Legal Memorandum: Independent Juridical Persons in LA

Issue: May judges be considered legal entities for purposes of dismissing a motion in Shreveport Louisiana?

“To state a claim for prima facie tort, plaintiff must plead ‘(1) the intentional infliction of harm, (2) which results in special damages, (3) without any excuse or justification, (4) by an act or series of acts which would otherwise be lawful.'”  Posner v. Lewis, 912 N.Y.S.2d 53, 56, 2010 N.Y. Slip Op. 09089 (Dec. 9, 2010).  Case law suggests that a fiduciary does not create any special status for a defendant to be liable for a prima facie tort.  See id. 912 N.Y.S.2d at 56 (stating, “[T]here is no recovery in prima facie tort unless malevolence is the sole motive for defendant’s otherwise lawful act or, in [other words], unless defendant acts from disinterested malevolence.”); but see Agency Assoc., Inc. v. John R. Sauer, Inc., No. 006708/2005, 21 Misc. 3d 1136(A), 875 N.Y.S.2d 818, 2008 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 6870, 2008 NY Slip. Op. 52400(U) (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Nov. 6, 2008) (noting that the defense of “economic self-interest should not be a defense to a claim for prima facie tort where the parties stand in a fiduciary relation”).

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