 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Dauterive Contractors3/13/2002
AFFIRMED.
This is a legal malpractice action instituted under La.R.S. 9:5605 by plaintiff-client, Dauterive Contractors, Inc., against defendant-law firm, Landry & Watkins, A Law Partnership, for failure to timely file proof of claim in bankruptcy court proceedings. In response, Landry & Watkins filed an exception of prescription/peremption, alleging that the legal malpractice action was untimely, having been filed more than one year from the date Dauterive Contractors gained knowledge of the facts sufficient to place them on notice of their potential claim against Landry & Watkins. The trial judge granted the exception and Dauterive Contractors appealed. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm.
I.
ISSUES
We shall consider whether:
(1) Mr. William Repaske, a partner at Landry & Watkins, terminated his attorney-client relationship with Mr. Dauterive on January 18, 1999.
(2) Mr. Edward Landry, a partner at Landry & Watkins, represented Mr. Dauterive in bankruptcy and/or malpractice proceedings after January 18, 1999.
(3) Landry & Watkins engaged in a continuing tort or separate torts that rendered Mr. Dauterive's suit timely in February 2000.
(4) Landry & Watkins engaged in misleading conduct in representing Mr. Dauterive in the bankruptcy and/or malpractice proceedings which amounted to fraud.
(5) the one-year period of limitation contained in La.R.S. 9:5605(A) is so unreasonably short as to be arbitrary and in violation of Amendments IV and V of the United States Constitution and Article 1, Sections 2 and 22 of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974.
II.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Mr. Aubrey Dauterive is the President of Dauterive Contractors, Inc. (hereinafter "Dauterive Contractors"), a business located in New Iberia, Louisiana that leases boats to the oilfield industry. Among Dauterive Contractors' clientele was Grant Geophysical, Inc. (hereinafter "Grant"). In the fall of 1996, Grant became delinquent in account payments to Dauterive Contractors, prompting the plaintiff company to retain Landry & Watkins, A Law Partnership (hereinafter "Landry & Watkins") with a view toward the collection of unpaid invoices in an amount exceeding $300,000. There was no written contract reflecting this retention.
The particular matter for which Dauterive sought legal aid was handled by Mr. William Repaske, a partner at Landry & Watkins. Initially, Mr. Repaske composed collection letters to Grant. These attempts proved unsuccessful. On December 6, 1996, Grant filed for bankruptcy and Landry & Watkins continued to represent Dauterive Contractors through the course of the bankruptcy proceedings.
In order to preserve their claim against Grant in the proceedings, Dauterive Contractors was required to file a proof of claim in the bankruptcy court by May 7, 1997. This filing was Mr. Repaske's responsibility. According to his testimony, he drafted a proof of claim by hand, which his secretary was to type and then arrange for Mr. Dauterive to sign. Mr. Dauterive remembers having signed something, which may or may not have been the original proof of claim. In any event, Mr. Repaske asserts that the proof of claim was completed and mailed. However, the documentation has allegedly been lost. The firm asserts that it never received responsive correspondence from the bankruptcy court.
The deadline, i.e., "bar date," for filing the proof of claim in the bankruptcy proceeding was set for May 7, 1997 by the "Notice of Last Date for Creditors to File Proofs of Claim" which was sent to Landry &
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Louisiana Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|