In Ex parte Tucker, [Ms. 1090445, Jan. 7, 2011] __ So. 3d __(Ala. 2011), the Alabama Supreme Court held that the plaintiff was entitled to subpoena and discover documents and records reflecting payments that the defendant made to a third-party law firm. The case was the latest of many attempts by plaintiffs to collect on judgments obtained against Richard Scrushy, the former CEO of HealthSouth Corporation. The Alabama Supreme Court reasoned that the documents were not protected by the attorney client privilege because the privilege does not extend to the fee arrangement between an attorney and client or payments made pursuant to that fee arrangement. Likewise, the Alabama Supreme Court rejected the third-party law firm's arguments that the documents and records were irrelevant and/or that it would be unduly burdensome to produce the documents because the third-party law firm failed to adequately brief the issue
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