Opinion ID: 1092897
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Melancon decision

Text: Melancon was a divided decision of this court. Melancon held that a defendant's verbal agreement not to proceed with a state court suit while the plaintiff was pursing a parallel federal court suit, asserting federal constitutional issues, did not result in a waiver of the defendant's right in the state court suit to assert abandonment. Both this court and the commentators have criticized that case. The commentators have noted the logic of contrary reasoning. Maraist & Lemmon, supra § 10.4 at 243. This court has held that certain dicta language in Melancon was mistaken. Chevron Oil Co. v. Traigle, 436 So.2d 530 (La.1983). [15] Today, we like-wise hold, as noted above, that the remark in Melancon that extrinsic evidence of a waiver is not permitted was mistaken to the extent it precludes establishing an acknowledgment by the defendant of an obligation to plaintiff. That remark is inconsistent with the jurisprudence holding that an order of dismissal based on abandonment may be set aside based upon a showing that a cause outside the record prevented accrual of the [three] years required for abandonment and recognizing as one such cause the prescription-based exception to abandonment of waiver. DeClouet, 176 So.2d at 476.