Adams v. Arceneaux

809 So. 2d 190, 2001 WL 701600
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 22, 2001
Docket2000 CA 1440
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 809 So. 2d 190 (Adams v. Arceneaux) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Adams v. Arceneaux, 809 So. 2d 190, 2001 WL 701600 (La. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

809 So.2d 190 (2001)

Phyllis ADAMS, et al.
v.
Kenneth ARCENEAUX, et al.

No. 2000 CA 1440.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

June 22, 2001.
Rehearing Denied August 13, 2001.

*192 Wayne J. Jablonowski, Kevin J. Christensen, New Orleans, for Plaintiffs-Appellants Phyllis Adams and Phylway Construction, Inc.

Lawrence J. Boasso, Metairie, for Defendant-Appellee Travelers Indemnity Company.

Before: FOIL, FOGG and CLAIBORNE,[1] JJ.

CLAIBORNE, Judge.

This is an appeal by plaintiff, Phyllis Adams, and defendant-in-intervention, Phylway Construction, Inc. (Phylway), from a district court certified final judgment granting a motion for summary judgment filed by defendant-in-intervention, Travelers Indemnity Company (Travelers). We affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

This case has been ongoing since July 26, 1995, when plaintiff sued Kenneth Arceneaux and Contours Unlimited, Inc. (defendants) for a money judgment on a promissory note.[2] Plaintiff obtained the money judgment and then on May 8, 1997, pursued a judicial seizure of various construction vehicles and equipment. Before plaintiff brought the suit on the promissory note, defendants purportedly sold and transferred the equipment to J. Caldarera & Company, Inc. (Caldarera). After the judicial seizure of the equipment, Caldarera intervened to seek an injunction prohibiting the sale of the alleged wrongfully seized property which no longer belonged to defendants. In the petition for intervention, Caldarera also sought damages resulting from the wrongful seizure and property damages, naming plaintiff, Phylway, and its insurer, Travelers, as defendants-in-intervention.[3] Plaintiff amended her petition to add Caldarera as a defendant, *193 alleging that the sale/transfer of the equipment from the original defendants to Caldarera was for insufficient consideration and only done to deprive plaintiff from recovering on her judgment against defendants. Throughout the litigation, plaintiff has maintained her good faith in the judicial seizure of the equipment.[4]

On July 20, 1999, Travelers moved for summary judgment alleging that it was entitled to judgment as a matter of law because there was "no genuine issue as to material fact as to the lack of coverage for the claims asserted in the pleadings." At a hearing on October 8, 1999, the trial court denied plaintiff's exceptions of no cause of action and no right of action and dismissed a motion to strike involving the petition for intervention. At the same hearing, Travelers' motion for summary judgment was heard over the objection of plaintiff.[5] After hearing arguments of counsel and reviewing the memoranda and evidence submitted, the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Travelers on November 17, 1999. Plaintiff and Phylway, as defendants-in-intervention, appeal alleging that the trial court erred in granting the summary judgment as there are genuine issues of material fact regarding the interpretation of Travelers' insurance policy. Plaintiff and Phylway also allege the trial court erred in setting the motion for summary judgment for contradictory hearing based upon a non-moving party's (Caldarera's) ex parte request.

LAW AND ANALYSIS

Standard of Review—Summary Judgment

A motion for summary judgment is a procedural device used to avoid a full-scale trial when there is no genuine factual dispute. Sanders v. Ashland Oil, Inc., 96-1751, p. 5 (La.App. 1st Cir.6/20/97), 696 So.2d 1031, 1034, writ denied, 97-1911 (La.10/31/97), 703 So.2d 29. Summary judgment is properly granted if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue of material fact, and that mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. La. Code Civ. P. art. 966 B. Summary judgment is favored and is designed to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action. La. Code Civ. P. art. 966 A(2).

The initial burden of proof remains with the mover and is not shifted to the non-moving party until the mover has properly supported the motion and carried the initial burden of proof. Only then must the court consider the evidence in support of the opposition showing the existence of specific facts establishing a genuine issue of material fact. See Scott v. McDaniel, 96-1509, p. 5 (La.App. 1st Cir.5/9/97), 694 So.2d 1189, 1191-92, writ denied, 97-1551 (La.9/26/97), 701 So.2d 991. If the mover carries the burden and *194 the non-moving party fails to show in his opposition that there is no genuine issue of material fact, summary judgment should be granted. La.Code Civ. P. arts. 966 and 967.

In determining whether summary judgment is appropriate, appellate courts review evidence de novo under the same criteria that govern the trial court's determination of whether summary judgment should be granted. Because it is the applicable substantive law that determines materiality, whether or not a particular fact in dispute is material can be seen only in light of the substantive law applicable to the case. Rambo v. Walker, 96-2538, p. 5 (La.App. 1st Cir.11/7/97), 704 So.2d 30, 33.

The issue of whether an insurance policy, as a matter of law, provides or precludes coverage is a dispute that can be resolved properly within the framework of a motion for summary judgment. Frost v. David, 95-0839, p. 4 (La.App. 1st Cir.5/10/96), 673 So.2d 340, 343. Summary judgment declaring a lack of coverage under an insurance policy may not be rendered unless there is no reasonable interpretation of the policy under which coverage could be afforded when applied to the undisputed material facts shown by the evidence supporting the motion. Reynolds v. Select Properties, Ltd., 93-1480, p. 2 (La.4/11/94), 634 So.2d 1180, 1183.

Contradictory Hearing

Plaintiff complains that Travelers' motion for summary judgment should not have been set for hearing because a non-moving party (Caldarera) requested the hearing date. Pursuant to a joint motion for continuance of hearings on August 18, 1999, the trial court ordered that the hearing on Travelers' motion for summary judgment be continued without date and that the hearing on plaintiff's peremptory exceptions and motion to strike be continued until October 8, 1999. Thereafter, on September 22, 1999, in the interest of judicial economy and the convenience of the parties, Caldarera moved to set Travelers' motion for summary judgment for contradictory hearing on the same day as the hearing for plaintiffs exceptions and motion to strike. Travelers had no opposition to the setting of its motion for summary judgment on October 8, 1999; however, plaintiff opposed the setting of the hearing. Nevertheless, the trial court set the summary judgment for hearing on October 8, 1999. Plaintiff was served with the order setting the hearing. Plaintiff filed a memorandum in opposition to the motion for summary judgment on October 5, 1999, and a response memorandum on October 6, 1999. All counsel were present at the hearing on October 8, 1999, and Travelers did not oppose the hearing on the motion for summary judgment after plaintiff's exceptions and motion were heard.

We find no error in the setting of the motion for summary judgment for hearing. La. Code Civ. P. art. 966 D requires that a motion for summary judgment be heard within a reasonable time. The time for the hearing is set by the trial court within its discretion.

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Bluebook (online)
809 So. 2d 190, 2001 WL 701600, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/adams-v-arceneaux-lactapp-2001.