Miller v. Tassin

849 So. 2d 782, 2003 WL 21362976
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 4, 2003
Docket2002-CA-2383
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 849 So. 2d 782 (Miller v. Tassin) 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
Miller v. Tassin, 849 So. 2d 782, 2003 WL 21362976 (La. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

849 So.2d 782 (2003)

Richard D. MILLER
v.
Stephanie M. TASSIN.

No. 2002-CA-2383.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

June 4, 2003.

*783 Tamara Kluger Jacobson Jonathan M. Walsh Harvey, Jacobson & Glago, APLC, New Orleans, LA, for Plaintiff/Appellant, Richard D. Miller.

Paul E. Mayeaux, Baton Rouge, LA, for Appellee, Permanent General Assurance Corporation.

Court Composed of CHARLES R. JONES, MAX N. TOBIAS, JR., and DAVID S. GORBATY, Judges.

MAX N. TOBIAS, JR., Judge.

After the instant appeal was filed, this court discovered that the plaintiff/appellant, Richard D. Miller ("Miller"), was appealing from a partial summary judgment without complying with La. C.C.P. art. 1915, as it existed prior to the 1999 legislative amendments.[1] An order to show cause was issued to the parties and Miller filed a supplemental memorandum as to why the appeal should not be dismissed. After considering the memorandum and the applicable law, the court finds that the appeal should be dismissed without prejudice, for the following reasons.

The facts are not in dispute. Miller was allegedly injured when a vehicle driven by the defendant, Stephanie M. Tassin ("Tassin"), and insured by Permanent General Assurance Company ("PGAC"), struck Miller's vehicle. PGAC filed a motion for summary judgment denying that it had any duty to defend and/or cover Tassin because the car she was driving was stolen. Miller argued in opposition to the motion for summary judgment that PGAC should be required to insure Tassin because she had no knowledge, and no reason to know, that the car she was driving was stolen. The trial court agreed with PGAC and dismissed it from the case.

Miller argues that this court should maintain the appeal as provided in La. C.C.P. art. 2083(A)[2]; however, the court finds that the requirement of irreparable injury is not present. "Irreparable injury" occurs in those cases where the error in the ruling cannot, as a practical matter, be corrected on appeal after a trial on the merits. Carr v. GAF, Inc., 97-2325, p. 2 (La.11/14/97), 702 So.2d 1384, 1385.

That Miller may be forced to retry the case is not irreparable injury. Generally, requiring a party to go to trial does not constitute irreparable injury turning an otherwise interlocutory order into an appealable one. Collins v. Prudential Insurance *784 Company of America, 99-1423, p. 7 (La.1/19/00), 752 So.2d 825, 830. As recognized by Justice Lemmon in his concurrence, a party's saving the time and expense of litigation generally is a risk of litigation that must yield to the normal orderly process of trial and appeal. Id. at p. 2, 752 So.2d at 832.

Miller contends that he faces irreparable injury because he must try his case against a party who is uninsured and who has not participated in the litigation thus far. These are issues to be handled by the trial court. In addition, Miller argues that if successful in the trial court and in appealing the issue of the insurance company's dismissal in this court, he would have to re-try the case. This is, as aptly put by Justice Lemmon, a risk of litigation, but does not present irreparable injury as defined by the jurisprudence.

Further, Miller had a method by which to appeal the issue of the insurance company's dismissal. Pursuant to La. C.C.P. art. 1915, as applicable to this case and as it read prior to the 1999 amendments thereto, the trial court rendered a partial summary judgment that could have been properly appealed by the appellant with an appropriate designation by the trial court. That article, as it existed prior to the 1999 amendments, provided as follows:

Art.1915. Partial judgment; partial exception; partial summary judgment
A. A final judgment may be rendered and signed by the court, even though it may not grant the successful party or parties all of the relief prayed for, or may not adjudicate all of the issues in the case, when the court:
(1) Dismisses the suit as to less than all of the parties, defendants, third party plaintiffs, third party defendants, or intervenors.
(2) Grants a motion for judgment on the pleadings, as provided by Articles 965, 968, and 969.
(3) Grants a motion for summary judgment, as provided by Articles 966 through 969, including a summary judgment granted pursuant to Article 966(E).
(4) Signs a judgment on either the principal or incidental demand, when the two have been tried separately, as provided by Article 1038.
(5) Signs a judgment on the issue of liability when that issue has been tried separately by the court, or when, in a jury trial, the issue of liability has been tried before a jury and the issue of damages is to be tried before a different jury.
B. (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, theories, or parties, whether in an original demand, reconventional demand, cross-claim, third party claim, or intervention, the judgment shall not constitute a final judgment unless specifically agreed to by the parties or unless 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 order or decision which adjudicates fewer than all claims or the rights and liabilities of fewer than all the parties, shall not terminate the action as to any of the claims or parties and shall not constitute a final judgment for the purpose of an immediate appeal. Any such order or decision issued 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.
*785 C. If an appeal is taken from any judgment rendered under the provisions of this Article, the trial court shall retain jurisdiction to adjudicate the remaining issues in the case.

This partial summary judgment falls squarely within the parameters of La. C.C.P. art. 1915(B); without a proper designation from the trial court, the appeal is not properly before the court. This was the unanimous en banc decision of this court in Jackson v. America's Favorite Chicken Co., 98-0506 (La.App. 4 Cir. 2/3/99), 729 So.2d 1060, in which we stated:

We expressly disapprove and overrule the procedure of converting the appeal from a non-final judgment to a supervisory writ and then considering the merits, as was done in Karim v. Finch Shipping Co., Ltd., 97-2518 (La.App. 4 Cir. 8/26/98), 718 So.2d 572, and Walker, Bordelon, Hamlin, Theriot and Hardy, etc. v. Dowe, supra, 98-0937, 98-0938 (La.App. 4 Cir. 12/9/98), 727 So.2d 529. We agree with our colleagues of the First Circuit that
To entertain by a supervisory writ application and grant a stay of a judgment which is not a final judgment subject to an immediate appeal under Article 1915 would be a blatant circumvention of the spirit of that statute, causing the delay and judicial inefficiency which the statute obviously is designed to eliminate. To substitute one method of review (writ application) for a prohibited method of review (appeal) flies in the face of the legislative pronouncement set forth in Article 1915. Therefore, we will not entertain the merits of this writ application.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
849 So. 2d 782, 2003 WL 21362976, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/miller-v-tassin-lactapp-2003.