Opinion

Henry v. Kansas City Life Insurance

  • 770 So. 2d 76
  • 2000 Ala. LEXIS 177
Court
Supreme Court of Alabama
Filed
May 5, 2000
Status
Published
Author
Lyons
On the bench
Brown, Johnstone, Lyons
Cited by
0 cases
Authority
More cited than 0.7%

The opinion

LYONS, Justice

(concurring in part and concurring in the result in part).

I concur in Part II. However, I am troubled by the potential First Amendment implications of a restraint upon counsel’s right to contact a witness on behalf of a client, a restraint approved by Part I. Absent a demonstrated need for some restriction on that right, such as evidence showing prior conduct by counsel in violation of ethical proscriptions, such restrictions as the trial court imposed in this case could raise First Amendment free-speech issues. See Gulf Oil Co. v. Bernard, 452 U.S. 89, 104 , 101 S.Ct. 2193 , 68 L.Ed.2d 693 (1981). The defendant presented no such evidence in this case; neither, however, did the plaintiff claim a violation of her constitutional rights. Therefore, as to Part I, I concur in the result.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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