Under Louisiana law, the plaintiff in a personal injury lawsuit may file his complaint with the court by fax. However, the plaintiff must, within five days of transmitting the fax, forward to the clerk of court the original, signed complaint and any fees that are due. If the plaintiff fails…
Our system of law is designed to handle most situations. A great deal of situations can be dealt with under the doctrines of law. Our system also has a failsafe of to ensure basic fairness when law provides no satisfying result. Equitable doctrines fill in the gaps in law. Historically…
Following the prior discussion of numerosity and commonality, we will now examine the court’s analysis of typicality under Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 591(A)(3). This prerequisite obligates the court to examine whether the claims or defenses of the representative parties are typical of the entire class. The requirement is…
In our previous post, we began a discussion of the Union Carbide/Dow Chemical Taft plant chemical leak litigation filed by the Berniard Law Firm. This post continues with a review of the court’s analysis of numerosity in certifying a class. Under this requirement, the class must be so large that…
Early in the morning of July 7, 2009, a 640,000 gallon chemical storage tank at Union Carbide/Dow Chemical’s Taft plant began to rupture. The tank contained ethyl acrylate, a foul-smelling chemical used in making various products including industrial flavorings, fabric finishes, pigments and dyes, floor polishes, adhesives, and caulk. The…
In our most recent post, we began a review of the Third Circuit Court of Appeal’s application of the law of the case doctrine in a lawsuit that followed an auto accident in Vernon Parish. The plaintiffs, in opposing UUT’s motion for summary judgment, argued that UUT’s no-coverage arguments had…
Under the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, judgments are either interlocutory or final. A judgment that “determines the merits [of an issue] in whole or in part” is a final judgment, while a judgment that determines “only preliminary matters” is an interlocutory judgment. Generally speaking, final judgments can be appealed,…
The Bailey case, as discussed, was determined based upon the precedent set forth by the Louisiana Supreme Court in Bulot v. Intracoastal Tubular Services, Inc. The focus here is on two causes of action, Whether a plaintiff can file both, and receive punitive damages for, a wrongful death and survivorship…
The Bailey v. Exxon Mobil Corporation case finds its conclusion based on the precedent set forth in Bulot v. Intracoastal Tubular Services. The focus is on the application of a statute, and differentiating events that take place prior to the statute’s enactment, and how the Court will analyze events that…
Not all employees furthering a vessel’s mission are seamen. They can provide short-term or even land-based support. If so, they aren’t seamen under the federal Jones Act. Whether Kerry Becnel was a seaman when he was injured was the issue considered in Becnel v. Chet Morrison, Inc., No. 2010-CA-1411 (La.…