Darlene Slamen v. Herbert A. Slamen

Summary

The Alabama Supreme Court treated the defendants' appeal as a petition for mandamus and held that the trial court exceeded its discretion by ordering merit‑based discovery while the motion to compel arbitration was pending. Accordingly, the court granted the writ of mandamus and vacated the trial court's discovery order. The decision also affirmed that mandamus is the proper avenue for reviewing such discovery orders.