Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama for its Division University of Alabama Hospital in Birmingham v. Richards, etc., [Ms. CL-2023-0849, June 7, 2024] __ So. 3d __ (Ala. Civ. App. 2024). In a unanimous decision, the court (Lewis, J.; Moore, P.J., and Edwards, Hanson, and Fridy, JJ., concur), reverses the St. Clair Circuit Court’s order reducing UAB’s hospital lien below its reasonable charges.
The circuit court apportioned funds from a personal injury lawsuit and awarded UAB, over its objection, a little less than half of its $17,942 hospital lien. The court unanimously concludes that although “Rule 22, Ala. R. Civ. P., and § 35-11-373 vest the trial court with jurisdiction to enter an order disbursing the funds, the trial court is not authorized to contravene the plain language of § 35-11-370. Here, the trial court clearly violated § 35-11-370 in its apportionment of the funds, both by its limitation of the amount of UAB’s lien as against the funds and by barring UAB’s right to seek satisfaction of its lien subsequent to the entry of the judgment.” Ms. *12.
The court reiterates that “‘the patient ha[s] no standing to claim that an untimely filing invalidated the lien, because the purpose of the filing [in Probate Court] was to notify third parties, not the patient, of the claim.’ Ex parte Infinity S. Ins., 737 So. 2d 463, 465 (Ala. 1999).” Ms. *9.