636 F. App'x 906

Earl A. ADAMS, Jr.; Alfred Alexander; Jenell Antoine; Paul J. Armand; Alicia Auguste, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Joseph F. GREFER, Defendant-Appellant, Chevron USA, Incorporated; Certain Underwriters at Lloyds London; Bishopsgate Insurance Limited; Cornhill Insurance, P.L.C.; Hansa Marine Insurance Company U.K. Limited; Minister Insurance Company, Limited; Northern Assurance Company, Limited; Ocean Marine Insurance Company Limited; Sirius Insurance Company UK Limited; Skandia UK Insurance, P.L.C.; Sphere Drake Insurance Company UK Limited; Terra Nova Insurance Company, Limited; Vesta UK Insurance Company Limited; Yasuda Fire; Marine Insurance Company of Europe Limited; Zurich Re UK Limited; Oilfield Testers, Incorporated; Riverstone Insurance UK Limited, formerly known as Sphere Drake Insurance, P.L.C.; Allianz International Insurance Company Limited; Yorkshire Insurance Company Limited; Exxon Mobil Corporation; Sexton Oil; Mineral Corporation; Intracoastal Tubular Services, Incorporated; Alpha Technical Services, Incorporated; OFS, Incorporated; BP Exploration; Oil, Incorporated; BP America Production Company, formerly known as Amoco Production Company; BP Exploration; Production, Incorporated; Atlantic Richfield Company; Conocophillips Company; Anadarko U.S. Offshore Corporation, formerly known as Kerr-McGee Oil and Gas Corporation; Mobil Exploration and Producing US, Incorporated; Rathborne Companies, L.L.C.; Rathborne Land Company, L.L.C.; Rathborne Properties, L.L.C.; Tubular Corporation; John Gandy, Incorporated; Arco Oil; Gas Company; L B Foster Company; 51 Oil Company; Shell Offshore, Incorporated; Shell Oil Company; Swepi, L.P.; Texaco, Incorporated; Marathon Oil Company; Transco Exploration Company, as successor of Exchange Oil; Gas Corporation, Defendants-Appellees.

*907No. 15-31091.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

Feb. 16, 2016.

Darleen M. Jacobs, Esq., Jacobs, Sarrat, Lovelace & Harris, New Orleans, LA, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Eberhard Darrow Garrison, Jones, Swanson, Huddell & Garrison, L.L.C., New Orleans, LA, for Defendant-Appellant.

Michael Raudon Phillips, Esq., Kean Miller, L.L.P., Stephen Porter Hall, Phelps Dunbar, L.L.P., Craig Isenberg, Esq., Barrasso, USDIN, Kupperman, Freeman & Sarver, L.L.C., Glen Marion Pilie, Esq,. Adams & Reese, L.L.P., Caleb H. Didriksen, III, Esq., Didriksen Law Firm, P.L.C., Deborah Deroche Kuchler, Kuchler, Polk, Schell, Weiner & Rieheson, L.L.C., Richard Stuart Pabst, Esq., Kean Miller, L.L.P., John William Hite, III, Sal-ley, Hite, Mercer & Resor, L.L.C., C. Peck Hayne, Jr., Gordon, Arata, McCollam, Du-plantis & Eagan, L.L.C, New Orleans, LA, Jay M. Lonero, Larzelere Picou Wells Simpson Lonero, L.L.C., Metairie, LA, William G. Davis, Milling Benson Woodward, L.L.P., Thomas E. Balhoff, Roedel, Parsons, Koch, Blache, Balhoff & McCol-lister, A.L.C., Baton Rouge, LA, Raymond A. Osborn, Jr., Esq., Osborn & Osborn, Harvey, LA, Michael P. Cash, Esq., Lis-kow & Lewis, Houston, TX, Mary S. Johnson, Esq., Johnson Gray McNamara, L.L.C., Mandeville, LA, Richard Phillips Sulzer, Sulzer & Williams, L.L.C., Coving-ton, LA, Carl M. Duhon, Duhon Law Firm, LaFayette, LA, for Defendant-Appellee.

Before CLEMENT, ELROD, and SOUTHWICK, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM: *

In 2002, the plaintiffs filed a mass action suit against the defendants in Louisiana state court. The suit alleged personal injury and property damage from contamination exposure. The plaintiffs filed amended and supplemental petitions in January 2004, January 2015, and August 2015. After the August 2015 amendment (hereinafter the “last amended petition”), defendant-appellant Joseph F. Grefer removed the case to the Eastern District of Louisiana under the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (“CAFA”).1 Grefer argued that the last amended petition added new plaintiffs and claims under Louisiana law, thereby commencing a new action and opening a new window of removal under CAFA. The plaintiffs moved for remand, and the district court granted the motion. We then granted the defendant’s motion to appeal the remand order. Because we find that the last amended pleading did not add any new claims, we affirm.

I.

This court reviews a district court’s remand order de novo. Rainbow Gun Club, Inc. v. Denbury Onshore, LLC, 760 F.3d 405, 408 (5th Cir.2014).

II.

Here, Grefer contends that the last amended petition added hundreds of new *908plaintiffs and claims. Based on the plain language of the petition, we disagree. Section 2 of the last amended petition states that “[p]ursuant to La. Civil Code art. 2315.1, La. Civil Code art. 2315.2, and/or La. Code of Civil Procedure art. 4061 et. seq., in addition to all other statutory authority relevant hereto, the below-named parties hereby substitute themselves for the named plaintiffs, listed below[.]” (emphasis added). Grefer highlights this section’s citation to article 2315.2 — Louisiana’s wrongful death statute — as the basis for his argument that there are now hundreds of new plaintiffs and claims.2

Grefer’s reliance on this single citation to article 2315.2 ignores everything that follows in the remainder of the amended petition. Virtually every subsequent paragraph takes the following form: “The estate of A [an original plaintiff] is represented by the following hems: B, C, and D.”3 In fact, none of the paragraphs alleges any facts whatsoever suggesting that a new plaintiff is bringing a wrongful death claim. Rather, each paragraph simply establishes which heirs will be representing the estates of which deceased original plaintiffs. And the mere substitution of deceased plaintiffs by their heirs does not commence a new action for purposes of CAFA. See Admiral Ins. Co. v. Abshire, 574 F.3d 267, 274 (5th Cir.2009).

III.

We do not address the hypothetical question of whether a properly alleged wrongful death claim would commence a new action under CAFA. Because no new claims have been alleged here, we need only apply our well-established default rule under Louisiana law: “[A]bsent special circumstances, a suit is commenced only at the time the original petition is filed in a court of competent jurisdiction.” Abshire, 574 F.3d at 273. AFFIRMED.

Adams v. Grefer
636 F. App'x 906

Case Details

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Adams v. Grefer
Decision Date
Feb 16, 2016
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636 F. App'x 906

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United States

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