Caillier v. Strictly Stars Touring

195 So. 3d 1237, 16 La.App. 3 Cir. 390, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 1223, 2016 WL 3417810
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 22, 2016
DocketNo. 16-390
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 195 So. 3d 1237 (Caillier v. Strictly Stars Touring) 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
Caillier v. Strictly Stars Touring, 195 So. 3d 1237, 16 La.App. 3 Cir. 390, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 1223, 2016 WL 3417810 (La. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

EZELL, Judge.

It This court issued a rule ordering Appellants, Epic Records, a Division of Sony Music Entertainment (Epic), and Nayadius Demun Wilburn, a/k/a Future (Future), to show cause, by brief only, why their appeals should not be dismissed for having been taken from a partial judgment which has not been designated immediately ap-pealable pursuant to La. Code Civ.P. art. 1915(B) and for lack of decretal language (see State v. White, 05-718 (La.App. 3 Cir. 2/1/06), 921 So.2d 1144). For the reasons that follow, we> dismiss the appeals without prejudice and remand the matter to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Robert Caillier (Caillier) filed a petition for damages naming the following parties as defendants: Strictly Stars Touring (Strictly Stars); Dawn Harrington (Harrington); I Book Stars Agency, LLC (I Book Stars); Earnest Johnson;1 and Future. The petition alleged that Caillier booked Future to perform in Lafayette, Louisiana, on August 29, 2014. Future cancelled the performance a week or two before the agreed upon date. Caillier sought return of the part of the deposit that was not refunded ($12,500.00) and damages for breach of contract in the amount of $150,000.00.

After the defendants failed to answer or file responsive pleadings, Caillier moved for a preliminary default. The preliminary [1239]*1239default was issued, and a hearing to confirm the default was held. After the trial court took the matter under advisement, a written judgment was signed on February 2, 2016.2 The judgment found in favor of Caillier with respect to his claim for. the unreturned deposit | ¡>($12,500.00) and out-of-pocket expenditures ($16,000.00). The judgment ordered Strictly Stars, Harrington, I Book Stars, Future, and Epic3 to pay those amounts to Caillier. The trial court made no finding that the defendants were jointly liable. The judgment does not mention whether the defendants are liable in equal amounts.4

With respect to Caillier’s claim for lost profits, the trial court found that Caillier’s “testimony alone ■ was ■ too speculative to support an award of lost profits” in the amount of $150,000.00. • The judgment states that the claim for lost profits is “denied at this time.”

Devolutive appeals were filed on behalf of Epic and Future. When the record was lodged in this court, a rule was issued ordering Epic and Future to show cause why their appeals should not be dismissed for the above-stated reasons. .

DISCUSSION

Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 2083(A) states that “[a] final judgment is appealable in all causes in which appeals are given by law, whether rendered after hearing, by default, or by reformation under Article 1814.” Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 1841 provides, in pertinent part, “[a] judgment' that determines the merits in whole or in part is a final judgment.” Appellants argue that these provisions lead to the inevitable conclusion that a confirmed default judgment' is unambiguously a final judgment that is subject to an immediate appeal.

Appellants’ reasoning is flawed. A default judgment can be a partial judgment when'it does not dispose of all the claims made by the plaintiff. See Apartment Redevelopment Corp. v. Polkey, 01-180 (La.App. 5 Cir. 10/17/01), 800 So.2d 968. In such a case, if the partial default judgment'is not certified as a final judgment, any appeal must be dismissed as premature. Id.

The default-judgment .denies Caillier’s claim for lost profits “at this time.” This court finds that the .inclusion of “at this time” makes the judgment a partial judgment because it suggests that the record is being held open and that the court might reverse its ruling as to lost profits if Caillier presented the. necessary evidence to support the claim.

The motions for appeal claim that the trial court “entered a'judgment declaring the [jludgment'to be'a'final, appealable [j]udgment,” ■ However, the record does not contain evidence that the judgment was designated as final by the trial court. The issuance of the rule to show cause gave Appellants an' opportunity to supplement the record-with the certification if one, in fact, existed. No supplement to the record was-made, and Appellants do not mention this assertion in the brief submitted in response to the rule to show cause. Thus, this court cannot determine [1240]*1240whether the claim that the trial court designated the judgment as final was a mere clerical error or a recognition by Appellants that there was some issue as to the finality of the judgment.

Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 1915(B) provides that:

(1) When a court renders a partial judgment or partial summary judgment or sustains an exception in part, as to one or more but less than all of the claims, demands, issues, or theories against a party, whether in an original demand, reconventional demand, cross-claim, third-party claim, or intervention, the judgment shall not constitute a final judgment unless it is designated as a final judgment by the court after an express determination that there is no just reason for delay.
(2) In the absence of such a determination and designation, any such order or decision shall not constitute a final judgment for the purpose of an immediate appeal and may be revised at any time prior to rendition of the judgment adjudicating all the claims and the rights and liabilities of all the parties.

| ¿However, La.Code Civ.P. art. “1915 does not provide for any exception to its applicability as to any particular case.” Seaman v. Seaman, 10-1295, p. 4 (La.App. 3 Cir. 12/15/10), 54 So.3d 756, 759. However, “the jurisprudence has held that not all provisions in this statute are applicable in every instance.” Id. Several cases have held that certain judgments are not subject to the requirements of La.Code CivJP. art.1915.5

In this instance, we find that the judgment at issue required a designation of finality from the trial court in order to be subject to immediate appeal. The concerns addressed in the cases cited in note 4 do not exist in this case. Moreover, there are several cases which hold that judgments of default that do not adjudicate all of the claims of the parties are subject to the provisions of La.Code Civ.P. art. 1915(B). See Apartment Redevelopment Corp., 800 So.2d 968, and Laviolette v. Dubose, 07-916 (La.App. 5 Cir. 3/25/08), 983 So.2d 160.

The rule to show cause order also indicated that Appellants were to show cause, if there was any, why the appeal should not be dismissed as having been taken from a judgment lacking decretal language. Appellants do not address this issue in their brief which was submitted in response to the rule to show cause order.

IfiThe jurisprudence is clear that “[a] final appealable judgment must contain decretal language, and it must name the party in favor of whom the ruling is ordered, the party against whom the ruling is ordered, and the relief that is granted or denied.” Thomas v. Lafayette Parish Sch. System, 13-91, p. 2 (La.App. 3 Cir. 3/6/13), 128 So.3d 1055, 1056, quoting State v. White, 05-718, p. 2 (La.App, 3 Cir. 2/1/06), 921 So.2d 1144, 1146.

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Bluebook (online)
195 So. 3d 1237, 16 La.App. 3 Cir. 390, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 1223, 2016 WL 3417810, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/caillier-v-strictly-stars-touring-lactapp-2016.