5th Circuit Halts Katrina Suits By Louisiana AG Over Levees

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an emergency order barring an effort by the state of Louisiana and plaintiff lawyers to have the state's attorney general sue the Army Corps of Engineers on behalf of Hurricane Katrina victims who don't have lawyers. The order was issued in response to a hurried effort by the Department of Justice to find a way to stop the lawsuit from being filed.

The suits are based on allegations that the Corps was responsible for levee breaks during the storm that caused widespread flooding. The order was issued on the day of the deadline for flood victims to file suit–the second anniversary of Katrina.

By its decision, the court renders moot a suit filed earlier in the day by Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti.

U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval, the appeals court said, did not have the authority to appoint Attorney General Foti as guardian for about 350,000 people with claims against the Corps. The Justice Department had initially turned to Judge Duval to stop the suit from being filed.

Judge Duval had agreed to let the attorney general sue the Corps on behalf of lawyerless claimants who had not yet filed suit. Plans called for a comparison of the names Mr. Foti submitted with the names of flood victims who have lawyers, and for those names to be removed from Mr. Foti's list.

Judge Duval had encouraged all people planning to sue to get their own lawyers.

The state Attorney General's Office said it was working on a reply to the court order.

This was the second rebuke from the 5th Circuit on decisions by Judge Duval.

In a ruling dealing with damages from Hurricane Katrina, a panel of the court on Aug. 1 reversed a November ruling by Judge Duval that the language excluding claims for flood damage in insurance policies in the state was ambiguous and the insurers therefore liable for claims.