The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-05-11
JUDGE NESMITH'S FAILURE TO ANSWER

irmance of judgment after six years lit igation. The $929S judgment and interest was paid by railroad voucher in my name as attorney. I sent for Hall, who had employed me- and the facts being devel- oped that McCarly had moved from Ala bama to Texas. and that he had never been appointed Gas we had supposed) gen. eral administrator of Blount county, Hall and I decided to distribute the money to those legally entitled to it. without hay ing another administrator appointed. An other administrator could only have the effect of taking administration fees out of the fund and reducing to that extent the amounts to be received by those en- titled Under all the decisions of our su- preme court another administration was unnecessary. Aired was a child and owed no debts and the $329S being the entire estate, and a recovery of damages for Alred's death, there was no one interested in 1t except the legal distributes and the attorneys. So Hall and l took 50 per cent according to the contingent fee contract Hall had made with the Aired child's pa rents, and paid over the balance to the transferee of the judgment to whom these parents had sold it during the progress of the litigation. I received $500 as my part of fees Several weeks after the money had been distributed M. L. Ward, a law yer, then at Oneonta, had himself appoint ed administrator of the estate of the AL red child. by alleging there was an es- tate, and then made demand on me to pay the entire amount l had received, s329S, over to him. I showed him how it had been distributed, and of course refused to pay him a dollar. This was in August, 1901. Over two years afterward Ward moved from Oneonta to Birmingham and made a motion in city court to compel me to pay the money to him. This motion was decided by Judge sem In my favor in January. 1904 Ward appealed to supreme court which affirmed Judge Senn in Jan uary, 1906. Then a year later. February, 1907, Ward made another motion before Judge Nesmith just after he commenced his judicial career, for judgment against me for the same money. S329S and Judge Nesmith, notwithstanding the supreme court had already adjudicated the matter in my favor, overrulod all my pleas and rendered judgment against me in favor of Ward, not only for the $329S but for s per cent annual interest and a per cent per month penalty from the time Ward had made demand on me for the money when he had himself appointed admnis- trator in August, 1901. This made total judgment rendered April S. 1907, for $15s79 on the alleged theory that I had violated my duty as attorney by refusing to pay the money to Ward the adminis- trator self-appointed months after I had collected the money and distributed it among those legally and equitaby entitled to receive it. I appealed from Judge Ne smith to the supreme court, which win probably hand down it's opinion soon. assert that there is not lawyer at the Birmingham bar. even among Judge Ne smiths supporters who Is familiar with my case who will say that Judge Ne smiths judgment was correct. The facts speak for themselves. I refrain from comment. and leave 1t to any honest and intelligent citizen to form his own opinion whether a fair-minded and just judge could have rendered such a judgment
 H. K. WHITE.
 Birmingham, May 10 1908