Opinion ID: 1153196
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Dual Relationship between the Parties

Text: The parties stand in a dual relationship in the present case. On one part of the oyster lease, plaintiff and Exxon had the relationship of two parties with coexisting rights to the same property. On the remainder of the oyster lease, Exxon held no property rights and was simply plaintiff's neighbor. We will therefore analyze plaintiff's claims against Exxon separately in each relationship. The first claim against Exxon is for damage to that property on which plaintiff and Exxon held coexisting rights; that is, the portion of plaintiff's oyster lease which overlapped Exxon's servitude and surface lease. This claim will be analyzed in the context of the correlative rights of parties holding separate rights from the landowner at the same time on the same property, and the court will consider the applicability of La.Civ.Code arts. 667-669 to parties in this relationship. The second claim against Exxon is for damage to that property in plaintiff's oyster lease adjoining the servitude and surface lease that Exxon acquired from the State; that is, all property leased by plaintiff outside the boundaries of Exxon's servitude and surface lease, and on which Exxon had no express property rights. This claim will be analyzed in the context of the rights and obligations of adjoining landowners, and the court will consider the applicability of La.Civ. Code arts. 667-669 to parties in this relationship.