It seems unfair that an insurance company can underpay a claim and then hide behind time limit defenses when challenged in court. After all, it would seem that the company causes harm to the long-term disability claimant each time it underpays a monthly benefit amount. However, some courts have held that the claimant must challenge the benefit calculation within a …
On June 24, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision on punitive damages in unseaworthiness cases. The case is Dutra Group v. Batterton, No. 18-266. In deciding the case, the Court looked toward two of its precedents: Miles v. Apex Marine Corp., 498 U.S. 19 (1990), and Atlantic Sounding Co. v. Townsend, 557 U. S. 404 (2009). Miles …
On June 5, 2019, the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal in Lafayette handed down a ruling that is very instructive to injured workers and their attorneys. In order to be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits under Louisiana law, a claimant must allege injury due to an “accident.” An accident is defined, per Louisiana Revised Statute 23:1021, as “an unexpected …
In a ruling dated June 20, 2019, Judge Ivan Lemelle of the Eastern District of Louisiana ruled that a lawsuit removed to federal court by the original defendants must be remanded back to state court after an amendment by the plaintiff that destroyed diversity. It is uncontroverted that the accident involved three vehicles: the plaintiff’s, the original defendant’s, and a …
Maybe. But that circumstantial evidence, taken as a whole, must exclude every other reasonable hypothesis with a fair amount of certainty. Rando v. Anco Insulations Inc., 2008-1163 (La. 5/22/09), 16 So. 3d 1065, 1090. The Louisiana Supreme Court recently granted writs in a case to answer how convincing circumstantial evidence of intoxication has to be to survive summary judgment. The …
In a decision dated May 23, 2019, the New Orleans-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit found that expert medical testimony on causation is not necessarily required in Jones Act negligence cases. The court reversed a district court’s grant of summary judgment for the employer on the basis that the seaman could not show medical causation without expert …
In a decision handed down May 29, 2019, the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal affirmed a New Orleans district court’s decision to deny underinsured motorist coverage to a Uber driver injured in a car accident during the “pre-trip acceptance period,” meaning the Uber was available for hire but was not in the process of transporting a passenger. Louisiana law …
In a brief per curiam decision dated June 11, 2019, and not designated for publication, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed a decision of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi rejecting United of Omaha Life Insurance Company’s application of a pre-existing condition exclusion to the claim for long-term disability …
On May 29, 2019, the Louisiana Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal in Gretna upheld a jury’s verdict clearing a car driver of liability in a collision with a bicycle at the intersection of Airline Drive and Shrewsbury Road in Metairie. The defendant-driver was attempting to take a right turn towards the entrance ramp of the Causeway circle when the bicyclist …
On February 28, 2018, the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal in New Orleans ruled on a case in which it had to consider the factors for determining when a defendant driver is in the course and scope of employment. The case is a personal injury suit arising from a pick-up truck colliding with a Regional Transit Authority bus. The …