Opinion ID: 1722837
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: do the commissioner and the fund have a right to intervene and appeal the excess judgment?

Text: After final judgment, the commissioner and the fund were granted the right to intervene in the suit to appeal the excess judgment against the fund. The claimant argues that they had no right to intervene and appeal. We disagree. La.Code Civ.P. art. 1091 provides: A third person having an interest therein may intervene in a pending action to enforce a right related to or connected with the object of the pending action against one or more of the parties thereto by: (1) Joining with plaintiff in demanding the same or similar relief against the defendant; (2) Uniting with defendant in resisting the plaintiff's demand; or (3) Opposing both plaintiff and defendant. La.Code Civ.P. art. 2086 provides: A person who could have intervened in the trial court may appeal, whether or not any other appeal has been taken. In the instant suit, only the health care provider and her insured were made defendants. In Williams v. Kushner, 449 So.2d 455 (La.1984), we stated that the only party defendant contemplated by the act is the health care provider. In that case, we had to determine if in a medical malpractice action to obtain excess damages from the Patient's Compensation Fund, the right to a jury trial existed in view of certain statutes denying that right to state agencies. [20] Finding that the act does not specify the fund as a party defendant, we did not reach the issue of the exact status of the fund. [21] We noted that when the fund is defending an action by the claimant for excess damages after settlement with the health care provider, the fund is more in the nature of a statutory intervenor; it is a third person who has an interest in the proceedings between the claimant and the health care provider because any damages in excess of one hundred thousand dollars are payable by the fund. Williams v. Kushner, supra, at 458, n. 16. Similarly, after a judgment is rendered in a suit between the claimant and the health care provider awarding damages against the health care provider in excess of one hundred thousand dollars, the commissioner and the fund have an interest in the action for the purpose of appealing the excess judgment against the fund. La.Code Civ.P. arts. 1091 and 2086. Accordingly, the trial judge was correct in granting the intervention of the commissioner and the fund for the purpose of appealing the excess judgment.