New Orleans drivers may continue to use their cell phones, and New Orleans personal injury attorneys may continue to seek damages from drivers who cause accidents because they were on the phone. Both of these issues were the subject of a bill recently rejected by the Louisiana House of Representatives. For years, efforts have been made in the Louisiana legislature to extend state limitations on cell phone use while driving. The current law bans the use of wireless devices, including cell phones, by drivers under the age of eighteen. The bill considered by the House of Representatives proposed that Louisiana join the growing number of states banning the use of hand-held cell phones by drivers of all ages. Use of hands free devices would have remained legal. Proponents of the bill presented statewide data that supported the danger of using a hand held cell phone while driving. The bill authorized…Read More
Occasionally, the defense in a New Orleans personal injury lawsuit will conduct surveillance of the plaintiff. The purpose of this surveillance is to gather information to demonstrate that the plaintiff is not as injured as he or she claims. Although the defense may have a videotape of your activities that they wish to show a jury, there is no requirement that the court allow them to do so. In Louisiana, whether motion pictures or video tapes are admissible at trial is largely within the discretion of the trial court. Such surveillance videotapes are also subject to discovery prior to trial, which means the defense must turn over any videotapes to the plaintiff’s personal injury attorney prior to trial if they have been requested. After reviewing the videotape, your personal injury attorney may request that the court bar the defense from using it at trial. When this request is made, the…Read More
Traumatic Brain Injury is among the more difficult injuries for New Orleans personal injury attorneys to prove. While some brain injuries involve bleeding in the brain or skull fractures that a jury will be able to clearly see in brain scans or x-rays, these tools may not be precise enough to show more subtle damage. As a result, traumatic brain injuries usually must be proven through a demonstration of how the damage has altered the injured party’s functioning and performance. Individuals with traumatic brain injury often exhibit changes in behavior, mood, and cognitive functioning that can be described to the jury. Also, there are a variety of diagnostic tests that brain injury treatment providers may use when evaluating the condition of the victim. The results of these brain injury tests also can be presented to the jury, and their meaning explained by the medical provider. Fortunately, for those seeking compensation & benefits following…Read More
When filing a personal injury lawsuit in New Orleans, it is important to have a competent and experienced personal injury attorney who understands the procedural requirements in bringing a lawsuit. This fact was recently reinforced in the case of George Igbinoghene and Sebastian Busari v. St. Paul Travelers Ins. Co., where the Louisiana Supreme Court dismissed the plaintiffs’ lawsuit on procedural grounds. Personal injury plaintiffs are required to notify defendants of an impending suit so that they may respond to the claim against them. The time limit within which to notify a defendant that a lawsuit has been filed – known in Louisiana as “citation and service” – is ninety days from the date the lawsuit is filed in court. The lawsuit does not legally begin until the defendant receives notice because the court does not have jurisdiction over all the parties until this occurs. If citation and service does…Read More
Can you pursue a lawsuit after falling on a sidewalk outside a store in the New Orleans area, such as at a Walmart, Rouses Market, Winn-Dixie, Fresh Market, Whole Foods and Costco? In most, but not all instances, yes. Louisiana Law allows a resident to pursue a personal injury lawsuit against a New Orleans store owner for failure to repair a defective walkway or sidewalk. Doing so, however, requires the victim to establish the store’s awareness of the condition that led to the injury. In this type of case, it is not enough to prove that the walkway was in disrepair and that the condition of the walkway resulted in an injury. The victim also must be able to prove that the property owner responsible for the walkway had notice of its dangerous condition prior to the injury occurring. Notice of the defective condition may be established in two different ways: actual notice or constructive notice. Proof of actual notice…Read More
Accidents involving large commercial trucks can be some of the most devastating cases that New Orleans personal injury attorneys deal with. These large vehicles are capable of causing catastrophic personal injuries. Earlier this month, the National Transportation Safety Board held a forum involving representatives of the trucking industry, government regulators and safety advocates to discuss truck safety. Not surprisingly, there is a great deal of contention among these groups regarding what additional steps, if any, need to be taken to reduce the number of personal injury accidents involving commercial trucks. For example, because the number of fatal accidents involving large trucks has decreased from about 5,200 in 2005 to 3,200 in 2009, some members of the trucking industry argue that current regulations are working, and no additional steps need be taken. Many safety advocates, on the other hand, argue that this decrease in fatal accidents is related more to the…Read More
New Orleans has started to build out an extensive bicycle lane network throughout the city. While these bicycle lanes will help protect bicyclists from collisions with motor vehicles, anytime bicyclists are riding in close proximity to cars and trucks, there is an obvious risk of harm to the bicyclist. Even when bike lanes are present, accidents resulting from other vehicles invading bike lanes are not uncommon. Louisiana law states “every person riding a bicycle upon a highway of this state shall be granted all the rights and shall be subject to all the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle.” In other words, bicyclists must abide by the same rules of the road as motor vehicle drivers, but are also protected by those same rules. In most cases, motor vehicle drivers are required to abide by the same regulations regarding issues such as right of way, tailgating, etc., for…Read More
In most cases, New Orleans personal injury attorneys proceed directly against the person that caused the injury to a client. There are situations, however, where the law holds a third party responsible for that person’s actions, even though that third party did nothing to directly cause the injury. This is referred to as vicarious liability. Vicarious liability does not hold a person liable because he or she personally committed a negligent or intentional act that led to injury. Instead, that party is held responsible by law because he or she had a legally significant relationship with the person who actually caused the injury. The primary types of vicarious liability in Louisiana are an employer’s vicarious liability for damages caused by an employee in the course and scope of employment, and a parent’s liability for the acts of an unemancipated minor child. Louisiana Civil Code article 2320 sets forth the general…Read More
Expert witnesses may be used in New Orleans personal injury lawsuits for a variety of reasons. While the topics an expert may testify about are essentially limitless, both personal injury and defense attorneys frequently employ experts for such diverse purposes as reconstructing motor vehicle accidents, examining the engineering of a dangerous product, and evaluating future damages associated with an injury. The purpose of expert testimony is to help clarify for the jury an issue that requires knowledge beyond that held by a typical juror. When an expert’s testimony is based upon sound reasoning and valid science, hearing from an expert can prove very helpful to a jury. Unfortunately, the broad range of topics that fall under the umbrella of “expert testimony” means that on occasion, attorneys may seek to have experts testify about findings based on questionable scientific reasoning or on studies only marginally related to the issue in the…Read More
New Orleans Product Liability lawyers typically examine whether a product that caused an injury was properly manufactured. Part of that examination may include an investigation into whether the item was made in compliance with the relevant industry and government standards. People injured by defective products may be eligible to file a product liability lawsuit. While a failure on the part of a manufacturer to comply with the accepted standards is helpful in pursuing a product liability lawsuit, noncompliance with industry or government standards is not determinative on the issue of liability. Instead, for a manufacturer to be held liable for an injury, Louisiana law requires proof that the injury was proximately caused by a characteristic of the product that rendered the product unreasonably dangerous. It also requires that the damage arose from a reasonably anticipated use of the product. Proof of failure to comply with industry or government standards is, however,…Read More
