The Supreme Court of Alabama, the Birmingham Bar Foundation and Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law invited guests to observe the Supreme Court of Alabama in a unique day of oral appellate arguments on Wednesday, September 26, 2018. Among distinguished members of the state’s legal community, college and high school students from across the state also attended the session.
The Supreme Court listened to oral arguments on both sides regarding a medical malpractice case. HGD founding partner, Steve Heninger, presented the oral argument for the plaintiff. The Supreme Court of Alabama is composed of a chief justice and eight associate justices. As the highest state court, the Supreme Court has both judicial and administrative responsibilities.
The Supreme Court has authority to review decisions rendered by the other courts of the state. It also has authority to determine certain legal matters over which no other court has jurisdiction and to issue such orders necessary to carry out its general superintendence over the courts in Alabama. The Alabama Supreme Court has exclusive jurisdiction over all appeals where the amount in controversy exceeds $50,000 and appeals from the Alabama Public Service Commission.
The chief justice is the administrative head of the state’s judicial system. The Supreme Court may make rules governing administration, practice, and procedure in all courts. Under this authority, rules of practice and procedure and judicial administration have been adopted to eliminate many of the technicalities which cause delay in the trial courts and needless reversals in the appellate courts.
