William Duckworth and Donnie Kaglear v. Susan Curole, 389 So.3d 832

Plaintiffs William Duckworth and Donnie Kaglear sued defendant Susan Curole for damages after Duckworth and his dogs were allegedly attacked by Curole's dog in July 2021.
Plaintiffs sought to hold Curole strictly liable under Louisiana Civil Code art. 2321, claiming the attack was unprovoked and preventable.
Plaintiffs filed requests for admissions with their petition, which were not timely answered by Curole.
Plaintiffs filed motions for partial summary judgment on liability and to deem requests admitted; Curole belatedly responded, citing her counsel's serious health issues.
The trial court granted partial summary judgment on liability, deemed the requests admitted, denied Curole's motions to continue and to withdraw admissions, and Curole appealed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Motion to Continue	Trial should proceed as scheduled; no sufficient cause for delay.	Counsel's health issues justified a continuance.	No abuse of discretion; denial affirmed.
Deeming Admissions Admitted	Admissions should be deemed admitted due to late response.	Late-filed responses and motion to withdraw admissions should excuse the delay.	Deemed admitted; no abuse of discretion in denial of withdrawal.
Partial Summary Judgment/Strict Liability	Enough evidence to show Curole strictly liable; no provocation by plaintiffs.	Evidence suggests possible provocation; summary judgment inappropriate.	Reversed; plaintiffs did not prove absence of provocation as required for strict liability.

Hall v. Our Lady of the Lake R.M.C., 968 So. 2d 179 (La. App. 1st Cir. 2007) (discussing withdrawal of deemed admissions)
Prestage v. Clark, 723 So. 2d 1086 (La. App. 1st Cir. 1998) (courts' discretion in allowing withdrawal of admissions)
Vardaman v. Baker Center, Inc., 711 So. 2d 727 (La. App. 1st Cir. 1998) (use of admissions to establish controversial issues)
Beer Industry League of Louisiana v. City of New Orleans, 251 So. 3d 380 (La. 2018) (summary judgment standard)
Action Oilfield Services, Inc. v. Energy Management Company, 276 So. 3d 538 (La. App. 1st Cir. 2019) (burden-shifting in summary judgment motions)