The Louisiana Supreme Court rendered the per curiam decision of Acara v. Banks, 10-0741 (La.6/18/10). The plaintiff, Ms. Acara, filed a medical malpractice claim against Dr. Bradley Banks after Dr. Banks allegedly gave an opinion in an earlier personal injury suit filed by Ms. Acara as to her medical condition…
Randy Piedrahita of the Baton Rouge, Louisiana personal injury law firm of Dué Guidry Piedrahita Andrews Courrege L.C. completed an $800,000 settlement for a 51 year old man involved in a rear-end collision and who suffered aggravation of a pre-existing spine condition. As a result of the car wreck, plaintiff…
Recently, Kirk Guidry and Randy Piedrahita of the Baton Rouge, Louisiana maritime law firm of Dué Guidry Piedrahita Andrews Courrege L.C., obtained one of the largest (if not the largest) settlements for a paraplegic in Louisiana history. In Wooley v. Longnecker, No. 106577E, 17th JDC, Parish of Lafourche, Mr. Wooley…
Evidence in the form of moving pictures or videotapes must be approached with great caution because they show only intervals of the activities of the subject, they do not show rest periods, and do not reflect whether the subject is suffering pain during or after the activity. See Olivier v.…
Commercial truck drivers are required to undergo testing and licensure which involve attending a special school designed to teach the mechanics and attendant hazards of operating large rigs. Based upon that premise, a professional truck driver is a superior actor in the eyes of the law. Thus, with superior knowledge…
Our law seeks to fully repair injuries which arise from a legal wrong. However, an accident victim has a duty to exercise reasonable diligence and ordinary care to minimize his damages after the injury has been inflicted. He need not make extraordinary or impractical efforts, but he must undertake those…
“[Comparative] negligence is conduct on the part of the plaintiff which falls below the standard to which he should conform for his own protection. The standard of conduct to which the plaintiff must conform for his own protection is that of a reasonable man under like circumstances…. Failure to take…
In determining an award for loss of earnings and earning capacity, what the victim earned before and after the injury does not constitute the measure. While the victim’s earning capacity at the time of the injury is relevant, it is not necessarily determinative of his future ability to earn. Damages…
“In a personal injury suit, plaintiff bears the burden of proving a causal relationship between the injury sustained and the accident which caused the injury. Plaintiff must prove causation by a preponderance of the evidence. The test for determining the causal relationship between the accident and subsequent injury is whether…
A tortfeasor or negligent wrongdoer must take his victim as he finds him or her. The wrongdoer is responsible for all the natural and reasonable consequences of his wrong, even though they are made much more serious or harmful by reason of a pre-existing physical defect or weakness of the…