Nora v. Stanford

YELVERTON, Judge.

An action (other than certain succession proceedings) is abandoned when the parties fail to take any step in its prosecution or defense in the trial court for a period of five years. La.Code Civ.P. art. 561. The issue in this case is whether an action is abandoned by the passage of five years without formal action before the court and on the record following rendition of judgment but before the signing of a final judgment.

The procedural facts are these: V.C. Nora, Jr., injured in a truck accident in 1979, filed suit in 1980 against the driver of the other vehicle, John L.…