Louisiana Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
Families. While often a source of love and comfort, families can at times be the source of much conflict. Sometimes the death of a parent turns siblings against one another rather than binding them together. Greed can cause people to fight over insignificant or even imaginary problems. Such was the case for a large Allen Parish sibling group when they engaged in a legal battle over cows following the death of their mother. A battle that the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal refused to engage in.
The Martin family of Allen Parish, composed of six siblings, owned a plot of land indivision with one another (basically, each person owns the property equally). Sister Sheila grazed cattle on the land. The cows might have belonged to the siblings’ mother before she passed however Sheila claimed the cows were solely her property. There was no proof of ownership either way. The family troubles began when sister Linda and her husband Carlos moved onto the property. Sisters Sheila and Amy alleged Linda and Carlos would purposefully leave gates open so the cattle could escape. In one unfortunate instance, a cow and the three baby calves she was pregnant died after allegedly escaping the pen due to Carlos’ activities. Sheila and Amy also claimed that Carlos stole several gates, purposefully left harmful food out for the cows, and blocked with his car portions of the property.
Sheila and Amy filed a lawsuit in the Judicial District Court for the Parish of Allen claiming damages for the lost cow and eventually sought to hold defendants in contempt of court for failure to move his car from the land. The District Court denied the claim for damages and contempt but ordered the return of the stolen gates. An appeal was filed to the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal.
Louisiana practices many legal concepts not typically found in other states. One such concept is the “usufruct.” An “usufruct” refers to a right given from one property owner to another person named the “usufructuary.” The usufructuary does not own the property, but is free to use it as he or she pleases (short of destroying it). An example of this would be a business owner who names his friend as the usufructuary of the business, and that friend would be permitted to run the business. 
Having the town pave your road or conduct other maintenance may seem like a harmless occurrence. However, it can have a significant impact on determining whether your property can become public use. 
Buying a home is a complex and stressful process. Not only must a homebuyer make sure he or she has the required funds to purchase the home, but must also thoroughly check that the home is in good condition. Generally, determining the condition of a home is relatively easy. Under the law, a home-seller is obligated to disclose certain defects. Failure to do so can result in a lawsuit. A recent case from the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals illustrates the legal repercussions that can befall a home-seller when he or she withholds certain deficiencies in the condition of the home.
In law, deadlines and rules of procedure are very important. Good cases can be lost because someone missed a deadline or did not understand and follow a procedural rule. That is why it is so important to ensure you have a good attorney who understands the rules of procedure and who keeps close track of deadlines, especially those for appeals.
Imagine buying land and then realizing that it was already occupied. What can the purchaser do when faced with this situation? What rights do the occupants of the purchased land have? Recently, the Third Circuit Court of Appeal for the State of Louisiana addressed these questions when deciding whether Saline Lakeshore, LLC (Saline Lakeshore) owned Horse Island after it purchased the property.
Sometimes procedural rules are overlooked as merely a peripheral aspect of a lawsuit. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Oftentimes you need to overcome numerous procedural hurdles just to reach the merits of a case. The following case illustrates the importance of procedure in the practice of law.
In Louisiana, a victim of fraud can recover actual damages resulting from the fraud, treble damages up to three times the amount of actual damages, and reasonable attorneys fees and costs. However, this potentially large recovery is barred by a peremptory period if the defrauded party doesn’t bring the lawsuit within one year. In certain cases, the issue of when exactly this one-year timer starts can be dispositive. The following case dealing with two real estate transactions illustrates the point. 
Wrongful demolition is a cause of action rarely invoked because the events giving rise to such an action rarely occur. Essentially, a claim for wrongful demolition arises when a plaintiff’s property was mistakenly or wrongfully demolished. In the following case, Morgan Moss found himself in the unique position of asserting such a claim against the town of Rayville, Louisiana. See 
A primary concern that all business owners have is how to insulate themselves from any improper actions that their business engages in. Without some mechanism to separate the actions of the business from the business owner, a business owner would be personally liable for the business’s actions and could face legal claims against him or her for actions that the business engaged in. States, recognizing this problem, created many forms of corporate structures with varying levels of liability protection. Examples of such corporate structures are limited liability companies (L.L.C.), professional corporations (P.C.), and C corporations. While these, and other types of corporate structures, provide business owners with insulation from liability, business owners could still be personally liable for their company’s actions if those actions fall under a narrow set of circumstances. Recently, the Louisiana Supreme Court addressed whether one of these narrow circumstances occurred when determining whether an owner of a home construction company was personally liable for the actions of the company.