STATE OF LOUISIANA COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT ADAM AND BRANDI ROUSSEL NO. 2021 CW 1452 VERSUS

DANIEL ANDREW MOORE, ALLYSON MICHELLE THIBODEAUX, KATIE MOORE DESSELLE, PENNANT REAL ESTATE, L. L. C., KEVIN DINKEL, JANUARY 31, 2022 ADVANTAGE SERVICES, INC., AND REPUBLIC - VANGUARD INSURANCE COMPANY

In Re: Advantage Services, Inc. and Kevin Dinkel, applying for supervisory writs, 23rd Judicial District Court, Parish of Ascension, No. 130637.

BEFORE: MCDONALD, LANIER, AND WOLFE, JJ.

WRIT DENIED. The transcript of the July 7, 2021 hearing on defendants' " Dilatory Exception of Prematurity and, Alternatively, Motion to Stay Proceedings and Compel Arbitration and Assess Costs" reveals no evidence was introduced or admitted during the hearing, including the subject arbitration agreement.

The party seeking to enforce an arbitration agreement carries the burden of proving the existence of a valid arbitration agreement. FIA Card Services, N. A. v. Weaver, 2010- 1372 ( La. 3/ 15/ 11), 62 So. 3d 709, 719; see also La. Code Civ. P. art. 930; Landis Construction Co., L. L. C. v. State, 2015- 1167 ( La. App. 1st Cir. 2/ 29/ 16), 199 So. 3d 1, 2- 3 (" Evidence not properly and officially offered and introduced cannot be considered, even if it is physically placed in the record.").

Accordingly, the trial court did not err in denying defendants' exception and alternative motion.

JMM WIL EW

COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT

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DEPUTY ERK OF COURT FOR THE COURT