Summary
The Louisiana Court of Appeal, First Circuit declined to consider an application for supervisory writs as untimely. The court held that the application was filed more than thirty days after a ruling rendered in open court and that the district court lacked authority to extend the filing period after its expiration.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether a supervisory writ application filed more than thirty days after an oral district-court ruling is timely when no written judgment was ordered or requested within ten days.
- Whether a district court may extend the time for filing a supervisory writ application after the thirty-day period has expired.
Holdings
- A supervisory writ application must be filed within thirty days of the ruling at issue, and the application was untimely because it was filed more than thirty days after the ruling rendered in open court.
- A district court has no authority to grant a delay for filing a supervisory writ application after the thirty-day period from the ruling at issue has expired.
Key quotations
“A district court has no authority to grant a delay for filing an application for supervisory writs once the 30-day period from the ruling at issue has expired.”
“The rendition of a ruling in open court constitutes notice to all parties under La. Code Civ. P. art. 1914(A) when none of the exceptions listed in La. Code Civ. P. art. 1914(B) apply, even if the judgment is later reduced to writing.”
Factual background
The district court rendered a ruling in open court on December 15, 2025. No written judgment was ordered by the district court or requested by a party within ten days of the oral ruling. Safety National Casualty Corporation filed its notice of intent and supervisory writ application more than thirty days after the ruling.
Procedural history
The district court rendered the challenged ruling in open court on December 15, 2025. No written judgment was ordered or requested within ten days, and Safety National filed its notice of intent and writ application more than thirty days after the oral ruling. The court of appeal declined to consider the writ application and stated that supplementation or rehearing would not be considered.