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5/15/01

SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA No. 00-CC-2487 c/w No. 00-CC-2496 c/w No. 00-CC-2498 BENTON JOHNSON VERSUS FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF SHREVEPORT, ET AL. ON WRITS OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF APPEAL THIRD CIRCUIT, PARISH OF SABINE CALOGERO, Chief Justice*
The limited dispute before us relates to an appeal cost estimate in one of two cases, filed in separate parishes by different plaintiffs with identical defendants. The two cases were consolidated for pre-trial and trial purposes only, alleging various causes of action including fraud, wrongful inducement, breach of fiduciary duty, and violations of Louisiana's Blue Sky Laws. After judgments were entered in favor of the plaintiffs in both cases, the defendants have appealed the respective judgments to the Second Circuit Court of Appeal and the Third Circuit Court of Appeal. The issue before us concerns the Sabine Parish Clerk of Court's estimated costs for preparing the record in this case for appeal to the Third Circuit. Following a motion and order of appeal, the Sabine Parish Clerk of Court notified the defendants that the estimated costs of appeal in this case would be
*

Philip C. Ciaccio, Justice Pro Tempore, sitting for Associate Justice Harry T. Lemmon.

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$41,033.50. The defendants thereafter sought to traverse the estimated amount, and the district court, pursuant to article 2126(C) of the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, reduced the estimated total costs to $12,091.50. The Clerk of Court sought a writ to the Third Circuit Court of Appeal. It was granted in part and made peremptory. Specifically, the court of appeal modified the district court's ruling on estimated costs upward, to $33,660.50. We granted and consolidated the writ applications of the defendants to resolve the dispute in this matter, provide guidance on the use of article 2126(C) of the Code of Civil Procedure, and apply that article to a peculiar case such as this one.

Facts and Procedural History
Sabine Parish and DeSoto Parish together make up the Eleventh Judicial District. La. Rev. Stat.

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