Have a look at the jQuery UI vertical Tabs Docu. I try out it, it worked fine.
<style type="text/css">
/* Vertical Tabs
----------------------------------*/
.ui-tabs-vertical { width: 55em; }
.ui-tabs-vertical .ui-tabs-nav { padding: .2em .1em .2em .2em; float: left; width: 12em; }
.ui-tabs-vertical .ui-tabs-nav li { clear: left; width: 100%; border-bottom-width: 1px !important; border-right-width: 0 !important; margin: 0 -1px .2em 0; }
.ui-tabs-vertical .ui-tabs-nav li a { display:block; }
.ui-tabs-vertical .ui-tabs-nav li.ui-tabs-selected { padding-bottom: 0; padding-right: .1em; border-right-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; }
.ui-tabs-vertical .ui-tabs-panel { padding: 1em; float: right; width: 40em;}
</style>
<script>
$(document).ready(function() {
$("#tabs").tabs().addClass('ui-tabs-vertical ui-helper-clearfix');
$("#tabs li").removeClass('ui-corner-top').addClass('ui-corner-left');
});
</script>