Assensoh v. Diamond Nails

897 So. 2d 806, 2005 WL 775782
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 16, 2005
Docket2004-CA-1130, 2004-C-2067
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 897 So. 2d 806 (Assensoh v. Diamond Nails) 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
Assensoh v. Diamond Nails, 897 So. 2d 806, 2005 WL 775782 (La. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

897 So.2d 806 (2005)

Rose-Abena ASSENSOH
v.
DIAMOND NAILS, Professional Nail Care, their Employee Linda (Manicurist) and their XYZ Insurance Company.

Nos. 2004-CA-1130, 2004-C-2067.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

February 16, 2005.

*807 Pius A. Obioha, New Orleans, LA, for Plaintiff.

James L. Donovan, Jr., Donovan & Lawler, Metairie, LA, for Defendant Diamond Nails.

Court composed of Judge PATRICIA RIVET MURRAY, Judge DAVID S. GORBATY, Judge LEON A. CANNIZZARO JR.

PATRICIA RIVET MURRAY, Judge.

This is a personal injury action. The defendant, Diamond Nails, appeals the trial court's decision awarding the plaintiff, Rose-Abena Assensoh, $30,000 in general damages. Diamond Nails also filed a writ application in this court seeking review of the trial court's denial of its motion to dismiss the judgment appealed from as a nullity. For purposes of judicial economy, we consolidated the writ application with the appeal. For the reasons that follow, we annul the judgment appealed from, dismiss the appeal as moot, and remand.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Ms. Assensoh alleges that on October 5, 2001 she went to Diamond Nails, a professional nail business, to get a manicure. She further alleges that the manicurist who did her nails that day, known only as "Linda," injured her left thumb. She still further alleges that her thumb became infected and required she be hospitalized for treatment.

On August 1, 2002, Ms. Assensoh filed this suit for damages, naming three defendants: *808 (i) Diamond Nails, a domestic business doing business in Orleans Parish; (ii) Linda, the manicurist whose full name was unknown; and (iii) XYZ Insurance Company. The only defendant who was served with the petition was Diamond Nails. On October 9, 2002, Diamond Nails answered the petition generally denying the allegations and asserting Ms. Assensoh's own negligence as an affirmative defense.

In response to Ms. Assensoh's discovery interrogatory asking who was the owner (or owners) of Diamond Nails, Diamond Nails answered that Minh Van Vo was the owner. In response to Ms. Assensoh's request for production of an insurance policy, Diamond Nails stated that "a certified copy of the policy of insurance issued by Allstate Insurance Company to Minh Vo dba Diamond Nails has been requested; and, a copy of that policy will be provided upon request." Despite these discovery responses identifying the actual owner and the actual insurer, Ms. Assensoh never amended her petition to assert a claim against either Minh Van Vo individually or against Allstate as insurer of Minh Van Vo d/b/a Diamond Nails. Instead, the case went to trial solely against Diamond Nails.

On March 30, 2004, a bench trial was held in this case. At trial, Ms. Assensoh was the sole witness that testified. Diamond Nails presented no evidence; rather, it rested after Ms. Assensoh presented her case. Contending that Ms. Assensoh had failed to meet her burden of proof, Diamond Nails moved for an involuntary dismissal. The trial court denied that motion. On April 14, 2004, the trial court rendered judgment in favor of Ms. Assensoh, awarding her $30,000 in general damages. From that judgment, Diamond Nails appeals.

On appeal, Diamond Nails asserts as assignments of error the trial court's: (1) finding that Ms. Assensoh met her burden of proof; (2) failing to find Ms. Assensoh comparatively at fault; (3) determining that Diamond Nails was vicariously liable for the acts of "Linda" the manicurist; (4) finding that Ms. Assensoh had proven a causal connection between the incident and all of her damages; and (5) awarding Ms. Assensoh $30,000 in general damages (no medical damages were awarded).

Noticeably absent from Diamond Nails' assignments of error is any contention that the judgment against Diamond Nails was a nullity because it was rendered against a non-legal entity (a trade name). Diamond Nails first raised this issue in its "Motion to Dismiss Judgment of April 14, 2004" as a nullity, which it filed in the trial court after its devolutive appeal was timely lodged in this court.

In its memorandum in support of its motion to dismiss, Diamond Nails contended that "Diamond Nails" is simply a trade name used by an individual, Minh Van Vo, in his cosmetology business, and that a judgment rendered against a trade name, a non-legal entity, is a nullity. In support of its factual contention that Diamond Nails is a non-legal entity, Diamond Nails attached to its motion to dismiss an affidavit, dated September 2, 2004, by Minh Van Vo. In his affidavit, Minh Van Vo attested that he is the owner of a cosmetology business located at 4130 Washington Avenue in New Orleans; that he was operating this business under the trade name of Diamond Nails on October 5, 2001 (the date of Ms. Assensoh's alleged injury); that his business is and always has been operated under the trade name Diamond Nails; and that his business has never been incorporated.

On November 9, 2004, the trial court denied Diamond Nails' motion to dismiss. In its judgment, the trial court stated that "the court was of the opinion that it did not have jurisdiction to entertain the motion *809 of defendant." From that judgment, Diamond Nails filed an application for supervisory writ with this court. In the interest of judicial economy, this court consolidated that writ application with the pending appeal.

ANALYSIS

In its writ application, Diamond Nails contends that the trial court legally erred in finding it lacked jurisdiction to entertain its motion do dismiss. In support, Diamond Nails cites La. C.C.P. art.2088(7), which lists the "[e]xecut[ion] or giv[ing] effect to the judgment when its execution or effect is not suspended by the appeal" as one of the matters over which the trial court has continuing jurisdiction as it is not reviewable on appeal.[1] The relief Diamond Nails is seeking does not fall within the ambit of La. C.C.P. art.2088(7). There is no evidence that Ms. Assensoh has attempted to take steps to enforce the judgment against Diamond Nails; hence, Diamond Nails is not seeking to halt the execution of the judgment. Rather, it is seeking to attack the judgment in the trial court as a nullity.

Although we find Diamond Nails' reliance on La. C.C.P. art.2088(7) misplaced, we nonetheless find the trial court has jurisdiction for another reason. The preamble to La. C.C.P. art.2088 expressly refers to the listing therein of the matters over which the trial court has continuing jurisdiction and which are not reviewable on appeal as "including" the right to take any of those listed actions. "The participle including typically indicates a partial list." Bryan A. Garner, Black's Law Dictionary, 777 (8th ed.2004). For this reason, the listing in Article 2088 has been characterized as "illustrative, but not exclusive." Roger A. Stetter, et al., Louisiana Appellate Practice Handbook § 5.2 (1989). This characterization is supported by the existence of other statutory provisions that contain particular reservations of the trial court's jurisdiction while an appeal is pending. For example, La. C.C.P. art. 2163 provides that a trial court has jurisdiction to try a peremptory exception of prescription that is pleaded for the first time on appeal if the plaintiff so requests. Id. Likewise, La. C.C.P. art.2005 contains *810 a particular reservation of the trial court's jurisdiction.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
897 So. 2d 806, 2005 WL 775782, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/assensoh-v-diamond-nails-lactapp-2005.