Williams v. Hartford Fire Insurance

POLOZOLA, District Judge:

This diversity suit for defamation presents the following legal issue on which the Louisiana state courts have written conflicting opinions: must a person who has been defamed by the pleadings in a lawsuit await the termination of that suit before filing a suit for defamation? For reasons set forth hereinafter, the Court holds that under Louisiana law a cause of action for defamation based on allegations or statements made in a judicial proceeding does not arise or come into existence until termination of the judicial proceeding in which the alleged defamatory…