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,…
Under Louisiana jurisprudence, special damages are the category of damages that can be “established to a reasonable mathematical certainty.” Myers v. Broussard. Special damages include awards for past and future lost earnings, since a plaintiff’s forgone income can be numerically calculated by the court. Given the relatively high level of…
It is well settled in Louisiana jurisprudence that an appellate court’s review of a trial court’s apportionment of fault in a negligence action is subject to the manifest error standard. In other words, in order for an appellate court to overturn a trial court’s assessment of fault, it must conclude…
In a medical malpractice lawsuit, the plaintiff faces a three-part evidentiary burden. First, she must present evidence to establish the applicable standard of care. Next, she must show that a breach of that standard of care occurred. Finally, she must demonstrate a link between that breach and the injury that…
The Louisiana Court of Appeals rejected an appeal filed by an unhappy patient regarding her medical malpractice claim against the Women and Children’s Hospital Lake Charles and her doctor. The patient, who will be referred to Jane Doe for privacy purposes, underwent a weight loss procedure known as a lap…
As previously discussed, the Daigle v. City of Shreveport case regards an instance where a woman slips and falls on a freshly painted city sidewalk, that had no markings to indicate it was freshly painted, and she sues the city for negligence damages. When an individual is injured as a…
The Daigle v. City of Shreveport case regards an instance where a woman slips and falls on a freshly painted city sidewalk, that had no markings to indicate it was freshly painted, and she sues the city for negligence damages. A second point of the case, and the first to…
It is not uncommon in casinos for patrons to become intoxicated to the point that they are unsuitable for public. For this reason, casinos implement security procedures to deal with intoxicated patrons. Most of these procedures involve cutting the patron off from alcohol and, in some cases, even removing the…
When an individual files a claim for negligence several factors must be proven to succeed against a defendant. These factors state that, in order for negligence to exist, a defendant must owe the plaintiff a duty, breach that duty, be the actual cause of that breach, be the proximate cause…