 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Mehta v. Baton Rouge Oil Company9/22/2000
ance of the judgment. Defendant stands ready and willing to pay any balance due, rendering the judgment debtor examination unnecessary.
A contradictory hearing on the protective order was held and the trial judge rendered written reasons for judgment on May 21, 1999. The reasons focused on the question of which date or dates would be considered the date of judicial demand for purposes of the calculations of legal interest in view of the fact that there was an original and an amending petition. In reaching the conclusion that judicial interest on the claims for subsequent rentals set forth in the amending petition would run from the date of that judicial demand, the court signified that it had accepted the construction proposed by Morella and it granted the protective order which he sought. A formal judgment setting forth the trial court's decision was signed on June 15, 1999. This appeal followed.
THE LAW
Our courts have addressed this issue on several occasions and the leading case is Abraham v. Abraham, 233 La. 808, 98 So.2d 197 (La. 1957). In that case, the original petition by a husband against his wife was simply for separation from bed and board. He later supplemented his petition, and asked for an accounting and settlement of the community, for which he received a money judgment. The question before the Court was whether the judicial interest on the judgment should date from judicial demand of the first petition or the second. Abraham, 98 So.2d at 197-198. Although the Court was operating under the Louisiana Code of Practice, the principle enunciated therein still applies. The Court said therein:
The filing of the petition is certainly a judicial demand. However, it does not necessarily follow that the original judicial demand will be the only demand filed in the proceeding. There may be many incidental demands, and also other demands, which emanate from the original demand in the same action. Such demands are filed in a court of justice and must be classed as judicial demands, even though they are not the first demand or the original action. Abraham, 98 So.2d at 198.
That the application of this principle still applies under the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 1921, is demonstrated by a case arising out of this circuit, Livingston v. Southern Scrap Material Co., Inc., 486 So.2d 210 (La. App. 1st Cir. 1986). In that case, the original petition, filed by parents of an employee killed in the course and scope of employment, was for workers' compensation benefits payable to the dependent parents of a deceased child. Subsequently, the plaintiffs amended their petition to allege that they were not dependent on their child. This amended petition allowed the plaintiffs to utilize another provision in the worker's compensation law that granted a lump sum payment to non-dependent surviving parents of a deceased employee. Livingston, 486 So.2d at 211. Regarding the same question under review here, this court said:
Although Article 1153 of the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure provides generally that amendments relate back to the date of the filing of the original pleading, it should not be construed to compel the result that the original date of filing is the date of judicial demand for all purposes of computing interest. Livingston, 486 So.2d at 213. Accordingly, the court upheld the trial court's award of judicial interest from the filing date of the amended petition and concluded as follows:
The joint amended petition filed on July 30, 1984, asserted a new cause of action and that date was considered by the trial court to be the date of 'judicial demand' on that cause of action. Livingston, 486 So.2d at 213.
Page 1 2 3 4 Louisiana Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|