Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Louisiana
on a civil lawsuit what happens if 15 day time period expired without response but was filed 18 days.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Dear LawGuru Friend,
First of all, I assume you are referring to Louisiana and to a suit
filed in a Louisiana State District Court. Assuming no defensive
pleading is filed by the defendant within fifteen days from the date
of service of process on him or her, then the plaintiff has the right
to move for a "prelimininary default judgment"; and assuming that
still no allowable defensive pleading--such as an Answer--is filed by
the defendant withing two full judicial days following the date of the
entery of the "preliminary default" judgment, then the plaintiff can
go into court and prove up his or her case and "confirm the default"
and obtain a written judgment. All of this is covered in the Louisiana
Code of Civil Procedure, which you can access by clicking on the
Louisiana Legislature web-site and going to Louisiana Laws, and
clicking on same and then clicking on LA Code of Civil Procedure
and searching for and reading about "default judgments", time for
answering suits, etc.
Sincerely,
Hardy Parkerson, J.D.
Retired Lawyer after 41 years
Lake Charles, LA 70605
P.S.: Feel free to e-mail me for more
information and/or for a personal call
to discuss this matter further. HMP
Nothing happens unless the Plaintiff moves for a default Judgment. And by the way, Hardy Parkerson has been DISBARRED and is practicing law without a license.