Monday, December 31, 2007

Could Exxon Ruling be Set Aside?

Alabama blogger Robby Scott Hill is leading an effort to have the Alabama Supreme Court's ExxonMobil ruling set aside.

The ruling, in which the court overturned a $3.6 billion jury verdict for the state, could be set aside because an aide to Justice Tom Parker is not licensed to practice law in Alabama.

Parker wrote the Exxon ruling. But John Eidsmoe, one of Parker's senior staff attorneys, is not licensed to practice law in Alabama, Hill reports. If Eidsmoe prepared a significant portion of the opinion for Parker, the ruling could be void.

Here's a question: If Eidsmoe's participation could void the ExxonMobil ruling, would that apply to all rulings that involved a Parker/Eidsmoe collaboration? Wouldn't that be lovely to see hundreds, maybe thousands, of cases overturned because of a nutcase GOPer on our high court?
Come to think of it, I'm guessing Parker voted not to grant certiorari in my Legal Schnauzer case, violating his oath to uphold the law in the process. Hmmm.

Former employees of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, led by Hill, are seeking to have the ruling set aside.

Hill also provides this insight into Parker and the Exxon ruling.

For good measure, Hill adds this entertaining account of how things really get done in Montgomery, Alabama's seat of power.

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