Westridge v. Claiborne Builders, Inc.

I iMURRAY, Judge.

United States Fidelity & Guaranty-Company seeks reversal of the trial court’s judgment overruling its exception of res judicata. Both the plaintiff, Maurice Westridge, and USF & G’s co-defendant, Twin Cities Insurance Company, filed briefs in response to USF & G’s application for a writ of certiorari. We now grant the writ and affirm the trial court’s ruling.

This suit was filed after a fire December 9, 1983, damaged two adjacent buildings in downtown New Orleans. After consolidation with another suit arising from the fire, a trial on the issue of liability alone resulted in a…