Sometimes what you do – or fail to do – before filing a lawsuit, can have a big impact on the final result, as Ross Lynch of Mandeville, Louisiana recently learned. Lynch owns property on Girard Street in Mandeville. Two of his neighbors own a lot directly adjacent to his…
No one wants to ever get involved in a slip-and-fall lawsuit. If your unfortunate enough to be injured in a slip and fall finding out who is responsible to pay for your injuries can become a troublesome matter. A recent Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal opinion demonstrates just how complicated…
In 2011 Peggy McCastle-Getwood was an employee at the K-Mart in Mandeville, Louisiana. On May 26, 2011 she arrived to work around 8:00 a.m. and went to the back of the store to place her belongings in the locker room. With a cup of coffee in her hand, Ms. McCastle…
As the old saying goes, “accidents happen.” But, in personal injury lawsuits, like in many matters, another saying is more on point: “The devil is in the details.” And on that point the Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a summary judgment in favor of the City of West Monroe…
Anyone who has purchased chicken from a grocery store knows that for some reason the packing always seems to leak. But what happens if that leakage occurs in a grocery store and you slip on it and hurt your back, is the grocery store responsible? The following case out of Washington Parish…
Work-related injuries, especially in construction, are not uncommon. However, the outcomes in workers’ compensation cases vary because the contractual relationship between the parties is often not clear. Under Louisiana law, workers’ compensation is provided to an employee if they’re injured by an accident “arising out of” and “in the course…
A recent case appealed from the Parish of East Baton Rouge provides a great example not only of the potential difficulties of recovering damages for negligence from a merchant, but also of summary judgment and how it works. In November 2006, the plaintiff entered the defendant’s store, tripped on what…
Louisiana merchants must keep their premises safe not only for their guests or customers but also for any person invited onto the property for business purposes. This also includes persons delivering goods to restaurants like in the case of Jones v. Jula Trust, LLC. Jones was a deliveryman for Pepsi.…
It is vital to know proper court procedures at the outset of litigation or else an otherwise valid claim might be thrown out of court without ever being heard. One prime example is the need to send initial court documents to a defendant within a set deadline (sending such documents,…
In order to hear a case, a court must have jurisdiction. Jurisdiction means that the court has legal authorization to hear that case. Without that authorization, parties must go somewhere else to try their case because that court cannot legally hear their arguments. There are two general types of jurisdiction:…