Sullivan case accepted on final appeal Attorneys are preparing briefs for presentation to the Louisiana Supreme Court in the case of Janice Sullivan vs. Bruce Sullivan and Priscilla Wallace Sullivan, which is on appeal from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Shreveport. Monroe attorney Paul Spillers, who represents the Louisiana Forestry Association in a "friend of the court" pleading, said the State Supreme Court agreed in late May to hear the case on appeal, to settle conflicting judgments on issues of timber theft, in decisions by the Second Circuit in Shreveport and the Third Circuit in Lake Charles. The LFA has no monetary involvement in the dispute between Priscilla Wallace Sullivan and her former husband, Bruce Sullivan over payment for timber harvested from community property in 1994. LFA's interest is in deterring timber theft among co-owners by enforcing treble damages and attorney fees under Louisiana statutes. In two separate legal actions, the Third Circuit upheld the treble damages law, and the Second Circuit, which heard the Sullivan case on appeal from the District Court in Claiborne Parish, in a 4-1 decision allowed only fair market value for payment of co-owned timber, reversing the District Court award of treble damages in the suit filed by Janice Sullivan against her former husband involving a timber sale on community property. After filing of legal briefs, the Court will set a date for oral arguments. |