Louisiana Insurance Litigation Blog

An Introduction to Prescription

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:17:19 -0600

After Hurricane Katrina thousands of people along the Gulf Coast filed claims on their insurance policies. The insurance companies responded by paying some claims in full, some claims partially, and not paying some claims. Policy holders with valid claims were forced to resort to litigation to get fairly reimbursed for their loss of property or damage to their property. Thornhill Law Firm filed many of these claims and were able to help their clients recoup some of their losses, but we were forced to turn away those that called us after the period of prescription or peremption had run. Prescription, which exists in both common and civil law, is the idea that if a claim has not been made within a certain time period, then there no longer exists a remedy at law. Peremption, a civil law concept, actually stops the claimant from bringing the claim. Effectively, peremption extinguishes a claim. Prescription and peremption are commonly referred to as statutes of limitations or statutes of repose.

Changes to Family Law in Louisiana

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 12:16:06 -0600

With the new beginning of 2009, family law in Louisiana is changing in two respects. First, a new addition to the Louisiana Civil Code protects the right of children in divorced families to see both parents, helping to fill a gap which did not require parents granted a schedule of visitation or custody to see their children. To illustrate this point, a fictional scenario follows. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are divorced with a child, Amanda. Mrs. Smith has custody, but Mr. Smith has been granted a schedule of visitation.

Motor Vehicle Accidents

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 11:43:26 -0600

In 2007, 597 people were killed on Louisiana roadways and another 21,075 people were injured. Injury sustained in a motor vehicle accident can be expensive and time consuming to treat, not to mention requiring time off from work, resulting in lost wages and any future ramifications.

Products Liability and Prescription Drugs

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 15:38:04 -0600

In a world where prescription drugs are touted not only in the doctor’s office, but on TV and in magazine campaigns as well, consumers must be vigilant about their care. Technology is advancing at a rate that has increased the number of drugs presented to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) at an unprecedented rate. The consumer must remember that these drugs are highly screened and need a prescription from a doctor for a reason, and use them as guided by their physician or pharmacist. However, even when taken as directed, prescriptions can carry risks, such as unknown side effects or drug interactions.

Homeowners' and Business Insurance

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:48:25 -0600

A reality of living on the Gulf Coast is the yearly threat of hurricane season. While many bypass us, the threat of a direct hit requires property owners to plan for the future, whose plans typically involves insurance policies. Insurance companies hold an important role in society, they are the ones we turn to when disaster strikes, as they represent themselves in large-scale advertising campaigns. Their job is to assess the chance of any given peril occurring, and determining a value a policyholder should pay for the right to receive a benefit should the covered event occur. Some perils carry such high rates of risk, private insurers are unwilling to write policies regarding that event. With some exceptions, flood and certain water-related events are typically not covered under an all perils insurance policy, or flood is excluded under an all risks policy.

Class Actions

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 14:10:47 -0600

Class actions lawsuits are an invaluable procedure to the legal community. Essentially, a class action allows numerous people with common complaints that will be defended similarly to file one lawsuit together, rather than forcing each individual to seek their own attorney and file suit individually. By using this process, advantages are realized by all parties involved- plaintiffs, defendants, and the court system.

Is It The "Real Thing"?

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 14:19:05 -0600

1. THE DIGITAL AGE

• Admissibility of digital evidence:

The 2003 Louisiana Legislature passed Act 1135 amending the provisions of the Louisiana Code of Evidence Article 1001 (3) to provide that digital evidence from palm pilots, the blackberry, e-mail, and related evidence is to be treated as original for evidentiary purposes.

This and similar provisions of the Code of Evidence (e.g. Art. 1003.1) fail to recognize the potential for abuse of digital evidence. The problem with e-mail and any digital evidence is that it may be deleted, altered or preserved incorrectly. There is a presumption of admissibility of electronic duplications in Article 1003.1 by providing “a duplicate may be deemed inadmissable or excluded solely because it is in electronic format”, as will be seen from the following, this is a problem.

Punitive Damages in Louisiana

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 14:16:18 -0600

Louisiana allows punitive damages only in very limited circumstances against insurers. The limited circumstances under which persons can recover are set out at La. R.S. 22:658, which provides as follows:

Cameras in the Courtroom, Part I: Louisiana Approach (Introduction)

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 14:12:32 -0600

I. Introduction

There is no field of governmental activity concerning which the people are as poorly informed as the field occupied by the judiciary.
...
It is highly inconsistent to complain of the ignorance and apathy of voters and then to ‘close the windows of information through which they might observe and learn.’ Generally only idle people, pursuing ‘idle curiosity’ have time to visit court rooms in person. What harm could result from portraying by photo, film, radio and screen to the business, professional and rural leadership of a community, as well as to the average citizen regularly employed, the true picture of the administration of justice? Has anyone been heard to complain that the employment of photographs, radio and television upon the solemn occasion of the last Presidential Inauguration or the Coronation of Elizabeth II was to satisfy an ‘idle curiosity’? Do we hear complaints that the employment of these modern devices of thought transmission in the pulpits of our great churches destroys the dignity of the service; that they degrade the pulpit or create misconceptions in the mind of the public? The answers are obvious. That which is carried out with dignity will not become undignified because more people may be permitted to see and hear.

– Justice Otto Moore of the Colorado Supreme Court, 1956

Videos of Hurricane Katrina Conditions May Be Inadmissible in Lawsuits for Damages Sustained During the Storm

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 13:27:05 -0600

Rule 403 of the Federal Rules of Evidence states that “although relevant, evidence may be excluded if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury, or by considerations of undue delay, waste of time, or needless presentation of cumulative evidence.” Fed.R.Evid. 403 (Emphasis added). The application of this rule has been hotly contested in current insurance litigation, with specific regard to the admissibility of videos documenting Hurricane Katrina conditions in a different geographic location from where the property damage at issue in the case occurred.