ATTORNEY DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS PER CURIAM. This disciplinary matter arises from formal charges filed by the Office of Disciplinary Counsel ("ODC") against respondent, Owen J. Trahant, Jr., an attorney licensed to practice law in Louisiana. UNDERLYING FACTS At all times relevant to these proceedings, respondent confined his law practice to the handling of real estate closings. In the mid-1990's, the volume of respondent's business increased substantially. 1 At that time, O'Neal Jones,...
PER CURIAM. We accepted the certified question presented to this court by the Louisiana Court of Appeal, Third Circuit. 1 The question presented seeks "binding instructions from the Louisiana Supreme Court regarding the correct usage of a defendant's name (and other close relatives) in cases in which the victim is a minor related to the defendant." For the reasons that follow, we conclude that the controlling statutory authority mandates confidentiality of the victim's identity in certain...
KIMBALL, C.J. We granted certiorari in this case to determine whether the district court or the Louisiana Public Service Commission ("LPSC") has subject matter jurisdiction to adjudicate a claim by a putative class of utility ratepayers in the City of Opelousas against Cleco Corporation and Cleco Power, LLC ("Cleco"). The ratepayers seek reimbursement for alleged overcharges for electricity for a period of nearly twenty years, based on a franchise agreement Cleco signed with the City of...
WEIMER, Justice. The issue in this matter is whether a sheriff acted within statutory authority in deducting a commission in connection with the collection of a two-millage assessment that was initially approved by voters in 2003. The resolution of this issue requires inquiry into the differences in the manner in which sheriffs' offices were funded prior to and after the passage of 1976 La. Acts 689. Harmonizing and reconciling the various provisions of the legislation in question, we conclude...
WEIMER, Justice. This matter is before this court following the granting of motions for summary judgment in the district court. The district court dismissed the claims of an electrical utility company for indemnity from contractors involved with repairs to a building to which the utility company provided electrical service. An employee of one (or more) of the repair contractors was injured when another employee working on a scaffold contacted an overhead power line with a metal object, thereby...
WEIMER, Justice. We granted certiorari in these consolidated cases to resolve an issue of first impression in this court—whether a member of a putative class is entitled to the suspension of prescription provided for in La. C.C.P. art. 596 when an independent, individual lawsuit is filed prior to a ruling on the class certification issue. The respective district courts in each of these cases sustained exceptions of prescription, dismissing plaintiffs' individual lawsuits filed prior to a...
PER CURIAM. The defendant, Dearieus Duheart, was charged by bill of information with a violation of R.S. 14:95.1 based on the allegation that a pat-down search of him conducted during a traffic stop revealed a firearm. The traffic stop was initiated by an officer who alleged he observed a violation of R.S. 32:101, which provides in pertinent part that "the approach for a right turn and a right turn shall be made as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway." Defendant...
KNOLL, Justice. This civil case presents the issue of whether an alleged biological father may bring a wrongful death and survival action for his illegitimate child, where the father has not filed a timely avowal action, but filed his wrongful death and survival petition asserting his paternity within the peremptive period of La. Civ.Code art. 198. In resolving this issue, we are called upon to decide whether the filiation requirements of La. Civ.Code art. 198 apply to actions under La. Civ....
JOHNSON, Justice. We granted this writ application to determine whether the court of appeal erred in overturning defendant's conviction for aggravated burglary. Finding the evidence sufficient to support the trial judge's finding that defendant, Jerome Bryant, Jr., entered the victim's home, we reverse. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY On February 5, 2009, Jason Goetz, who resided at 433 Pennsylvania Avenue in Shreveport, Louisiana, was home alone with his two-year-old daughter. Mr. Goetz...
VICTORY, J. At issue in this case is whether plaintiffs' dismissal with prejudice of a lawsuit filed in federal court after the defendant has made a general appearance of record is a "voluntary dismissal" for purposes of La. C.C. art. 3463, which provides "[i]nterruption [of prescription] is considered never to have occurred if the plaintiff abandons, voluntarily dismisses the action at any time either before the defendant has made any appearance of record or thereafter..." After reviewing the...
CLARK, Justice. We granted the writ of the City of Bossier City (hereinafter "City") to determine the proper interpretation of La. R.S. 33:2501(C)(1); specifically, whether the statutory authority of the Bossier City Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board (hereinafter "Board") to modify discipline is conditioned upon a finding the appointing authority acted in bad faith or without cause. After our review, we find a municipal fire and police civil service board has the statutory...
ATTORNEY DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS PER CURIAM. This disciplinary matter arises from formal charges filed by the Office of Disciplinary Counsel ("ODC") against respondent, Paul S. Minor, an attorney licensed to practice law in Louisiana but currently on interim suspension based upon his conviction of a serious crime. 1 In re: Minor, 07-1184 (La.6/20/07), 958 So.2d 675 . UNDERLYING FACTS In 2005, a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Mississippi returned an indictment charging...
ATTORNEY DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS PER CURIAM. This disciplinary matter arises from formal charges filed by the Office of Disciplinary Counsel ("ODC") against respondent, Walter Brent Pearson, an attorney licensed to practice law in Louisiana. UNDERLYING FACTS At all times relevant to this proceeding, respondent was a partner in the Alexandria law firm of Crowell and Owens (hereinafter referred to as "the firm") and was solely responsible for handling the firm's financial matters. The firm...
ON APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION TO THE BAR PER CURIAM. The Committee on Bar Admissions ("Committee") opposed the application of petitioner, Carlton J. Allen, to sit for the Louisiana Bar Examination based on character and fitness concerns relating to his failure to truthfully disclose his criminal history on his law school application and on his bar application. We subsequently granted petitioner permission to sit for the bar exam, with the provision that upon his successful completion of the...
JOHNSON, Justice. This writ application concerns Defendants' entitlement to trial by jury. Specifically, we must determine whether this Court's holding in Beauclaire v. Greenhouse 1 mandates that a resolution in accordance with La. R.S. 13:5105, waiving the prohibition against jury trials in suits against a political subdivision, must be passed by the political subdivision prior to a plaintiff filing suit for the political subdivision to be entitled to a trial by jury. For the reasons that...
WEIMER, Justice. Defendant James C. Magee was indicted by a grand jury for the first degree murder of Adrienne Magee, the first degree murder of Ashton Zachary Magee ("Zack"), the attempted first degree murder of S.M., and the attempted first degree murder of L.M. 1 The defendant was tried before a St. Tammany Parish jury. Following the close of evidence, the jury found the defendant guilty as charged on all counts and, at the conclusion of the penalty phase of the trial, recommended two...
KNOLL, J. We are called on to decide whether a binding arbitration clause in an attorney-client retainer agreement is enforceable where the client has filed suit for legal malpractice. This case presents two important countervailing public policies: Louisiana and federal law explicitly favor the enforcement of arbitration clauses in written contracts; by the same token, Louisiana law also imposes a fiduciary duty of the highest order requiring attorneys to act with the utmost fidelity and...
ON APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION TO THE BAR PER CURIAM. * The Committee on Bar Admissions opposed the application of petitioner, Sam Jude Holloway, to sit for the Louisiana Bar Examination based on character and fitness concerns relating to adversary proceedings initiated against him in his bankruptcy. We subsequently granted petitioner permission to sit for the bar exam, with the condition that upon his successful completion of the exam, he apply to the court for the appointment of a...
PER CURIAM. The state charged defendant by grand jury indictment with second degree murder in violation of La.R.S. 14:30.1 following the shooting death of her live-in boyfriend/husband. After trial by jury, defendant was found guilty as charged. The trial court sentenced her to the mandatory term of life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. On appeal, the Third Circuit reversed defendant's conviction and sentence on grounds that the...
JOHNSON, Justice. In this writ application, we are asked to determine whether Norell and Andrea Bernard ("Plaintiffs"), who were guest passengers in a vehicle owned and operated by Ann Bernard and insured by Imperial Fire & Casualty Insurance Company ("Imperial"), are entitled to uninsured/underinsured motorist ("UM") coverage under the Imperial policy. For the reasons that follow, we hold that the Plaintiffs are liability insureds under the Imperial policy and therefore entitled to UM...
