Instructions: After reading the following case, answer the three questions, in complete sentences, using proper language, and referencing any and all outside sources.
An Alabama truck driver was found dead next to his truck in California. His body was taken to a local funeral home, where an autopsy was performed by a medical laboratory. The California funeral home prepared the body, provided a casket, and shipped the remains back to the widow in Alabama, together with a bill for services rendered. The widow discovered that her husband had been placed in the casket nude, had been packed in a cotton “disaster pouch,” was terribly discolored, and was lying in an awkward position. She alleged that the body looked like a “monster.” The widow sued the funeral home and the medical lab in her home state of Alabama for wrongful mishandling of her husband’s body. Both California firms contended that an Alabama court had no jurisdiction over their person. The lab’s only communication with the widow was sending her the autopsy report.
By what legal authority can a person, artificial or natural, be properly served in a state in which it has no office or physical presence?
Does the Alabama court have jurisdiction over the California firms? Why or why not?
Would you recommend that the widow use alternate dispute resolution (ADR) rather than litigation? Explain your reasoning, and if you feel that ADR would be advantageous, relate what form of ADR you think would be better, and why.
