Appellate Practice - Case Results

Singleton v. St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Department, Wal-Mart, et al.
(January 2009)

Donna Wood and Lannie Gwartney successfully defended the appeal of a trial court ruling dismissing plaintiff’s civil rights claims against Wal-Mart, the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Department, and individual officers for refusing to grant plaintiff immediate access to a Wal-Mart store in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The United States Fifth Circuit affirmed the trial court’s grant of summary judgment, opining that making Singleton wait in line with the other patrons at most interfered with a potential, but speculative, contract, and was not sufficient to state a 42 U.S.C. § 1981 claim. They further agreed with the trial court that Wal-Mart was not a state actor, and thus, the denial of plaintiff’s § 1983 claim was correct. Finally, the Fifth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of Singleton’s § 1985 conspiracy claim because he did not brief the issue adequately, and because, in any event, the underlying claims had been dismissed.

Greater New Orleans Expressway Commission v. Olivier, et al.

(January 2005)

Thomas P. Anzelmo, Burgess McCranie and Kyle P. Kirsch brought suit on behalf of the Greater New Orleans Expressway Commission seeking a writ of mandamus to require the judges of First Parish Court for the Parish of Jefferson to enforce La. R.S. 32:57(G). In response to the mandamus action the judges challenged the constitutionality of La. R.S. 32:57(G). The trial court initially determined that the judges had standing to challenge the constitutionality of the statute and found it to be unconstitutional. On appeal to the Louisiana Supreme Court determined that the judges lacked standing to challenge the statute and vacated the trial court’s ruling. Greater New Orleans Expressway Commission v. Olivier, 2005 WL 106498 (La. 2005). After the Louisiana Supreme Court rendered its decision the judges issued an order requiring the imposition of the cost mandated by La. R.S. 32:57(G).

Cook v. Jefferson Parish Hospital Service
(May 2004)

Thomas Anzelmo and Jacqueline Blankenship recently won an appeal at the 5th Circuit in favor of East Jefferson General Hospital in Cook v. Jefferson Parish Hospital Service. East Jefferson argued a plaintiff should not be able to recover the portion of medical expenses written off by a hospital pursuant to Medicare under the collateral source rule. The 5th Circuit acknowledged a previous ruling by the 2nd Circuit which held “a plaintiff may not recover as damages that portion of medical expenses ‘contractually adjusted’ or ‘written off’ by a healthcare provider pursuant to the requirements of the Medicaid program.” The court further held that “[b]ecause the portion of medical expenses that are “written off” by a healthcare provider are not damages incurred by the injured plaintiff, they are not subject to recovery by application of the collateral source rule.” The 5th Circuit concurred with the decision of the 2nd Circuit and held “...that the trial court erred in awarding that portion of medical expenses which were ‘contractually adjusted’ or ‘written off’ by East Jefferson pursuant to Medicare.”

Jesco Construction Corp. v. Nationsbank Corp., et al.
(October 2002)

Thomas P. Anzelmo and Kyle P. Kirsch on behalf of Underwriters at Lloyds of London, and Peter J. Wanek on behalf of Continental Casualty Company obtained dismissal of plaintiff’s claims in a case entitled Jesco Construction Corp. v. Nationsbank Corp., 830 So.2d 989 (La. 2002). The plaintiff, Jesco Construction Corporation, claimed that its damages from the failed loan resulted in damages amounting to $240,000,000.00. The trial court originally granted in part defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment finding that no credit agreement existed. However, the district court refused to dismiss plaintiff’s remaining claims because it determined that the Louisiana Credit Agreement Statue did not preclude all actions arising from oral credit agreements. The denial of defendants’ motion was certified to United States Court of Appeal for the Fifth Circuit. The Fifth Circuit after oral argument certified the question to the Louisiana Supreme Court. See Jesco Construction Corp. v. Nationsbank Corp., 278 F.3d 444 (5th Cir. 2001). The Louisiana Supreme Court rendered a decision in favor of defendants’ finding that “[t]he Louisiana Credit Agreement Statute precludes all actions for damages arising from oral credit agreements regardless of the legal theory of recovery asserted.” Jesco Construction Corp. v. Nationsbank Corp., 830 So.2d 989, 992 (La. 2002). The Fifth Circuit after receiving the answer to its certified question from the Louisiana Supreme Court reversed the district court’s partial denial of defendants’ summary judgment motion and ordered the district court to enter summary judgment on all of plaintiffs’ claims. See Jesco Construction Corp. v. Nationsbank Corp., 321 F.3d 501 (5th Cir. 2003).