Case Name: Stanley A. BARON v. Mrs. Evelyn BARON, Wife of Theodore PETER
Court: Louisiana Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1973-11-02
Citations: 286 So. 2d 480
Docket Number: No. 9453
Parties: Stanley A. BARON v. Mrs. Evelyn BARON, Wife of Theodore PETER.
Judges: Before SARTAIN, BLANCHE and WATSON, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 286
Pages: 480–484

Head Matter:
Stanley A. BARON v. Mrs. Evelyn BARON, Wife of Theodore PETER.
No. 9453.
Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.
Nov. 2, 1973.
Rehearing Denied Jan. 4, 1974.
Julian J. Rodrigue, Rodrigue & Pierson, Covington, for appellant.
Stanley A. Baron, pro se.
Before SARTAIN, BLANCHE and WATSON, JJ.

Opinion:
WATSON, Judge ad hoc.
This is an appeal from a judgment ordering payment of an attorney fee on the basis of quantum meruit for services performed.
The plaintiff-appellee was awarded the sum of $2,500.00 as his quantum meruit attorney's fee plus $41.55, half of certain court costs which he had paid. The defendant-appellant is a cousin to the plaintiff.
The facts of the case are somewhat unusual.
Miss Emily Baron, aunt of the plaintiff, Stanley A. Baron, and of the defendant, Evelyn Baron, wife of Theodore Peter, died on May 6, 1957. Plaintiff, who is an attorney licensed to practice in Louisiana, opened the aunt's succession, completed the proceedings and placed all of the heirs, himself, his brother and his cousin, Evelyn Baron Peter, in possession. It is noteworthy that he did not charge any fee for the succession work to either his brother or to the defendant and that he paid all costs himself.
In May, 1958 two mattresses owned by Mrs. Emily Baron were sold and while they were being worked on at a mattress factory, Gold Certificates in the amount of $22,000.00 were discovered.
A dispute arose as to the ownership of the Gold Certificates. The contending parties were, of course, the heirs of Miss Emily Baron, the mattress factory and the mattress purchasers. The plaintiff-attorney undertook extensive legal proceedings to recover the money on behalf of himself and his co-heirs. These proceedings included very extensive and able legal work, culminating in a trial in the United States District Court and an appeal to the United States Court of Appeal, Fifth Circuit. In his efforts, plaintiff was successful on behalf of himself, his brother and his cousin, the defendant. Plaintiff recovered approximately $5,500.00 for himself, a like amount for his brother and approximately $11,000.00 for the defendant.
Plaintiff also performed the necessary work in connection with the succession to handle the recovery of the money represented by the Gold Certificates.
After all the work was completed and after the defendant had received her money, plaintiff then asked her for a legal fee of $2,500.00, which she declined to pay on the grounds that he had handled the initial succession proceedings without charge; that she had not contracted with him to represent her in recovering the Gold Certificates; that he had never advised her that he was going to charge a fee; and that, if she had hired an attorney, she would have chosen someone other than plaintiff.
On defendant's refusal to pay a fee, plaintiff instituted this suit in August, 1963. For some unexplained reason, he apparently instructed that citation and service be delayed. Defendant was not served until May 7, 1968, the citation having issued on May 2, 1968.
The trial court allowed recovery in the amount of $2,500.00 on the basis of quantum meruit plus the $41.55 court costs. However, the trial court did not allow legal interest from date of judicial demand due to the delay in service. Legal interest was ordered paid only from date of service.
From the adverse judgment, defendant has appealed suspensively.
Exception of No Cause and No Right of Action
In this court the plaintiff-appellee has filed a document styled "Exception of No Cause and No Right of Action." The pleading sets forth generally the appellee's arguments on appeal. Also, appellee makes the contention that on December 14, 1972 (which he states incorrectly to be the date of the rule hearing to fix expert witness fees) the attorney for appellant agreed and stipulated that the appellant would not perfect the appeal if appellee would not answer the appeal.
Appellee is mistaken as to the date of the rule hearing; it was February 16, 1973, as reflected by the minutes of court. The trial on the merits was held on the December 14 date.
Counsel for appellant vigorously denies any such agreement or stipulation at any time concerning abandonment of the appeal.
Certainly an Exception of No Cause and No Right of Action is not a pleading to be filed properly by the plaintiff-appellee, exceptions being defined as a "means of defense, other than a denial or avoidance of the demand, used by the defendant . . .". C.C.P. art. 921.
If we consider the pleading filed to be a motion to dismiss the appeal, we find nothing in the record to support the contentions made by plaintiff-appellee. There is no stipulation not to perfect the appeal such as he describes. There is no evidence of any-acquiescence in the judgment. In fact, on February 16, 1973, the date when Mr. Baron and Mr. Rodrigue appeared in court concerning expert witness fees, and entered a stipulation concerning that feature of the case, the appeal had already been perfected. The appeal bond was filed on February 6, 1973.
Therefore, the pleading, which is styled an exception and which may comprise a motion to dismiss the appeal, is overruled.