Not manifestly fishy

The quesions in Louisiana Newpack Shrimp Co. v. Longhai Indigo Seafood Partners, Inc. was whether Louisiana Newpack (an importer and seller of seafood) owed $995,188.03 to Longhai (a crabmeat exporter) for three orders of crabmeat.

A properly-instructed jury found that the parties did not have a contract, but did have an enforceable “open account” as recognized by Louisiana law. The district court entered judgent for Longhai, but then amended the judgment under Fed. R. Civ. P. 59 to award it nothing.

The Fifth Circuit reversed, noting that Rule 59(e) requires the movant to “clearly establish … a manifest error of law or fact.’ Noting “conflicting case law” in Louisiana on the question whether an open-account claim requires the existence of a contract, the Fifth Circuit held “that it was not a manifest error of law to allow Lonhai to recover on its open account claim.” No. 22-30653 (Aug. 17, 2023, unpublished) (emphasis in original).