Opinion
2022-C-01637
01-18-2023
RICHARD AND JUDITH WILLIAMS v. UNITED STATES FIRE INSURANCE, ET AL.
IN RE: United States Fire Insurance Company - Applicant Defendant; Trip Mate, Inc. - Applicant Defendant; Applying For Writ Of Certiorari, Parish of Rapides, 9th Judicial District Court Number(s) 268,548, Court of Appeal, Third Circuit, Numbers) CA2200071;
Writ application granted. See per curiam.
JBM
JLW
JDH
SJC
JTG
WJC
PDG
PER CURIAM
Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure article 1911 A provides that "every final judgment shall contain the typewritten or printed name of the judge and be signed by the judge." "[N]o appeal may be taken from a final judgment until the requirement of this Article has been fulfilled." La. C.C. P. art. 1911 B. With respect to a summary judgment, La. C.C.P. art. 968 states that summary judgments "are final judgments and shall be rendered and signed in the same manner and with the same effect as if a trial had been had upon evidence regularly adduced." (Emphasis added).
Moreover, a "final judgment. . . shall be identified as such by appropriate language; shall be signed and dated; and shall, in its decree, identify the name of the party in whose favor the relief is awarded, the name of the party against whom the relief is awarded, and the relief that is awarded. If appealed, a final judgment that does not contain the appropriate decretal language shall be remanded to the trial court. . . ." La. C.C.P. art. 1918 A.
This Court has held that, where a final judgment is not reduced to writing and signed by a judge, there is no final judgment "and no appeal [can] be taken. . . . In order to have . . . the force and effect of a final judgment . . . there [must] be a judgment signed by the judge rendering it." Fisher v. Rollins, 91 So.2d 28, 31 (La. 1956). See also, Carter v. Ameer LLC, 2018-0703, p. 3 (La.App. 4 Cir. 2/27/19), 265 So.3d 922, 924 ("a final judgment must be reduced to writing. . . . "[A]n appellate court reviews written judgments. . . .") (Internal citations omitted); Wynne v. Parlay's, Inc., 97-1170 (La.App. 4 Cir. 11/5/97), 701 So.2d 1369 (in considering an appeal from a judgment entered orally but never signed by the trial court: "the absence of a signed judgment is fatal to [plaintiffs'] appeal … Since there is no signed judgment the appeal must be dismissed as premature.").
In the instant matter, while the trial court orally granted summary judgment in Respondents' favor, it failed to render a written judgment. Accordingly, based on the foregoing, the record contains no final, appealable judgment. We therefore grant the writ application solely to vacate the Court of Appeal's judgment and remand this matter to the trial court for further proceedings.