Simon v. Fasig-Tipton Co. of New York

574 So. 2d 554, 1991 La. App. LEXIS 216, 1991 WL 13514
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 6, 1991
DocketNo. 89-832
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 574 So. 2d 554 (Simon v. Fasig-Tipton Co. of New York) 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
Simon v. Fasig-Tipton Co. of New York, 574 So. 2d 554, 1991 La. App. LEXIS 216, 1991 WL 13514 (La. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

GUIDRY, Judge.

Plaintiff sued, among others, L.P. “Bud” Thibodaux seeking recovery based on various actions arising out of a business arrangement. Motions for summary judgment were filed by both Simon and Thibo-daux. Thibodaux’s motion was granted on two extraneous issues which Simon did not appeal. Simon’s motion was granted on the other issues. Thibodaux appealed. This court reversed the trial court’s judgment decreeing as follows:

“For the foregoing reasons, we modify the trial court judgment as follows: We affirm the trial court’s summary judgment in favor of defendant, L.P. Thibo-daux, and against plaintiff, J. Minos Simon. We also affirm the decision of the trial court in denying defendant’s motion to produce plaintiff’s income tax returns. We reverse the remaining decrees in this judgment and the order of accounting directed to defendant by the trial court and remand this case to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with these findings.
All costs of this appeal are taxed to the plaintiff-appellee.” (Emphasis ours)

J. Minos Simon d/b/a Dixieland Farm v. Fasig-Tipton Co. of New York, 524 So.2d 788 (La.App. 3rd Cir.1988), writ denied, 525 So.2d 1048, 1049 (La.1988).

Following remand and the finality of this court’s judgment, Thibodaux filed a motion in the trial court to fix costs of the appeal. Simon filed an exception of prematurity arguing that this court’s judgment was not a final judgment but interlocutory and therefore, the motion to fix costs was premature. After a hearing the trial court overruled the exception of prematurity and granted Thibodaux’s motion fixing costs of the appeal at $4,144.60. Following rendition of the latter judgment, Thibodaux filed a motion seeking to have Simon examined as a judgment debtor. La.C.C.P. art. 2451 et seq. Thereafter, Simon applied to this court for supervisory relief in connection with the trial court’s judgments assessing costs and ordering his examination as a judgment debtor. We denied supervisory relief stating in an unreported decision:

“WRITNOT CONSIDERED: Relator, J. Minos Simon, has not demonstrated any irreparable injury will result from the rulings of the trial court sought to be reviewed. Since relator has an adequate remedy by appeal, on the record filed in this court, we refuse to consider relator’s writ application. Stevens v. Patterson Menhaden Corp., 191 So.2d 692 (La.App. 1st Cir.1966), writ refused, 250 La. 5, 193 So.2d 524 (1967).”

Simon v. Fasig-Tipton Company of New York, et al., docket no. W89-396 (La.App. 3rd Cir. May 3, 1989).

Subsequent to our denial of supervisory relief, Simon motioned for a suspensive appeal from the trial court’s judgments denying his exception of prematurity and fixing the costs of appeal at $4,144.60. Simon’s appeal was granted by the trial court. Thi-bodaux thereafter filed a motion with this court seeking a dismissal of Simon’s appeal which was denied in an unreported decision. Simon v. Fasig-Tipton Company of New York, et al., docket no. 89-832 (La.App. 3rd Cir. Dec. 14, 1989).

This appeal concerns only the trial court’s judgment fixing the costs of appeal attendant to the earlier appeal in this case reported at 524 So.2d 788 (La.App. 3rd Cir.1988). Simon contends that our judgment reported as aforestated, insofar as it taxes costs of that appeal to him, is an interlocutory judgment. From this premise, he argues that the trial court’s judgments fixing appeal costs and ordering him examined as a judgment debtor are premature and invalid. Alternatively, Simon urges that the trial court’s assessment of appeal costs is excessive.

[556]*556THE JUDGMENT REPORTED AT 524 SO.2D 788 (LA.APP. 3RD CIR.1988)

La.C.C.P. art. 2164 grants authority to the appellate courts to tax costs of the lower or appellate courts, or any part thereof, against any party to the suit, as in its judgment is equitable. In our decree reported as aforestated all costs of that appeal were taxed to Simon, the appellant herein. Simon sought review of our judgment by application for supervisory writs to the Supreme Court. His application for such review was denied. A judgment of the court of appeal is final and definitive, acquiring the authority of the thing adjudged, if no application for writ of certio-rari to the Supreme Court is timely filed or if timely filed, when the Supreme Court denies the application for certiorari. La.C. C.P. art. 2166; Succession of Daste, 254 La. 403, 223 So.2d 848 (La.1969).

Appellant relies upon Freyou v. Marquette Casualty Co., 149 So.2d 697 (La.App. 3rd Cir.1963), writ refused, 244 La. 154, 150 So.2d 771 (1963), to support his argument that the judgment reported at 524 So.2d 788 (La.App. 3rd Cir.1988) was not a final definitive judgment insofar as it taxed costs of that appeal. In Freyou, the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of defendant dismissing plaintiffs suit and plaintiff appealed. A panel of this court reversed the judgment of the trial court and remanded for further proceedings. Marquette Casualty applied to the Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari, which was denied at 150 So.2d 771 (La.1963), with the following per curiam, “WRIT REFUSED. The judgment is not final”. Appellant suggests that this pronouncement makes clear that our judgment, after appeal in the instant case, is not a final judgment. Simon’s reliance on Freyou is misplaced. The court’s per cu-riam in Freyou referred to the merits of the controversy between Freyou and Marquette Casualty which clearly had not been determined. Their pronouncement did not concern the assessment of appeal costs attendant to the appeal reported at 149 So.2d 697 which, like the instant case, were assessed against the party cast in the appellate court's judgment.

Our judgment, insofar as it assessed the costs of the appeal in question, became a final and definitive judgment when the Supreme Court denied Simon’s application for certiorari and from that time was subject to execution. Our judgment, insofar as it taxes costs of that appeal, is not interlocutory but a final judgment. Therefore, the trial court did not err when it overruled appellant’s exception of prematurity and considered and rendered judgment on ap-pellee’s motion to assess costs of appeal.

TRIAL COURT’S ASSESSMENT OF COSTS

Appellant contends that the trial court’s assessment of the appeal costs are excessive. Specifically, appellant urges that the Clerk of Court of the 15th Judicial District Court violated the trial court’s order granting the appeal in this case by preparing a record on appeal that consisted of the entire 12 volume record of this matter in lieu of the evidence, documents, and/or affidavits offered and relied upon by the parties in connection with their respective motions for summary judgment, as specifically ordered by the trial court.

The trial court’s order of appeal in this case reads as follows:

“ORDER GRANTING APPEAL
The Motion for Suspensive Appeal of L.P. “Bud” Thibodaux is granted and, accordingly,

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574 So. 2d 554, 1991 La. App. LEXIS 216, 1991 WL 13514, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/simon-v-fasig-tipton-co-of-new-york-lactapp-1991.