Land v. Acadian Production Corporation of La.

• Decision Date: 06 October 1944
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 648.
• Citation: 57 F. Supp. 338
• Parties: LAND v. ACADIAN PRODUCTION CORPORATION OF LOUISIANA (LAND, Intervener).
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Louisiana

57 F. Supp. 338

LAND v. ACADIAN PRODUCTION CORPORATION OF LOUISIANA (LAND, Intervener).

Civil Action No. 648.

District Court, W. D. Louisiana, Opelousas Division.

October 6, 1944.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

John R. Land, Jr., of New Orleans, La., Lessley P. Gardiner, of Opelousas, La., and J. H. Jackson, of Shreveport, La., for plaintiff.

Samuel J. Tennant and Geo. T. Fisher, both of New Orleans, La., for defendant.

Geo. S. Graham, of New Orleans, La., for intervener.

PORTERIE, District Judge.

In these proceedings, John R. Land, Jr., a lawyer, filed action for the appointment of a receiver for a certain oil, gas, and mineral lease covering property situated in St. Martin Parish, Louisiana. Complainant also asked to be adjudicated the owner of an undivided interest in the lease by virtue of two written contracts for professional services entered into with defendant. The contracts were alleged in Article 4 of the complaint and were attached and made a part of the complaint.

Summary judgment was rendered by this court on June 25, 1942, and the judgment was appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. See Acadian Production Corporation of Louisiana v. Land, 136 F.2d 1. The appointment of a receiver was refused in the district court and no appeal was sought on that refusal.

The entire printed record of the appeal has been placed in this record by complainant. The complainant on the appeal had designated "the complete record and all proceedings, pleadings, evidence and exhibits filed in the action." (Exhibit, Printed Transcript No. 10,513, page 182.) However, there came to be excluded, although included within the designation, all evidence adduced and proceedings had on the trial of this original cause on June 15, 1942, including the findings of fact and conclusions of law given for the summary judgment. Complainant has offered the entire transcript of these former proceedings at the trial of this case on remand. Upon objection, a portion of the transcript has been excluded. Perhaps the summary judgment would have met with better fortune on appeal, if the full and proper record had reached the appellate court.

A motion for judgment on the pleadings and a plea of estoppel were filed by the complainant. The motion for judgment on the pleadings was overruled; the plea of estoppel was referred for decision after the trial, but before passing on the merits, of the case.

Before trial, defendant was permitted to amend its answer.

After complainant had completed his evidence on the main demand, defendant filed a written motion for involuntary dismissal, which in the main alleged that complainant had failed to prove the acquisition by the Acadian Production Corporation of Louisiana, the defendant, of the mineral lease in dispute. The motion for involuntary dismissal was overruled, because counsel for defendant had admitted into evidence without objection the duly certified copy of the petition filed in the Sixteenth Judicial District Court, Parish of St. Martin, State of Louisiana, under its Docket No. 13,707 to which petition was attached as Exhibit "A" and made a part, a certified copy of the assignment by Iberia Petroleum Corporation to Acadian Production Corporation of Louisiana of the interest alleged in the complaint and admitted in the original answer filed by the defendant. The certified copy of the petition and assignment was filed herein as "Land Exhibit No. 2."

At the trial, complainant, before offering any evidence as to services performed as required by the opinion of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, filed a written memorandum in connection with plaintiff's position in offering evidence as to services rendered under written contract, and then offered his evidence for the limited purpose of showing a valuable consideration flowing from complainant to defendant under the written contracts. All of this evidence is in writing and is designated "Land Exhibit Numbers 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20."

There have been filed the original petitions and answers, the petitions for writ of certiorari, and prohibition and mandamus, other numerous pleadings and the extended briefs showing that Mr. Land gave much study, labor, and time to his employment, and that his effort was well-directed and successful, as proved by the fact of the favorable compromise.

The above work fully sets out the cause of action of the complainant, and attests a legal effort so ably prepared that a successful compromise resulted. The complainant is paid in kind from the fruit of his labor.

Defendant offered carbon copies of letters between the complainant and the defendant. These are answered by the complainant by his letter dated August 19, 1941. The answer is sensible and logical. The attorney had worked hard in building his suits and was then ready to serve successfully his client. He was not neglectful by the sought delay caused by his sickness.

Further, we have the uncontradicted testimony of John R. Land, Jr., to the effect that a trial on the merits of the case No. 13,707 of the Sixteenth Judicial District Court was continued by other counsel in the case on July 21, 1941, and again on November 28, 1941, to December 15, 1941. The sole effort made by the complainant to continue the case was by written motion, on December 15, 1941, with doctor's certificate attached. This was opposed by the other counsel employed by Acadian Production Corporation of Louisiana to handle the case; naturally, the written and filed motion was overruled by the trial judge.

The testimony of Mr. James L. Helm, defendant's witness and one of the attorneys present, is clinching on this point:

"Q. Mr. Helm, do you recall whether or not there was a motion for continuance signed by Mr. Land on the occasion of December 15, 1941, when the matter came up? A. Yes, there was.

"Q. Was that argued and opposed by other parties representing Acadian Petroleum Corporation? A. As I recall, I believe that Mr. Gaudin, who represented the Acadian, stated that Mr. Land was no longer a resident of the State of Louisiana, and that he and Mr. Minos Armentor, had been employed by the Acadian Company to handle the litigation in that case.

"Q. Did those counsel request the Court to overrule the motion for a continuance filed by Mr. Land, and which the Judge overruled the motion? A. As I recall, I think Counsel did ask to overrule it and the Judge did overrule it."

In answer to a question asked Mr. Helm by Mr. Tennant, counsel for defendant, Mr. Helm testified that neither Mr. Dan Debaillon, nor himself, who represented Iberia Petroleum Corporation, plaintiff in the suit No. 13,707, made any statement whatever in reference to the request for the continuance. (Exhibit Printed Transcript No. 10,513, pages 144, 145.)

The testimony of Mr. C. S. McKendrick, secretary-treasurer of the defendant company, corroborated the testimony of Mr. Helm. He said that he had employed on behalf of Acadian Production Corporation, Mr. Gaudin and Mr. Armentor to handle the litigation; that the two lawyers opposed the motion to continue filed by the complainant; and that Mr. Gaudin actually in open court dictated the "Stipulation Made Among Counsel" which compromised and settled all litigation covered by the contracts for the professional services.

What happened after the trial judge in the state court overruled the motion for a continuance? Did defendant with its new counsel, after eliminating the possibility of complainant participating, proceed with a trial on the merits of the case? No, no trial on the merits has ever been had in the proceeding No. 13,707. The new counsel, with Mr. F. W. Gaudin actually dictating the compromise agreement into the record in open court, compromised and settled not only case No. 13,707, but also all litigation pending between Iberia Petroleum Corporation and Acadian Production Corporation of Louisiana, as well as other litigation growing out of the mineral lease. No witness has ever been sworn to testify in case No. 13,707 on the merits to this day. The testimony of C. S. McKendrick at the trials on June 15, 1942, and on April 27, 1944, and likewise the testimony of John R. Land, Jr., contain these facts. Article 5 of the complaint, in which "Stipulation Made Among Counsel," Exhibit "B," is pleaded, and Article 5 of defendant's original answer, in which it is alleged that the instrument is the best evidence of its contents, support these facts. "Exhibit B," received and filed in evidence by defendant on December 15, 1941, in case No. 13,707, as defendant's exhibit "D-1" and the minutes of the Sixteenth Judicial District Court, Parish of St. Martin, State of Louisiana, complainant's exhibit "P-12" prove these facts.

The evidence is that complainant performed any and all services required of him under both of the contracts for professional services up to December 15, 1941. The testimony of defendant's witness, C. S. McKendrick, at the trial on April 27, 1944, was to the effect that the professional services, in connection with both contracts, had been performed in a most proficient manner, in fact the witness went so far as to state that had complainant been able to attend the trial on December 15, 1941, he believed case No. 13,707 would have been won on the merits. New counsel then compromised and settled the case as evidenced by "Stipulation Made Among Counsel" and in this stipulation fully protected the interest of John R. Land, Jr., the complainant. If the defendant or its new counsel thought that there had been any neglect of duty on the part of John R. Land, Jr., on December 15, 1941, why did the defendant through its new counsel so completely protect the interest of John R. Land, Jr., in the "Stipulation Made Among Counsel," entered into and filed in the record in case No. 13,707? They used the following language:

"* * *, that any right which John R. Land has or may have in any of these matters is not considered as being affected by...