A New Orleans resident who is pursuing a personal injury or product liability lawsuit against the manufacturer of a dangerous product may claim that the product is unreasonably dangerous in its design. When pursuing a product liability claim as a result of an injury, the plaintiff must prove specific facts as outlined in Louisiana law. First, the plaintiff must establish that, at the time it was manufactured, there existed an alternative design for the product that was capable of preventing the plaintiff’s damage. The existence of a newer version that is safer, however, does not support a claim that a product is unreasonably dangerous in its design. A safer version must have existed when the product that caused the injury was manufactured. Second, the plaintiff must prove that the likelihood of the product causing the claimed injury – and the severity of that injury – outweighed the burden placed upon the manufacturer if…Read More
Visitors to New Orleans often have a misconception that the city has relaxed regulations when it comes to underage drinking. In fact, the drinking age in Louisiana is twenty-one, and it is illegal to serve alcohol to minors. Moreover, if an intoxicated minor injures someone, the party who provided the alcohol could potentially be exposed to civil liability. When an intoxicated adult causes a personal injury, Louisiana Revised Statute 9:2800.1 limits the liability of those who sold, served or furnished the alcoholic beverage to the individual. It also provides a similar immunity to a social host for injuries occurring off-premises. The statute provides that it is the consumption of intoxicating beverages, rather than the sale or serving of such beverages, that is the proximate cause of any injury. These same rules, however, do not necessarily apply to selling or serving alcohol to minors. Portions of the statute are expressly limited…Read More
When a personal injury occurs in New Orleans, the injured party has a duty to mitigate his or her damages. This means that the injured person must take reasonable steps to minimize the consequences of the injury. A plaintiff’s failure to mitigate damages may reduce the amount awarded in a personal injury lawsuit. If the defendant contends that the plaintiff has failed to mitigate damages, the burden is on the defendant to prove it. Whether the plaintiff has used reasonable care is analyzed by the judge or jury in terms of the specific circumstances of each case, including factors such as time, knowledge, opportunity, potential exposure to further loss and the expense required to avoid a reasonably foreseeable loss. If you have suffered a personal injury, you should be aware that any unreasonable refusal to submit to medical treatment recommended by a competent medical authority might be seen as a…Read More
New Orleans accident victims usually do not rely solely on the outcome of a personal injury case to pay expenses arising from their injuries. Other individuals or organizations often pay expenses that are also being claimed in the personal injury lawsuit. These other parties are called collateral sources. Examples include a health insurer, an employer who continues to pay lost wages, or even a family member who pays medical bills. The basic rule in Louisiana is that amounts received from collateral sources do not reduce the victim’s recovery in a personal injury lawsuit. For example, if the victim’s employer continues to pay wages, the victim may still pursue lost wages in the lawsuit. There are, however, exceptions to this rule based on the specific facts surrounding a payment. These exceptions include whether the plaintiff provided some consideration, such as an enrollment fee, for the benefit. Collateral source benefits for which…Read More
Unfortunately, there have been many terrible accidents in the New Orleans area involving large trucks. While some of these accidents have other causes, the National Transportation Safety Board has found that driver fatigue contributes to 30 to 40 percent of large truck accidents. The federal government strictly regulates the number of hours a truck driver may spend on the road and how long they may remain on duty – even if they are not driving. For example, truck drivers are not supposed to spend more than eleven hours driving after having completed ten consecutive hours off duty. Drivers are required to maintain a logbook documenting time spent driving, as well as their time off duty and in the sleeper berth. An accurate logbook may help your lawyer determine if the truck driver was fatigued at the time of the collision. Even if the driver was “cheating” and not keeping an…Read More
When a resident of New Orleans is injured or killed by a firearm – whether intentionally or accidentally – the law greatly constrains the circumstances under which the manufacturer or seller of the firearm may be sued for making or distributing an unreasonably dangerous product. While a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit may be pursued against the individual who actually discharged the weapon and possibly other parties, the manufacturer and seller will usually be exempt from liability. While a firearm may appear to have the characteristics necessary to classify it as a dangerous product, the Louisiana legislature has specifically stated in Louisiana Revised Statute 9:2800.60 that the Louisiana Products Liability Act was not designed to impose liability on a manufacturer or seller of firearms for the improper use of a properly designed and manufactured product. The statute further states that the potential of a firearm to cause serious bodily…Read More
The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry’s Office of Animal Health and Food Safety has announced the recall of approximately 500,000 pounds of “ready to eat” sausage and hog head cheese produced by Veron Foods, LLC, of Prairieville, Louisiana. These products may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, and New Orleans residents who have purchased these foods should immediately check the product to protect their health. Eating food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes may lead to listeriosis. While listeriosis is rarely contracted by healthy people, it can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in people with weak immune systems. This includes infants, the elderly, and those with HIV. The infection may spread to the nervous system, causing high fever, headaches, neck stiffness, nausea, confusion and convulsions. Listeriosis also can cause miscarriages and stillbirths. If you or someone you know has suffered because of eating contaminated food, you may be able to pursue…Read More
As New Orleans personal injury attorneys, we can personally attest that lawsuits involving a child who has been injured or killed are difficult for everyone involved. While the child and family deserve full financial compensation in such cases, we would all prefer that such accidents never occur. Unfortunately, as of 2006 – the last year full mortality data is available from the National Center for Health Statistics – motor vehicle crashes remained the leading cause of death for children between the ages of 3 and 14. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, on average approximately 4 children under age fourteen are killed and 529 are injured in car accidents in the United States every day. No set of regulations designed to protect children in car accidents can be perfect. In Louisiana, child car seat laws largely meet or exceed federal recommendations. Currently, the law requires infants less than…Read More
For most personal injury lawsuits in New Orleans, the parties have the right to request that a jury, not the judge, hear their case. This is not true, however, when the damages being sought are less than $50,000. For these cases of lesser value, Louisiana law requires that any trial be conducted before a judge who makes the final decision on the merits of the lawsuit and the damages sought. While many states have such a threshold before a jury may be requested, Louisiana’s financial limit is by far the highest. On April 2, 2012, the Civil Law and Procedure Committee of the Louisiana House Monday rejected a bill that proposed lowering this $50,000 threshold to $15,000 for lawsuits classified as tort cases – which primarily consist of personal injury cases. The reasons for this rejection included a feeling among some lawmakers that it constituted an attempt by the business…Read More
There are many different ways that a New Orleans personal injury lawsuit may be resolved without a trial by jury. While television shows may give the impression that trials are a common occurrence, in reality very few lawsuits actually conclude with a jury trial – especially lawsuits in which the issues are clearly in favor of one party or the other. Probably the most common manner in which personal injury cases involving little factual dispute are resolved is simply through the parties reaching an agreement on how much the case should be resolved for. While this may sound relatively straightforward, it can actually be a complicated process that requires time and a skilled personal injury attorney. Although the defendant may understand that damages will ultimately have to be paid, the defendant will wish to minimize the amount. An experienced personal injury attorney will be able to accurately assess the value…Read More
