Gerald Wayne Mizell and Pamela Mizell Helton v. Bobby Joe Willis and James E. Willis

STATE OF LOUISIANA

COURT OF APPEAL

FIRST CIRCUIT

2018 CA 0500

PONTCHARTRAIN NATURAL GAS SYSTEM,
K/D/ S PROMIX, LLC, AND ACADIAN GAS PIPELINE SYSTEM

VERSUS

TEXAS BRINE COMPANY, LLC

Judgment Rendered:

Appealed from the 23rd Judicial District Court
In and for the Parish of Assumption
State of Louisiana
Case No. 34,265

The Honorable Thomas J. Kliebert, Jr., Judge Presiding

Leopold Z. Sher Counsel for Third -Party
James M. Garner Plaintiff/Appellant,
Peter L. Hilbert, Jr. Texas Brine Company, LLC
Jeffrey D. Kessler
David A. Freedman
Rebekka C. Veith
New Orleans, LA

Robert Ryland Percy, III
Gonzales, LA

Mary S. Johnson Counsel for Third -Party
Mandeville, LA Defendant/Appellee
Lexington Insurance Company
Nichole M. Gray solely in its capacity as an alleged
New Orleans, LA insurer of Adams Resources
Exploration Corporation)

BEFORE: HIGGINBOTHAM, PENZATO, AND LANIER, JJ.

LANIER, J.

Texas Brine Company, LLC (" Texas Brine"), appeals a September 13, 2017

judgment sustaining a declinatory exception raising the objection of lis pendens

filed by Lexington Insurance Company (" Lexington"), as an alleged insurer of

Adams Resources Exploration Corporation. That judgment dismissed " any and all

claims, demands, and/ or allegations asserted by [ Texas Brine] against [ Lexington]

in their entirety, WITHOUT PREJUDICE, in favor of the first -filed set of

claims and demands," without declaring which of the multiple sinkhole cases was

the first -filed suit.

The factual and procedural history of this litigation is well known to both

this court and the parties and will not be reiterated herein. After the instant appeal

was lodged, this court dismissed appeals in several other matters pertaining to this

litigation, including the appeals in Pontchartrain Natural Gas System, et al v.

Texas Brine Company, LLC, 2018- 0419 ( La. App. 1 Cir. 6/ 26/ 19), So. 3d

2019 WL 2609034, * 2, writ denied, stay denied, 2019- 01125 ( La.

7/ 17/ 19), So. 3d , 2019 WL 3491637; and Pontchartrain Natural Gas

System, et al v. Texas Brine Company, LLC, 2018- 0435 ( La. App. 1 Cir.

6/ 26/ 19), So. 3d , 2019 WL 2609142, * 2, that control the disposition

of the instant appeal. For the same reasons as those given in these two prior

Pontchartrain cases, this court is unable to determine the exact relief granted or

denied by the September 13, 2017 judgment, which renders it indefinite and not a

final, appealable judgment. In the absence of a valid final judgment, this court

lacks subject matter jurisdiction. Advanced Leveling & Concrete Solutions v.

Lathan Company, Inc., 2017- 1250 ( La. App. 1 Cir. 12/ 20/ 18), 268 So. 3d 1044,

1047 ( en banc).

Moreover, while we acknowledge that the parties have filed a joint motion to

summarily dismiss this appeal as moot, we note that the district court's judgment,

N

rendered after the liability trial is currently the subject of multiple appeals that are

pending before this court and, thus, has not yet acquired the authority of a thing

adjudged.
Therefore, we deny the joint motion to dismiss the appeal sub judice as

moot. See La. Code Civ. P. arts. 2166 and 2167. See also Pontchartrain Natural

Gas System, et al v. Texas Brine Company, LLC, 2018- 0360 ( La. App. 1 Cir.

7/ 3/ 19), So. 3d , 2019 WL 2865129, * 1.

CONCLUSION

We issue this summary opinion in accordance with Uniform Rules --Courts

of Appeal, Rule 2- 16. 2A( 1) and ( 2), dismissing this appeal for lack of subject

matter jurisdiction and finding that the disposition is clearly controlled by case law

precedent.
Further, we deny the parties' joint motion to dismiss this appeal as

moot. Additionally, because we dismiss this appeal for lack of jurisdiction, we

pretermit ruling on all other pending motions connected to this appeal. We assess

all costs of this appeal to Texas Brine Company, LLC.

JOINT MOTION TO DISMISS AS MOOT DENIED; RULINGS ON ALL
PENDING MOTIONS PRETERMITTED; APPEAL DISMISSED.

3