Louisiana Injury Lawyer Blog

In Whitley v. State of Louisiana, through the Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State University Agricultural Mechanical College, 2011-0040 (La. 7/1/11) and Burnett v. James Construction Group, 2010-2608 (La. 7/1/11), the Louisiana Supreme Court preserved a tort victim's rightful day in court. According to Baton Rouge, Louisiana personal injury and accident lawyer, Scott Andrews, the Louisiana Legislature at the urging of attorneys for the State has created numerous procedural traps for the unwary in an attempt to deprive personal injury victims of their day in court through deception and trickery. Once such trap is the requirement that suits are to be dismissed without prejudice if service of process is not requested within 90 days of filing. If a suit is dismissed for insufficiency of service of process after the prescriptive period has run, the suit is forever time barred. A companion trap is that service of process of lawsuits against the State of Louisiana and its agencies must be made on the Governor, the head of the state agency being sued, the Attorney General, AND on the director of the office of risk management. This duplicative service requirement serves no legitimate purpose other than to try and deprive a victim of their day in court upon failure to request service of process on any one of the four required persons, thus leading to dismissal. As would be expected, the State of Louisiana in both cases tried to dismiss a lawsuit that was served on less than all four of the required persons. The Supreme Court held that dismissal was not warranted and that the plaintiff was allowed additional time beyond the 90 day requirement to correct the insufficiency of service of process.

In Brooks. v. State of Louisiana, Department of Transportation and Development, 2010-1908 (La.7/1/11), the Louisiana Supreme Court held that the scope of duty of the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) to maintain the shoulder of a Louisiana state highway does not encompass the risk that a driver of an inherently unstable and top-heavy backhoe not authorized for highway use will drive on the shoulder and attempt a sharp turn into a driveway at a relatively high rate of speed, hit a 2-4 inch depression in the asphalt that would have not caused any problem for a vehicle, tip over, and be crushed by the backhoe. DOTD's duty was summarized by the Supreme Court as follows:

DOTD's duty is to maintain the 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 reasonable prudence. This duty extends to the shoulders of highways as well. DOTD's duty to maintain safe shoulders encompasses the foreseeable risk that for any number of reasons a motorist might find himself on, or partially on, the shoulder. This duty extends not only to prudent and attentive drivers, but also to motorists who are slightly exceeding the speed limit or momentarily inattentive. Nonetheless, DOTD is not a guarantor of the safety of all the motoring public under every circumstance. Nor is DOTD the insurer for all injuries or damages resulting from any risk posed by obstructions on or defects in the roadway. Id. In other words, we will not impose liability for every imperfection or irregularity, but only a condition that could reasonably be expected to cause injury to a prudent person using ordinary care under the circumstances. Whether the DOTD breached its duty, that is, whether the shoulder was in an unreasonably dangerous condition, is a question of fact and will depend on the facts and circumstances of each case. If the shoulder did not present an unreasonable risk of harm then DOTD, by definition, did not owe a duty to [the plaintiff] and cannot be held liable for the damages he sustained. As a question of fact, we will review the jury's determination that the shoulder presented an unreasonable risk of harm under the manifest error standard. Under the manifest error standard, an appellate court may not disturb a jury's finding of fact unless the record establishes that a factual, reasonable basis does not exist and the finding is clearly wrong or manifestly erroneous. This Court has described the unreasonable risk of harm criterion as a guide in balancing the likelihood and magnitude of harm against the social utility of the thing, all the while considering a broad range of social and economic factors, including the cost to the defendant of avoiding the harm, as well as the risk and social utility of the party's conduct at the time of the accident. In every determination, all the circumstances surrounding the particular accident under review must be considered to determine whether DOTD's legal duty encompassed the risk which caused the plaintiff's damages.

An Oakdale, Louisiana man was severely injured in a one vehicle crash on U.S. Highway 165 around Alexandria, Louisiana, on January 3, 2011. The man was traveling northbound on US 165 when he lost control of his SUV and exited the highway to the right before over steering to the left and colliding with a guardrail, and then traveling back to the right and rolling over.

It is believed that a medical condition may have played a role in the accident. If the Oakdale man had injured someone else in the wreck, he may have been able to assert momentary loss of consciousness as a defense to a claim against him.

Continue reading "Oakdale Louisiana Man Injured in Guard Rail Collision in Alexandria" »

The Baton Rouge, Louisiana personal injury law firm of Due', Price, Guidry, Piedrahita & Andrews was selected for first tier (those firms that scored within a certain percentage of the highest scoring firms) inclusion in the 2010 inaugural rankings of U.S. News - Best Lawyers "Best Law Firms", in the practice areas of Personal Injury Plaintiffs and Product Liability Plaintiffs. "The selection involved surveying thousands of law firm clients; leading lawyers and law firm managers; partners and associates; and marketing officers and recruiting officers. Each were asked what factors they considered vital for clients hiring law firms, for lawyers choosing a firm to refer a legal matter to, and for lawyers seeking employment."

"Client and lawyer surveys collected mostly reputational data. Using a scale of 1 (weakest) to 5 (strongest), clients voted on expertise, responsiveness, understanding of a business and its needs, cost-effectiveness, civility, and whether they would refer another client to a firm. Lawyers voted on expertise, responsiveness, integrity, cost-effectiveness, and whether they would refer a matter to a firm and whether they consider a firm a worthy competitor."

Louisiana State Police Traffic Accident Crash Reports are now available online at the Louisiana State Police website. According to the LSP website, "you can easily find official reports for crashes that have occurred in every Parish across the state. Once you have found your report, you can see a limited preview and then purchase that report to see the entire document. After completing purchase of a report, you will be able to instantly download a permanent PDF copy of the complete report." In order to search for an accident report, the user must enter the first and last name of the driver or pedestrian involved in the accident, the parish where the accident occurred, and the date of the accident. A log-in must be created to finalize the $8.50 credit card transaction.

Continue reading "Louisiana State Police Traffic Accident Crash Reports Available Online" »

The State of Louisiana's Office of Risk Management is being privatized. Louisiana Commissioner of Administration Angele Davis announced that F.A. Richard & Associates, Inc. (FARA) will take over the adjusting and management of all property and casualty claims and loss prevention for the State of Louisiana's self-insured risks. It is estimated that the State of Louisiana will save at least $20 million over five years.

According to the press release issued by the Louisiana Governor's office, Office of Risk Management (ORM) Director Bud Thompson said, "I commend my staff for their yeoman's work in the research, preparation and execution of this RFP, especially their commitment to evaluate the proposals objectively and analyze the advantages, disadvantages and projected cost-savings to our in-house program in the long-term best interest of the State. Anticipated advantages of privatization include access to state-of-the-art technology improvements; reduced claims and program costs; management flexibility; and the transition from day-to-day claims and loss prevention to enterprise risk management.

It is estimated that 85 Louisiana state employees will lose their state jobs, but those employees will be offered positions by FARA at salaries based on its existing pay scales.

Continue reading "State of Louisiana Office Of Risk Management to be Privatized" »

A motorcyclist trying to enter Interstate 20 in Shreveport, Louisiana, was killed on November 14, 2009, when his motorcycle struck a barrier on the overpass and then plunged about thirty feet onto Interstate 20 below.

Often times, overpass curves, guardrails, or barriers are defectively designed or maintained and can contribute to vehicle accidents. Motorcyles and automobiles being operated under normal or expected conditions should not vault over a guardrail or other overpass barrier.

Continue reading "Shreveport, Louisiana Motorcyclist Killed in Accident" »

Kirk Guidry and Scott Andrews settled a product liability case involving multiple burn injuries and deaths from a fuel-fed fire for a confidential amount. On August 6, 2002, five passengers were severely burned and two of them died from their severe burn injuries after their 2000 Chrysler/Plymouth Grand Voyager mini van (NS body 1996-2000) climbed upon and straddled a metal guard rail on Interstate 55 (I-55) in Kentwood, Louisiana, after sustaining a tire blow-out. A metal I-beam supporting the guard rail sliced the mini van's unprotected high density polyethylene fuel tank which was located forward of the rear axle.

The Baton Rouge, Louisiana burn injury lawyers at Due', Price, Guidry, Piedrahita & Andrews brought a product liability action under the Louisiana Products Liability Act, La. La.R.S. 9:2800.51, et seq., against the mini van's manufacturer, DaimlerChrysler Corporation, alleging that the numerous skid plates, metal shields and other protective devices used on many all wheel drive vehicles and most SUVs are designed to prevent fuel tank puncture from guard rails, road debris, curbs, sign posts, etc., and were capable of preventing the fuel-fed fire that caused plaintiffs' injuries, and therefore should have been incorporated into the design of the mini van's fuel system. A claim was also brought against the State of Louisiana, through the Department of Transportation and Development for the unreasonably dangerous condition of the metal I-beams supporting the guard rail.

Continue reading "Baton Rouge, Louisiana Burn Injury Lawyers Settle Fuel Tank Shielding Case" »