Allen & Norman, LLC v. Chauvin

916 So. 2d 1071, 2005 WL 1523519
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 29, 2005
Docket2004 CA 0519
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 916 So. 2d 1071 (Allen & Norman, LLC v. Chauvin) 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
Allen & Norman, LLC v. Chauvin, 916 So. 2d 1071, 2005 WL 1523519 (La. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

916 So.2d 1071 (2005)

ALLEN & NORMAN, LLC
v.
Sandy CHAUVIN, Bone & Joint Surgical Clinic, Foot Specialists of Louisiana, Inc. and Hospital Service District No. 1 of the Parish of Terrebonne.

No. 2004 CA 0519.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

June 29, 2005.

*1072 Keith M. Whipple, Houma, Counsel for Defendant/Appellant Bone & Joint Surgical Clinic.

Sandy Chauvin, Houma, Pro Se for Defendant/Appellee.

Before: PARRO, KUHN, and WELCH, JJ.

KUHN, J.

Defendant-appellant, the Bone & Joint Surgical Clinic (the Clinic), provider of medical services to defendant-appellee, Sandy Chauvin, appeals a judgment rendered in a concursus proceeding, denying its claim to proceeds from Chauvin's settlement with a tortfeasor's employer's insurer, which had been deposited into the registry of the court by her attorneys, Allen & Norman, L.L.C. We reverse and render.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In October 1997, Chauvin began receiving medical treatment from a physician with the Clinic for injuries to her wrist, lower back, neck, and leg that she sustained in a motor vehicle accident with Lillian Smith, which occurred in the course and scope of Chauvin's employment with Wendy's Hamburgers (Wendy's) as she was returning to Houma from a training seminar in New Orleans. In April 1998, Chauvin filed a lawsuit in district court against Lillian Smith, Smith's employer, and its insurer (the Smith defendants), averring that Lillian Smith, as the negligent operator of the vehicle which had collided into Chauvin's vehicle, and the other Smith defendants were liable to her for the damages she had sustained. Thereafter, the Clinic notified Chauvin's attorney of its privilege for the fees associated with the Clinic's treatment of Chauvin on the net amount of any proceeds Chauvin *1073 received as a result of her claims against the Smith defendants. On December 1, 2001, Chauvin settled her claims against the Smith defendants for $23,500.00, which was placed in a trust account by her attorneys. The attorneys then filed this concursus proceeding and, after deducting a fee and legal expenses, deposited the net settlement proceeds of $14,875.87 into the court's registry, naming as defendants Chauvin and the Clinic.[1]

After a hearing, the trial court concluded that the Clinic had been fully paid in accordance with statutory requirements and ordered payment of the proceeds in the court's registry to Chauvin after deduction of court costs. A judgment in conformity with the trial court's determination was signed. The Clinic suspensively appeals.

DISCUSSION

Initially, we note a concursus proceeding is one in which two or more persons having competing claims to money are impleaded and required to assert their respective claims contradictorily against all other parties to the proceeding. La. C.C.P. art. 4651. The primary purpose of the proceeding is to protect the stakeholder from multiple liability, from conflicting claims, and from the vexation attending involvement in multiple litigation in which the stakeholder may have no direct interest. Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Oliver, 590 So.2d 1248, 1250 (La.App. 1st Cir.1991), writ denied, 597 So.2d 1028 (La.1992). A concursus contemplates a proceeding which leads to a single judgment adjudicating all issues between the parties. Id.

The Clinic bases its entitlement to a portion of the net settlement proceeds deposited in the court's registry on the privilege established by La. R.S. 9:4752, which states in pertinent part:

A health care provider . . . that furnishes services or supplies to any injured person shall have a privilege for the reasonable charges or fees of such health care provider on the net amount payable to the injured person, his heirs, or legal representatives, out of the total amount of any recovery or sum had, collected, or to be collected, whether by judgment or by settlement or compromise, from another person on account of such injuries, and on the net amount payable by any insurance company under any contract providing for indemnity or compensation to the injured person.

In support of her contention of entitlement to the entire net settlement proceeds, Chauvin relies on La. R.S. 23:1034.2, which provides for the establishment of a reimbursement schedule to persons who render medical treatment to workers' compensation claimants and which provided in part:[2]

A. The director of the office of workers' compensation administration shall establish and promulgate a reimbursement schedule for drugs, supplies, hospital care and services, medical and surgical treatment, and any nonmedical treatment recognized by the laws of this state as legal and due under the Workers' Compensation Act and applicable to any person or corporation who renders such care, services, or treatment or provides such drugs or supplies to any person *1074 covered by Chapter 10 of Title 23 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950.
B. The director shall adopt, in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act, rules and regulations necessary to establish and implement a reimbursement schedule for such care, services, treatment, drugs, and supplies.
C. The reimbursement schedule shall include charges limited to the mean of the usual and customary charges for such care, services, treatment, drugs, and supplies. Any necessary adjustments to the reimbursement schedule adopted and established in accordance with the provisions of this Section may be made annually. . . .
D. Fees in excess of the reimbursement schedule shall not be recoverable against the employee, employer, or workers' compensation insurer. (Footnote omitted.)

The evidence establishes that Wendy's workers' compensation insurer paid the Clinic a total of $5,266.80 for the medical services and supplies that the Clinic had provided to Chauvin. Applying La. R.S. 23:1034.2 D, the trial court concluded that the Clinic could not recover from the net settlement proceeds any fees for medical services in excess of the reimbursement schedule. And in the absence of any contrary evidence, the trial court found that the payment to the Clinic by Wendy's workers' compensation insurer was the full amount required under La. R.S. 23:1034.2. Thus, the trial court determined that the Clinic was not entitled to any of the net settlement proceeds that were on deposit in the court's registry and ordered that they be paid to Chauvin.

The Clinic maintains that because it proved it had furnished services and supplies to Chauvin and timely provided Chauvin's attorneys with written notice,[3] it has perfected a privilege created by La. R.S. 9:4752 and, therefore, is entitled to a portion of the net settlement proceeds.

The meaning and intent of a law is determined by consideration of the law in its entirety and all other laws on the same subject matter, and a construction should be placed on the provision in question which is consistent with the express terms of the law and with the obvious intent of the lawmaker in enacting it. Denham Springs Economic Dev. Dist. v. All Taxpayers, Property Owners, XXXX-XXXX, pp. 13-14 (La.2/4/05), 894 So.2d 325, 334.

Subsection D of La. R.S. 23:1034.2 broadly states that fees in excess of the reimbursement schedule are not recoverable against an employee.

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Bluebook (online)
916 So. 2d 1071, 2005 WL 1523519, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/allen-norman-llc-v-chauvin-lactapp-2005.