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Methvin v. Ferguson9/26/2001
This appeal arises out of a personal injury suit following an automobile accident on Jewella Avenue in Shreveport. Plaintiff's, Pamela Plante Methvin, vehicle was rear-ended by a vehicle driven by Defendant, Alvin Ray Ferguson. Mrs. Methvin was injured and she and her husband sued Mr. Ferguson and his insurer, Allstate Insurance Company ("Allstate"). Allstate's policy limit was $10,000 per person; therefore, the Methvins also named as a defendant Mrs. Methvin's uninsured/underinsured carrier, State Farm Mutual Automotive Insurance Company ("State Farm"). State Farm filed a cross-claim against Mr. Ferguson and Allstate for medical expenses it had already paid on behalf of Mrs. Methvin.
The parties stipulated that Mr. Ferguson was 100 percent at fault in the accident; therefore, the only issues for trial were damages and quantum. After a bench trial, on July 25, 2000, the trial court rendered judgment in favor of Mrs. Methvin and against Allstate in the amount of $7,061, plus legal interest, and in favor of State Farm in the amount of $2,939, plus legal interest. Judgment was also rendered in favor of Mrs. Methvin and against State Farm in the amount of $13,670.67, plus legal interest and court costs, and in favor of Mr. Methvin and against Allstate (consortium claim) in the amount of $4,000, plus legal interest and court costs. State Farm appeals. For the reasons stated herein, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
The following post-trial proceedings in this case are relevant to this appeal. On August 3, 2000, Allstate filed a Motion for New Trial or Alternative Motion to Amend the Judgment. The basis for Allstate's motion was that the original judgment cast Allstate with an amount in excess of its $10,000 policy limit. The excess judgment cast against Allstate is found in Mr. Methvin's $4,000 award for loss of consortium, which should have been cast against State Farm as the underinsurer of Mrs. Methvin. There was no supporting memorandum, however, and the motion was not served on any party and was not set for argument; therefore, State Farm questioned whether the motion was properly filed and proceeded to file its petition for appeal on August 24, 2000. Further, since no order for setting a hearing was filed with Allstate's motion for new trial, the trial court set a return date of October 23, 2000, for the appeal taken by State Farm. On September 29, 2000, however, Allstate presented an ex parte order requesting that the Motion for New Trial or Alternative Motion to Amend the Judgment be set for hearing. The trial court set the motion for hearing on October 16, 2000; however, the case was not docketed for hearing or submission.
Meanwhile, State Farm's appeal was lodged with this court and the Methvins filed (with this court) a motion to remand the proceedings because Allstate's Motion for New Trial or Alternative Motion to Amend the Judgment was still pending making the appeal premature. On December 7, 2000, a panel of this court agreed and dismissed the appeal as premature due to the outstanding motion for new trial. On January 24, 2001, the trial court entered judgment denying Allstate's Motion for New Trial or Alternative Motion to Amend the Judgment. Counsel for State Farm claims that he never received a copy of this judgment; and, because he was unaware of the denial of the Motion for New Trial or Alternative Motion for Amended Judgment, on January 29, 2001, he presented to the trial court an Amended Judgment, prepared by him and approved by all parties. The Amended Judgment redistributes the award between the defendants, casting State Farm, instead of Allstate, with the $4,000 loss of consortium award. State Farm then filed an app
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