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Alabama has always had some rather unusual jurisprudence.  In product liability, the Yellowhammer State doesn’t have negligence or strict liability, but rather a hybrid called the Alabama Extended Manufacturers Liability Doctrine (“AEMLD”).  See Casrell v. Altec Industries, Inc., 335 So.2d 128, 132-33 (Ala. 1976).  More recently, the Alabama Supreme Court twice adopted the extreme pro-plaintiff innovator liability theory in Wyeth, Inc. v. Weeks, 2013 WL 135753 (Ala. Jan. 11, 2013), withdrawn and superseded, Wyeth, Inc. v. Weeks, 159 So.3d 649 (Ala. 2014).  On that occasion, the Alabama legislature overruled the court.  See Ala. C. §6-5-530.  More recently than that, the same court authorized plaintiffs to perjure themselves and claim that they would have ignored their doctors’ recommendations in order to claim causation in learned intermediary cases.  Blackburn v. Shire U.S., Inc., ___ So.3d ___, 2022 WL 4588887, at *11-12 (Ala. Sept. 30, 2022).  Most recently, and most notoriously, the Alabama Supreme Court declared frozen embryos to be people – at least for the purposes of tort law.  LePage v. Center for Reproductive Medicine, P.C., ___ So.3d ___, 2024 WL 656591, at *4 (Ala. Feb. 16, 2024).  Who knows? By 2030, Alabama might attempt to count blastocysts as “people” for purposes of the census – although not for tort purposes, since the legislature appears to have stepped in again.

We read another bizarre – if not nearly as notorious – Alabama law decision recently.  Ahmed v. Johnson & Johnson Healthcare Systems, Inc., 2024 WL 693078 (S.D. Ala. Feb. 20, 2024), reconsideration & certification denied, 2024 WL 947447 (S.D. Ala. March 5, 2024).  What’s bizarre about it?  It allowed a plaintiff in a medical device product liability case (hip implant) get to the jury without any medical expert testimony on causation.  Id. at *16 (entitled “Summary Judgment is not Required on All of Plaintiff’s Claims Even Though She Offers No Expert Evidence Regarding Medical Causation”).Continue Reading Another Weird Alabama Decision

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While two-fer Tuesday has that nice alliterative ring to it – three-fer Tuesday gives you more bang for your buck.  Pleadings, preemption, and personal jurisdiction.  Maybe trifecta-Tuesday?

Plaintiff in Froman v. Coopersurgical, Inc., 2022 US Dist LEXIS 120725, *2-3 (N.D.AL Jul. 8, 2022) filed her complaint alleging that she suffered an injury when a

Photo of Michelle Yeary

It seems fitting that if we are going to talk about a one-two punch, we acknowledge the passing of boxing legend Marvelous Marvin Hagler.  The undisputed middleweight champion from 1980 to 1987 whose boxing career started in Massachusetts but who started out a New Jersey boy.  Only Jersey Understands Jersey!

From New Jersey to Alabama