Introduction to Basic Legal Citation - access-to-law home

The standard of judicial review applied to rulings of administrative agencies differs from that
applied to rulings of trial courts. An appellate court will affirm a ruling of a lower court if
there is any valid reason to do so, even a reason not presented to -- or rejected by -- the lower
court. See McKenzie Methane Corp. v. M-W Drilling, Inc., 653 So. 2d 982, 984 (Ala. 1995).
See also Smith v. Equifax Servs., Inc., 537 So. 2d 463 (Ala. 1988). . . .
In Forest Manor, the main dispute centered on which entity was entitled to the presumption of
correctness on appeal -- the CON Review Board or the FHO. The Court of Civil Appeals
properly resolved the dispute in that case in favor of the FHO:
"Thus, because the FHO's order (and not the CONRB's order) is the final agency decision
to which a presumption of correctness applies, we must determine whether his conclusions
… were themselves 'arbitrary, capricious, or [contrary to] applicable law.'"
Forest Manor, 723 So. 2d at 80. See also, Ala. Administrative Code, Rule 410-1-8-.26. "The
agency order shall be taken as prima facie just and reasonable and the court shall not
substitute its judgment for that of the agency as to the weight of the evidence on questions of
fact …." § 41-22- 20(k), Ala. Code 1975. "The decision ofthe fair hearing officer is the final
decision of the Board." Alacare Home Health Servs., Inc. v. Baptist Hosp. of Gadsden, Inc.,
655 So. 2d 995, 996 (Ala.Civ.App. 1994).
. . . .
Before the trial court's denial of the motion to dismiss, there had been instructive, but
nonbinding, revenue rulings issued by the Alabama Department of Revenue; those rulings
indicate that the rental tax could be billed to or passed on to the lessee as a tax or as an
additional cost of the lease. Ala. Admin. Code (Dep't of Rev.), chapter 810-6-5-.09 ("Leasing
and Rental of Tangible Personal Property").
. . . .
Ala. R. App. P. 28, http://judicial.alabama.gov/library/rules/ap28.pdf.
(a) Brief of the Appellant/Petitioner.
The brief of the appellant or the petitioner, if a petition for a writ of certiorari is granted and
the writ issues, shall comply with the form requirements of Rule 32. In addition, the brief of
the appellant or the petitioner shall contain under appropriate headings and in the order here
indicated:
. . . .
(10) Argument. An argument containing the contentions of the appellant/petitioner with
respect to the issues presented, and the reasons therefor, with citations to the cases, statutes,
other authorities, and parts of the record relied on. Citations of authority shall comply with the
rules of citation in the latest edition of either The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation or
ALWD [Association of Legal Writing Directors] Citation Manual: A Professional System of
Citation or shall otherwise comply with the style and form used in opinions of the Supreme
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