Van Knight v. Smoker

The plaintiffs, Mary Van Knight and Gaye F. Garnett, as conservators of the estate of Helen H. Fillingim, non compos mentis, appeal from the trial judge's summary judgment in favor of the defendants, Piggly Wiggly Corporation; Piggly Wiggly Alabama Distributing Company, Inc.; Smoker, Inc.; Gregory A. Smoker; H. Grady Smith; and Virginia Smith. The only issue raised by the plaintiffs is whether the trial judge erred in conducting a hearing on November 18, 1998, on the defendants' motions for summary judgment in the absence of the plaintiffs and their attorneys, C. Knox McLaney III and John…