February 02nd, 2019

US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Opinions
St. Bernard Parish v. Lafarge North America, Inc.

Docket: 18-30029
Opinion Date: February 1, 2019
Judge: Don R. Willett
Areas of Law: Civil Procedure, Legal Ethics

In 2005, during Hurricane Katrina, a barge moored by Lafarge hurtled through a floodwall and unleashed catastrophic flooding in the Lower 9th Ward. Richard T. Seymour represented New Orleans residents, but withdrew from the Barge Litigation in 2011. After the Barge Litigation settled several years later, he moved to intervene in order to pursue his fees and expenses. The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's decision as to intervention of right and dismissed Seymour's appeal for lack of jurisdiction as to permissive intervention. The court held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that Seymour's motion to intervene came too late. The court also held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying permissive intervention because it was also untimely.

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