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Head v. Brent Transportation Corp
Citations: 715 So. 2d 698; 98 La.App. 4 Cir. 1308; 1998 La. App. LEXIS 2402; 1998 WL 484077Docket: No. 98-C-1308
Court: Louisiana Court of Appeal; June 24, 1998; Louisiana; State Appellate Court
Certiorari was granted to review the trial court's decision overruling Brent Transportation Company's exception of venue. The court reversed the trial court's decision. The plaintiff, Robert Head, a Mississippi resident, was injured while working on the vessel MN Leviticus, owned by Brent Transportation Company, which is incorporated in Delaware and operates from Texas but is not licensed in Louisiana and has no office there. Head sued for damages under the Jones Act in the Civil District Court for Orleans Parish, Louisiana, claiming jurisdiction through Louisiana’s Long-Arm Statute. Brent Transportation filed exceptions for improper venue, vagueness, and no cause of action, all of which the trial court overruled. The appellate court noted that the venue issue was determinative, thus rendering the other exceptions moot. The court referenced the case Lopez v. Afram Lines, affirming that venue was improper for a foreign plaintiff against a foreign defendant concerning an incident that occurred outside Louisiana, regardless of service under the Long-Arm Statute. Head argued that the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 42(5) allowed venue in Orleans Parish due to the service of process, but the court rejected this. It clarified that service under the Long-Arm Statute did not occur until delivered outside Louisiana, making Article 42(5) inapplicable. The court acknowledged that an amendment to R.S. 13:3203 did not substantively alter the law regarding venue. Ultimately, the appellate court reversed the trial court's judgment, sustaining Brent Transportation’s exception of venue, dismissing Head's suit without prejudice, and recalling the stay order. Brent Transportation Corporation is now identified as Kirby Inland Marine, Inc. of Mississippi, still based in Houston, Texas.