The plaintiff in this case filed a petition for damages after he allegedly slipped and fell on the stairs in a building owned, operated and managed by an individual and an estate. The plaintiff’s service instructions requested service on the estate but not the individual. When the individual was ultimately served years later, Mr. Roux filed a Motion to Dismiss alleging that the plaintiff failed to timely request service under LSA-C.C.P. art. 1201. The trial court denied the defendants’ motion. The Fourth Circuit denied the defendants’ subsequent writ application. The Supreme Court, however, granted the defendants’ writ application and dismissed the plaintiff’s petition finding that he did not show good cause for the delay in requesting service. This was the first case the Louisiana Supreme Court addressed which interpreted the provisions of LSA-C.C.P. art. 1201.
Norbert v. Loucks, 2001-1229 (La. 6/29/2001), 791 So.2d 1283