Bulletin: LA000014

Dear Associates:

Background

On September 6, 2005, due to Hurricane Katrina, Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco issued Executive Order No. KBB 2005-32 titled "Emergency Suspension of Prescription, Peremption and other Legal Deadlines" ("Executive Order 32"). Executive Order 32 suspended all deadlines in all legal proceedings, including liberative prescriptive and peremptive periods, in all courts, administrative agencies and boards in the State ofLouisiana for a period of 28 days, retroactively from Monday, August 29, 2005 through Sunday, September 25, 2005.

On September 23, 2005, Governor Blanco issued Executive Order No. KBB 2005-48 titled "Extension of Executive Order No. 2005-32 - Emergency Suspension of Prescription, Peremption and other Legal Deadlines" ("Executive Order 48"). Executive Order 48 amended Executive Order 32 to extend the suspension period by 30 days, to at least October 25, 2005.

On October 19, 2005, due to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Governor Blanco issued Executive Order No. KBB 2005-67 titled "Emergency Suspension of Prescription, Peremption and Other Legal Deadlines" ("Executive Order 67"). Executive Order 67 amended Executive Orders 32 and 48 by suspending liberative prescriptive and peremptive periods statewide until at least Friday, November 25, 2005. Executive Order 67 ended the suspension of deadlines in legal proceedings, in all courts, administrative agencies and boards in all parishes except Calcasieu, Cameron, Jefferson Davis and Vermilion (those unaffected by Hurricane Rita) as of Tuesday, October 25, 2005. Executive Order 67 continued the suspension of deadlines in legal proceedings in all courts, administrative agencies and boards in Calcasieu, Cameron, Jefferson Davis and Vermilion parishes (those affected by Hurricane Rita) until at least Friday, November 25, 2005.

HB 90 - 2005 1st Extraordinary Session (Act 6)

On November 23, 2005, Governor Blanco signed HB90 - 2005 1st Extraordinary Session (Act 6), titled "Suspension or Extension of Prescription, Peremption, and other legal deadlines during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita" designated as Part IV of Chapter 1 of Code Title XXIV of Code Book III of Title 9 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, Sections 9:5821 et seq. (the "Suspension Act").

The Suspension Act provides that:

A. The action of the Governor in issuing Executive Orders 32, 48 and 67 is approved, ratified and confirmed, subject to the provisions of the Suspension Act;

B. All prescriptions, including liberative, acquisitive, and the prescription of nonuse, and all peremptive periods shall be subject to a limited suspension and/or extension during the time period of August 26, 2005 through January 3, 2006; however, the suspension and/or extension of these periods shall be limited and shall apply only if these periods would have otherwise lapsed during the time period of August 26, 2005 through January 3, 2006. This limited suspension and/or extension shall terminate on January 3, 2006, and any right, claim, or action which would have expired during the time period August 26, 2005 through January 3, 2006 shall lapse on January 4, 2006;

C. The above provisions shall not apply to any matter concerning the prescription of nonuse applicable to mineral servitudes, mineral royalty interests, and executive rights, which shall be governed by the Louisiana Mineral Code;

D. All deadlines in legal proceedings which were suspended by Executive Orders 32, 38 and 67, shall be subject to a limited suspension and/or extension during the time period of November 25, 2005 through January 3, 2006; however, the suspension and/or extension of these deadlines shall be limited and shall apply only if these deadlines would have otherwise lapsed during the time period of November 25, 2005 through January 3, 2006. This limited suspension and/or extension shall terminate on January 3, 2006, and any deadline in legal proceedings which would have expired during the time period of November 25, 2005 through January 3, 2006 shall lapse on January 4, 2006; and

E. Certain additional suspensions and/or extensions in legal proceedings may be available, upon court order. However, a party must seek an additional suspension or extension by contradictory motion or declaratory judgment. Such party bears the burden of proving its necessity by a preponderance of the evidence.

The complete text of the Suspension Act is available at: https://legis.la.gov/legis/home.aspx

Company Policy

A. If a prescriptive or peremptive period lapsed or a deadline in a legal proceeding passed prior to August 26, 2005, no suspension or extension is applicable.

B. All prescriptions, including liberative, acquisitive, and the prescription of nonuse, and all peremptive periods which would otherwise have lapsed during the period of August 26, 2005 through January 3, 2006, and all deadlines in legal proceedings which would otherwise have lapsed during the time period of November 25, 2005 through January 3, 2006, shall be suspended and/or extended during those respective periods. All such suspensions and/or extensions shall simultaneously terminate on January 3, 2006, and any right, claim, action or legal deadline which would otherwise have expired or passed during those time periods shall uniformly lapse on January 4, 2006. No additional calculations are necessary.

C. Beginning on January 4, 2006 and thereafter, no suspension or extension of prescriptive or peremptive periods or deadlines in legal proceedings is applicable, unless specifically court-ordered.