A 6 year old Morganza, Louisiana, child was killed on November 15, 2009, while getting off of a school bus on Louisiana Highway 1, north of Louisiana Highway 420, in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana. The school bus driver had activated the bus’s safety signals, but the oncoming driver of a…
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…
Two Villa Feliciana Medical Complex employees, accused of hitting a patient, were arrested on November 13, 2009, and booked into the East Feliciana Parish Jail. Hitting a patient is considered an intentional tort or battery by Louisiana law, and any claim for injuries and damages suffered by the struck patient…
On the evening of November 12, 2009, a Ford truck backed out of a private driveway onto Louisiana Highway 40 in St. Tammany Parish, directly into the path of a 2005 Honda VTX motorcycle. The motorcycle operator was wearing a helmet, but nevertheless, was killed in the motorcycle crash. The…
One person killed and five injured on November 7, 2009 in a Natchitoches, Louisiana car wreck on Louisiana Highway 117. The driver of a 1997 Ford Crown Victoria lost control of his vehicle and left the roadway to the right, then overcorrected and traveled across the center line and crashed…
Crisis, what Crisis? Medical malpractice lawsuits account for less than 1% of all civil suits and have been declining for nearly 10 years. In 2008, fewer medical malpractice claims were filed by patients in Louisiana than in any year since 1996. The insurance market is so strong in Louisiana that…
On October 28, 2009, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced that about 610,000 Halloween themed flashlights manufactured in China and sold exclusively at Target stores from August 2009-September 2009 have been recalled. The $1 “Mini Flashlights (3 Pack)” with key rings and the $2.50 “Flashlight with Stencil” can overheat…
A Justice of the Peace Constable for Monroe, Louisiana, who is also a former Ouachita Parish Police Juror, was involved in car wreck on October 26, 2009, on Louisiana Highway 151 near its intersection with Louisiana Highway 546. The Constable’s car crossed the center line during a rain storm and…
At its annual meeting in Natchitoches, the Northwestern State University Foundation Board of Directors elected Scott Andrews as its Treasurer for the 2009-2011 term. Scott Andrews, an attorney at Dué Guidry Piedrahita Andrews Courrege L.C. in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, graduated from Northwestern State University in 1992 after serving as Student…
The Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal held that the plaintiff has the absolute right to dismiss with prejudice an original defendant and to secure an order prohibiting all defendants from filing subsequent third party demands against the previously dismissed defendant. DiBenedetto v. Noble Drilling Co., 2009-0073, 2009-0464, 2009-1025 (La.App.…