Courtney A. Daigre, individually and on behalf of his minor child, C.D. v. Darrius Norwood, DAATS Companies, Inc. and WESCO Insurance

COURT OF APPEAL., FIRST CIRCUIT

COURTNEY A. DAIGRE, NO. 2024 CW 1006
INDIVIDUALLY, AND ON BEHALF
OF HIS MINOR CHILD, C. D.

VERSUS

DARRIUS NORWOOD, DAATS JANUARY 29, 2025
COMPANIES, INC. AND WESCO
INSURANCE

In Re: DAATS Companies, Inc., and Wesco Insurance Company,
applying for supervisory writs, 19th Judicial District
Court, Parish of East Baton Rouge, No. 735498.

BEFORE: LANIER, WOLFE, HESTER, MILLER, AND GREENE, JJ.

WRIT GRANTED. The trial court' s ruling granting the " Motion
for Partial Summary Judgment Re: Liability" filed by the plaintiff,
Courtney A. Daigre, individually and on behalf of his minor child,
C. D., is reversed. The trial court erred in failing to consider
the opposition of defendants, DAATS Companies, Inc. and Wesco
Insurance Agency, as The
untimely. hearing on the Motion for
Partial Summary Judgment was set for September 16, 2024, making
the deadline to file the opposition Sunday, September 1, 2024. See
La. Code Civ. P. art. 966 ( B) ( 2) . Sunday is a legal holiday, and
the next day, Labor September
Day, Monday, 2, 2024, also was a

legal holiday. See La. R. S. 1: 55 ( A) ( 1) . Where the opposition was
filed on Tuesday, September 3, 2024, which was the next day that
was not a legal holiday, it was timely. See La. Code Civ. P. art.
966 ( B) ( 4) ; La. Civ Code art. 5059.
In this matter involving a rear -
end collision,
the countervailing affidavit of defendant, Darrius
Norwood (" Norwood"), filed with the opposition raises a genuine
issue of material fact as to whether the plaintiff
negligently
created a hazard that could not reasonably have been avoided and,
thus, whether Norwood breached his duty, precluding summary
judgment herein. Accordingly, the " Motion for Partial Summary
Judgment Re: Liability" is denied.

WIL

CHH
SMM
HG

Wolfe, J.,
dissents and would deny the writ. The criteria set
forth in Herlitz Construction Co., Inc. v. Hotel Investors of New
Iberia, Inc., 396 So. 2d 878 ( La. 1981) ( per curiam) are not met.

COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT

DnUTY CLERK OF COURT
FOR THE COURT