Ex Parte Pickens Coal Co., Inc.

These petitions for a writ of mandamus seek an order requiring the respondent judge of the Walker County Circuit Court to transfer the actions at issue to the Winston County Circuit Court. Ten separate actions were brought on October 17, 1988, against Pickens Coal Company, Inc., for damages allegedly caused by Pickens Coal's blasting operations to the plaintiffs' real property. Pickens Coal is a domestic corporation. Although fictitiously named defendants are described in the complaints, Pickens Coal is the only properly named defendant.

Each of the ten complaints includes five counts, and the…