As you may be aware, the rapid spread of COVID-19 (“Coronavirus”) has caused many public and private services to shut down. Crescent City Law will not be conducting in-person meetings with clients until April 13, 2020, but we continue to be available by phone, text, and e-mail.
During this confusing time, it is important to hire a lawyer who is prepared to defend you during this state of emergency. Hire Crescent City Law now to make sure no warrants are issued for your arrest, a skilled attorney appears on your behalf, and defends your case in court when they reopen.
The following is a list of courts closed as of March 18, 2020:
- New Orleans Municipal and Traffic Court is closed from March 15 to May 1, 2020. When court reopens, Crescent City Law will get new court dates for all clients affected by the shutdown.
- The Orleans Parish Criminal District Court in New Orleans will be closed beginning on Monday, March 15, 2020 through Monday, April 13, 2020. Those individuals with pending cases set during this closure, should report to Court between April 13 and April 17, 2020, to secure a new court date during the normal hours of operation.
- The Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans in New Orleans has completely closed until at least April 13, 2020.
- The First and Second City Courts for the City of New Orleans have suspended resident evictions until at least April 24, 2020.
- First Parish Court in Metairie and Second Parish Court in Gretna are closed from March 15 through April 10, 2020, and plan to reopen for business on April 13, 2020. First and Second Parish Court has already rescheduled most court dates during this time as a proactive measure, so if you were supposed to appear in court for the next few weeks, you will receive notice from the courts to appear on a future date. All criminal and traffic settings shall be reset by the court and any installment payments will be deferred until at least April 13, 2020.
- In the 24th Judicial District Court for the Parish of Jefferson in Gretna, Louisiana, all civil and criminal jury trials are suspended, except for those where a speedy trial motion was filed, from March 15 through April 13, 2020. For all other matters, any party shall contact the appropriate division of court for instructions and to request a continuance.
- Kenner Mayor’s Court is closed for 30 days beginning on March 15, 2020. Crescent City Law will be filing motions to reset your cases as necessary.
- The Gretna Mayor’s court is closed until May 4, 2020. Crescent City Law will be filing motions to reset your cases as necessary.
- The Harahan City Court has not announced their plan.
- Westwego Magistrate Court is rescheduling their March 19, 2020, docket to May 21, 2020. At this time, all other court dates will remain the same.
- The 29th Judicial District Court for the Parish of St. Charles is currently open and moving forward as docketed.
- The 34th Judicial District Court for the Parish of St. Bernard is closed for the week of March 16-20, 2020. The court has not decided whether to close court next week, yet.
- The 40th Judicial District Court for the Parish of St. John the Baptist is currently open with court dockets moving forward without interruption.
- The United States Federal Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana on Poydras Street in New Orleans, has closed until at least May 1, 2020.
*On March 16, 2020, the Gov. John Bel Edwards has suspended the prescriptive period (statute of limitations period) for most cases (civil and criminal) in Louisiana until April 7, 2020. This means, if you were involved in a car accident case or you are a defendant in a criminal case, there is a longer period to file suit/charges against you. The criminal right to speedy trial was not interrupted by the governor’s.
If the court where you received your ticket is not listed above or have other questions, the most up to date court information can be found on the Louisiana Supreme Court’s website: http://www.lasc.org/
At Crescent City Law, we pride ourselves on providing excellent customer service to our clients and we will continue to provide updates and information as it becomes available.
Moreover, we will continue to represent our current clients through this process wherever possible.
It is our goal to stay ahead of both the virus and the courts by filing continuances as needed.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email me or call my office at (504) 264-9492.
P.S.: If you or a loved one have recently received a traffic ticket, please follow this link to Submit your Ticket Instantly.
