Lis Pendens Bars Individual Coverage Lawsuits Brought by Putative Class Members, La. High Court rules

BATON ROUGE, La. — Plaintiffs alleging to be putative class members of multiple Hurricane Katrina insurance coverage class actions are barred by the doctrine of lis pendens from proceeding with their own individual lawsuits against the defendant insurer, the Louisiana Supreme Court has ruled.

In an Oct. 14 opinion, the court held that the doctrine applies even though the plaintiffs were not named as parties or joined in the first-filed class actions.

Plaintiffs owned homes in New Orleans at the time Hurricane Katrina came ashore on Aug. 29, 2005. Their properties were insured under all-risk or homeowners policies issued by …