Shell Offshore, Inc. v. State

Supreme Court of Louisiana
Shell Offshore, Inc. v. State, 816 So. 2d 291 (La. 2002)
2002 La. LEXIS 1224; 2002 WL 819010
Calogero, Reasons, Writ

Shell Offshore, Inc. v. State

Concurring Opinion

CALOGERO, C.J.,

concurs in the writ denial and assigns reasons.

I dissented in Leonard v. Parish of Jefferson v. Montgomery Elevator Co., 95-1082 (La.1/16/96), 666 So.2d 1061, because I believed (contrary to the majority) that when the State files a third party demand, that third party defendant ought to have a right to a jury even if that claim must be resolved in a bifurcated trial. La.Rev. Stat. 18:5035 provides that in “[a]ll suits for ... damages ... filed by the state against any person, firm or corporation, and all matters incidental thereto shall be heard and determined by a court in a summary manner ... Should a trial by jury be demanded, a special panel shall be drawn for such purpose.”

However, I would not extend that logic to a case such as this where the State is not asserting a claim against a third party but simply reconvening against the original plaintiff. Here, there is just a singular pair of litigants, and it would be illogical to have separate decision-makers decide the principal demand and reconventional demand.

Opinion of the Court

On Application for Writ of Certiorari to the Court of Appeal, First Circuit, Parish of East Baton Rouge.

*292Writ denied.

CALOGERO, C.J. concurs in the writ denial and assigns reasons.

Reference

Full Case Name
SHELL OFFSHORE, INC. v. The STATE of Louisiana, The State Mineral Board, and the Department of Natural Resources
Cited By
1 case
Status
Published