba· ma and l.ouiIia/Ia. Senc:llnqulrIQ to, AI· lomtY ., ~, 5601 Woodrldgt Str"" Hunl n ill. , ... Iablml 35.02. Phonl (~l ~
OUI U.S. ,lid abro.d . $32-3 mo nlhs: $5~ mooth • . FId, ..1 Aeportl, 1010 Vetmon1 AYll'illl, NW• ..o&-AB, Wasil· Inglon, D.C. 20005. Pho ... (202) 393· 3311 . vtNiMC. ~? Nor>-p"aI>tieing .tIOmIy .... tOllild pro-. way to br.iId • ptoMiYIliIo:.1igtn annuat ~
Potilion OtIertd , O'n
wiIhout. bou. ,,"pIOI_
01"
debt. Seek·
ing two 01" " " " key peop. to duplicate my bu....... from youf mlirMl. can bI
dtv,109ed part·" ..... For Inlor .... tion
tend rllume 10 DI.na T. mpll, On. P.rlm.tlr P .. k SOUlh , Su lll lOON , Birmingham. AlablmIi 35243.. No ".". _Iioti II ~ atwr fhI queJity 01 fhI 11g" IaNIel. to IN! Plrlo'mld 0' the Iq»rtisl 01 Ihll8wyer Plrlormjng such
.......
SERVICES Eumlnllion 01 OUIIUona d Docu· menlt: HandWritlng. r,pe ..ri!iiig and .... lalld ..........",... liIIIrIWionIIIy- court·
POSITIONS OFFERED POllllon OII"ed : Ano .... y wanlad lor cor.a*IIion ""'" andIor ~ 01 pro " pllllnlill in 8IrmIngham legal mal· prlCllce UN . Writ. 80. 3&743. BlrmInghem, ..... baIM 35236-&743. Po, Ilion On, ..d , 51111 l11om,y. U.S. Court of Appe al•. 11th Clrcu~, Atlanta , GIorg ia . S, v",1 IWO' Yu , cftrkships blglnnlng . pringfllil 199 1. Accrediled Ichool. IXc,II'nl .c.d.mlc•. superior _~
edt, ...... rIYIewJ """'.
alen!. Qne.t!rr.. .,...... IXperienoI pr. lened. SInd ruumt. law "hool I..... Icrtpl . ",ned".cI writing aamplt and ....... _ 10 KIrwr C. Wflblonb, 0Iret>lor, Room 50411. 51 FOfayth 51_I, AI_ ........ GIorgia 30303-22111. ~ ~:
AIIDmIy jobI. National
and F..... a1leoaf Empiormtrlt R8I)OtI: highly regtrded rnont!"Iy deIIied listing 01 hundrldl 01 al\omty and Iaw·related jobs wit!! U.S. GoYtrnrnenI. othaf PI/bIiCI!lfivate um~ .. In Waahfrog1DO. D.C., throogh.
qualified .. pert wltn.... Dlplomltl . Amenean ao.rd ot Farenlic DoaJ ....... ~ AmIIIcan Sociel)' 01 Co t lid Doo.ImInI E>:amintrf;, fhllnIln'IItionaI . uoQ.'"", kif Idoaoilif.....tian. fhI Brtt;e/I FO<InIic SciIr"U Society arod the National Aasociatian 01 Criminal 0..I""" lIIwyer • . R.tired Chilli Documenl Eu ml n... USA CI laboralOfili. Hln, M.yar Oldlon , 218 Merrymonl Drive, Aug""", Gtorgl. 30907. Pho ... (404) 860-42&7.
e...rw.r..
lIpl AtNNch Help: Expertenced atlDi· "'Y. n.. ,rbIo 01 AIIbamI S- Bar since lIn. Aooeu 10 JtaIot lew Iinry. WIIS&w ....w.. Prompt .,...... 1INrChes. We do UCC- I lIardlll. $351hour. S... h Kllhryn Fltllllt, 112 Moo.. Building, ~, ~ 36104. call (205) 277· 7'37. No rlpfit.lfllltion is midi . . . " /tilt quaIiiy 01 fhI '-tIaI HI'\'Ji::oes flO IN! PI,/o,mld (11 Ihl l _perri.1 01 rhl "''''''' {WfoItrVI"Ig.ud1 SIIri:ts.
MldlcIIID.nl.1 M.lpllctlc, Exptrt. : Our IX~ WCOKSluly lft.1iIy In AIaba·
mi. Gillis p .. vllw a t your me di cal
THE ALAIlAMA LAWYER
RECENT DECISIONS Conlmwd!Tom _
,e<:onls. f'N.~h CIo.. Audit.,..., loe. , P.O. Boo 220117 , SI. Pete . sbu'lil , Ftorlda 33742. Phone (a13) 579-80S4, For S tat SVI: Fa.: $73.-1333. Traffic Engl"",, ConooltanVExpon W~· ness. Graduate. registered, pro1essional &n{Iin_. Forty yea rs' experience . High_ way and city design. lIallic conllol de· vices, ci!)t zooing. Write <If call"" ,""me, Ius. Jack W. Cha mblin, 421 Belle _ hur . t Dr lvo, Montgomery, Alabama 36109. PlIone (205) 272-2353_ P~~y Con..,ftant: Available to PfO" vDe assistance in ~ related mat· tors. Consuhant has law degree and graduato training in pharmac y; ph armacy license and membe< of the Alabama S ~ Bar. C<>ntact Vance L Alexander, P.O. Bo. 59276 , BIrmIngham , Alab,m, 35Z59. Phon. !205} 991·7291. No mpmSlInU/rion Is mad6 abouf 1!16 quamy cll!I6 I6gaI ~ to b6 perfo<mtxI or rt>e axpe<Tisa 01 rt>e ~..yerpm1orming SIJdr SM'
III
ami nation of the debtor's attorney. The president of debtor corporation objected. contending that the attorney represented him personally and that the convers.ations between the president and the .ttom." were privileged. The court held as a factual determination that if an atto rn eylclient relationship ever arose between the prosident and the at-
torney, such consent can be implied from conduct. but that there was no such evidence in this case. More impor ta ntly. the court stated that there was establishment of a )lTima fade finding of fraud and mismanagement on the part of the prosident. and that under such situations the.., i, no attomey/client privilege. The court cited many castS to substantiate its position, stating that to hold otherwise would be an invitation to widespread abuse. •
CORRECTION! Please make ItHs correction in your ropy 01 tl1e t990·9t Alabama Bar Directory. The tole¢oone number 01 the firm 01 Pinman. Hooks. Marsh, Outton & HoItis was listod as (205) 388 8880. The corroot number is. and amays has boon, (205) 3228880. The firm's address. 800 PaJl< Place T()W{jf. Birmingham. Alabama 35200, as listed ., !he directO/f, is corroct.
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Wrongful DeatlllPersonal Inlury: Expert octuatias will t"'tify to.atue of lost future earnings in wrongful death and pel'SOt'al injury cases. F9k>ws of SociaIy of Actuaries. Experie nce in ~o u n. Can assist In design 01 structured settlement. Call Da vId Go dol s ky. C&B Con s ultin g Group , , Corroon & Black ~omp.any, 1927 l SI Ave nue, North, Blrmlngh.am, Alabama 35203. Phone !205} 323-70lI0_ OIvOtte cases-Pension E.pen: Pension actuary win doterm"", present value 01 accrued pension dghts. Standard fO<! fo r written valuation. In·ccur! testimony lor houMy h'8. Call David Godotsky. C& B eonsultlng Group. a C<>rroon & Black compa ny. 1927 1st Ava nu " Nort h, Birming ham, Alab,ma 35203. Phone (205) 323-7000. Certified Forens ic Document EumlnIf; B.S .. M.S_, g raduate of univarsitybased resident sd>cof in document examination. Published natllntemat. ~"n years' trial experience In state and I_ral couns of Alabama. Forgery. alterations and docum8t1t autherrfieity . xamlfl8;lions in non-Qiminal matters. American Acado· my of F<lfansic Sciences, American Beard of ForaTl$ic Documenl Examiners. Amari· can Society of Quest ioned Examiners. Lamer Miller, P.O. 80. 5540S, Birmingham, Alabema 35255. Phone (205) 9884158. THE ALABAMA LAWYER
For.so years attorneys. mongagt> lenders. builders and realtors hal'e called on us to help close on their real estate transactions-commercial ()r residential. Some say it's because we're prompt . Others say it's because we' re dependable. j\ lost. howel'er. say iI's because with 50 years in the business. we kllOw what we're doing. If you're in need of title insuranct' in the next 50 years or so, call us.
We 11 be here.
Mlnlnl ....1 Valla, 11t1a I",,,ra,, •• Co.poay 11 0m. OfT",,, J"hoo . ,\ Ii ...." I'I". ,1 15 Tom l,,!bo.. l'_0_
I),.."'.... 2428
l-bO l-%"9.-(m2
March 19911 113
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Itr. Gloor,. ller..nick Dent, III SllPr .... C.~rt of Al.bA" .45 D"t... live. ~."t9'_Y IlL 36130