A Saint Martinville, Louisiana, construction company, Cole’s Construction Crews, Inc., recently had a judgment against it reversed and remanded back to the trial court. Back in 2007, Cole’s had filed a lawsuit against J-O-B Operating Company. A few months after filing suit, Cole’s requested production of documents and sent interrogatories…
A high percentage of personal injury lawsuits are based upon claims of negligence. Negligence and intentional torts are both similar in that they result in harm to others. However, negligence actions differ from intentional torts because they are the result of a non-intentional action. There are essentially four elements of…
In Louisiana, the Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) is responsible for the maintenance of public roadways “in a condition that is reasonably safe and does not present an unreasonable risk of harm to the motoring public exercising ordinary care and resonable prudence.” In order to accomplish this goal in…
In a fairly publicized case, three people were killed in 2008 by a diving boat explosion off the coast of Louisiana. This case is still working its way through the courts and got a little further from resolution in Jillian Morrison, LLC v. Sonia because of an obscure legal concept:…
The Berniard Law Firm’s principal attorney, Jeffrey Berniard, recently taught an Introduction to Personal Injury course. Having been an active part of Continuing Legal Education (CLE), Mr. Berniard was selected to teach the topic due to the firm’s specialization in medical malpractice, first party insurance disputes, and premises liability claims.…
Louisiana strongly favors arbitration between parties when they have a dispute. Generally, it is less expensive and less time consuming than taking the case to trial. The arbitrator will determine the outcome of the damages based on an assessment of all of the circumstances in the case. Each side presents…
In order to take a case to the courtroom, you must have a cause of action. Generally, a cause of action means that there is some law that the other person has violated, and that violation has harmed you, so you should be compensated for that harm. If the law…
The arena of insurance law is a very confusing area in which, quite often, significant knowledge and experience is required for a quality outcome. It is important to know which types of coverage are available and applicable for different circumstances. Without knowing which coverage can apply and to what extent…
The Berniard Law Firm is proud to be a New Orleans-based organization and nothing says NOLA better than Mardi Gras! We wish all of our readers a happy, and safe, Mardi Gras holiday!
There are some circumstances under which states and local governments are immune from liability. For example, in most states a state or local government is immune in relation to the normal acts of governance. However, what things a government can be liable for is defined by the state constitution and…