Recently, the Florida Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional a statute which caps non-economic damages (which, in Florida, includes claims of pain and suffering and mental anguish, among others) that can be awarded where medical negligence results in personal injury or death. The statute in question limited such damages to $500,000 in some cases, and $1 million … Read More
Katzenback v. McClung, commonly known as the Ollie’s Barbecue Case, is one of the most important Civil Rights cases of the 1960s. Yesterday, the Birmingham Bar Foundation and Cumberland School of Law hosted a production reenacting the events leading to the filing of the lawsuit and the government’s appeal of the District Court’s decision to … Read More
On Friday, March 14, 2014, the Alabama Supreme Court rendered a decision on a permissive appeal from the Circuit Court of Montgomery County, Alabama in Wayne Morrow v. Shameka Caldwell, as mother and next friend of Keandrick Russell, a deceased minor. At issue on appeal was whether the Circuit Court improperly denied Morrow’s request for … Read More
Christian & Small supported the Exceptional Foundation’s 10th Annual Chili Cook-Off and participated as a “Spicy Sponsor” in the chili competition held at Brookwood Village on Saturday, March 8, 2014. The firm’s team was up at dawn working diligently under the tent to cook over 20 pounds of meat and chop, slice and grate all the ingredients added to … Read More
By Duncan Manley, Christian & Small Partner Do not take your clients for granted. This reminds me of a story told from the pulpit of a church in Tennessee. The owner of a home went to the office of a real estate agent to list his house for sale. He was invited into the agent’s … Read More
By Dan Sparks, Partner, Christian & Small Member of the American Bankruptcy Institute The good news for many is that bankruptcy filings are declining nationally and locally here in Birmingham. In fact, this is the fourth year in a row for declining numbers. This is in part because banks continue to make fewer loans. Since … Read More
Bob Cooper obtained a defense verdict on February 6, 2014 in favor of a pediatrician in a wrongful death action. The patient died on August 17, 2009, with an autopsy revealing an epidural hematoma. The plaintiff alleged that the pediatrician, who saw the decedent on August 16, 2009 for a regularly scheduled appointment, failed to … Read More
Christian & Small partner, LaBella S. Alvis, was elected to serve on the Board of Directors of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers at the annual meeting held February 22-26, 2014 in Kailua-Kona, HI. Of the twelve new board members elected, Alvis was the only female and she will serve a three year term. The … Read More
Christian & Small Partner, Michael Vercher, recently wrote an article, “Expert Witnesses Are Focus of Revisions to FRCP Rule 26” that was published in the American Bar Association (ABA) Tort Source newsletter. Here is the piece in its entirety. It is very relevant to anyone who has already been impacted by the recent changes to the Federal … Read More
