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The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating an airplane crash that occurred in Pineville, Louisiana, on October 10, 2009. Two Cessna 150 airplanes collided over Lake Buhlow during the annual Pineville Fall Fly-In. Both planes crashed into the woods. The occupants of one plane were killed and the occupants of the other plane were seriously injured.

According to NTSB Aviation Statistics, there were 3,312 aviation accidents in the United States in 2008, which resulted in 1,136 fatalities.
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In a Louisiana medical malpractice trial, defense counsel had an ex parte meeting with a prior treating physician who was not a party to the case to go over the plaintiff’s medical records, without a medical authorization allowing verbal communication with the health care provider and without advance notice to the plaintiff’s lawyer. Nevertheless, the trial court allowed the physician’s testimony at trial over plaintiff’s objection. The Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal held that the testimony of the treating physician should have been excluded and found that the improperly admitted testimony tainted the jury’s verdict. Ernst v. Taylor, 08-1289 (La.App. 3d Cir. 5/6/09), 17 So.3d 981, writ denied, 09-1262 (La.9/18/09), 17 So.3d 977, citing Coutee v. Global Marine Drilling Co., 04-1293 (La.App. 3 Cir. 2/16/05), 895 So.2d 631, writ granted, 05-756 (La. 5/13/05), 902 So.2d 1000, writ reversed on other grounds, 05-756 (La. 2/22/06), 924 So.2d 112 and Wood v. Am. Nat’l Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co., 07-1589 (La.App. 3 Cir. 12/23/08), 1 So.3d 764.

See also Boutte v. Winn-Dixie of La., Inc., 674 So.2d 299, 306-07 & n.12 (La.App. 3d Cir. 1996), writ denied, 96-1936 (La. 11/8/96), 683 So.2d 268 (the impermissible contact deprived plaintiff of her right to a fair and impartial hearing); and Johnson v. Apeck Construction, Inc., 96-1283 (La. App. 3 Cir. 3/5/97), 692 So.2d 476, 481 (“[c]ontacts by an adverse party or by its representative of a treating physician will not be tolerated, as they strike at the very heart of our system of civil justice.” cf. Hortman v. Louisiana Steel Works., 96-1433 (La.App. 1 Cir. 6/20/97), 696 So.2d 625, 629, Kuhn, J. concurring (“Although contacting an opponent’s treating physician is not in violation of the physician-patient privilege, it clearly impugns upon the Code [of Professional Conduct]’s mandate of professionalism. The practice of law should be a search for the truth, through honorable and professional means long established but perhaps forgotten.”).

This personal injury legal update is provided by Baton Rouge, Louisiana injury lawyer Scott Andrews of the Louisiana accident and injury law firm, Dué Guidry Piedrahita Andrews Courrege L.C..

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Paul H. Dué, the founding member of our Baton Rouge, Louisiana law firm, Dué Guidry Piedrahita Andrews Courrege L.C., was honored during the Louisiana Association for Justice (LAJ) Fall Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, with the LAJ Stalwart Award, for distinguishing himself through service to the legal profession and to the Association. Paul H. Dué is a Past President (1982-1983) of LAJ (formerly the Louisiana Trial Lawyers Association) and a past member of the Board of Governors of the American Association for Justice (formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America). Paul H. Dué has dedicated his legal career to promoting a fair justice system so that anyone injured by the misconduct or negligence of others can obtain justice. In accepting his award, Paul reminded the members of the Association how important it is to “have that fire in the belly” and to “take care, as best we can, of the rights of the less fortunate and less articulate, so they don’t get railroaded by the dark side.”
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The Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal held that where the general employer’s business is to loan out his or her employees and equipment to others, the general employer’s business is being furthered even if he does not control the details of the work. The special employer benefits because it is his work that is being done as well. The relevant enterprise benefited by the work consist of a combination of the general and special employers, who are liable in solido for damages occasioned by the borrowed employee. This applies where a hospital is the general employer of a nurse and an independent contractor physician is “in charge” of the delivery room. Grimes v. LAMMICO, 2009-0292 (La.App. 1 Cir. 9/11/09), citing Morgan v. ABC Manufacturer, 97-0956 (La. 5/1/98), 710 So. 2d 1077, 1080.

This personal injury legal update is provided by Baton Rouge, Louisiana injury lawyer Scott Andrews of the Louisiana accident and injury law firm, Dué Guidry Piedrahita Andrews Courrege L.C..

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The Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal held that an injury victim does not fail to mitigate his damages when he refuses to undergo surgery which would not significantly alleviate his disability or which carries risks of failure, more scarring and pain, or when the treatment is painful, or when he is unable to pay for the treatment. Flemings v. State, 2007-1290 (La.App. 4 Cir. 8/26/09), 19 So.3d 1220.

This personal injury legal update is provided by Baton Rouge, Louisiana injury lawyer Scott Andrews of the Louisiana accident and injury law firm, Dué Guidry Piedrahita Andrews Courrege L.C..

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Scott Andrews of the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, personal injury law firm of Dué, Guidry, Piedrahita & Andews was recently selected as the 2009-2010 President-Elect of the Wex Malone Chapter of the American Inns of Court in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. American Inns of Court are designed to improve the skills, professionalism and ethics of the bench and bar. An American Inn of Court is an amalgam of judges, lawyers, law professors and law students. The Inn meets approximately once a month at the Russell B. Long Federal Building and United States Courthouse in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, both to “break bread” and to hold programs and discussions on matters of ethics, skills and professionalism.

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18 Wheeler Driver who did not Follow Training 60% at Fault for Livingston Parish, Louisiana Accident. In Brewer v. J.B. Hunt Transport, Inc., 9 So.3d 932 (La.App. 1 Cir. 2009), an 18 wheeler driver changed lanes on a multi-lane highway in Livingston Parish and was rear-ended by a following motorist. A Livingston Parish jury found the truck driver free from fault and found the rear-ending motorist 100% at fault. On appeal, the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal reversed. The Court of Appeal found that the truck driver was 60% at fault for disregarding his training as a professional truck driver and for acting negligently in attempting to make a lane change across the solid white lane line, which requires extreme care or caution, as mandated by the Louisiana Driver’s Guide which provides that such maneuvers may only be made with “great care.” The Court of Appeal also found the rear-ending motorist to be negligent for failing to keep a proper lookout and to timely react to the situation caused by the truck driver. Although the following motorist initially made a rightward steering maneuver in response to the movement of the 18-wheeler, he failed to anticipate that the 18-wheeler would slow its speed and would not be able to completely move into the left lane before being stopped by traffic ahead caused by the merging of the two lanes of traffic. The Court of Appeal specifically found that the following motorist breached the duty to timely apply his brakes.

The Court of Appeal concluded that the following motorist contributed to the accident, but was not the primary cause of the accident. He was plainly unaware of the danger and was merely inattentive. The truck driver, by contrast, had the ability to discern from his high vantage point that he could safely and promptly complete his lane change before crossing over the lane line. The magnitude of the risk created by the 18-wheeler and the careless manner in which he attempted to change lanes; his knowledge as a professional truck driver of the danger involved in lane changes, especially across a solid white lane line; his greater experience and training; and the magnitude of the harm created all supported a finding that the truck driver and his employer should bear a greater degree of liability. Accordingly, the Court of Appeal assigned 60% fault to the truck driver and his employer and 40% fault to the following motorist, and awarded total damages in excess of $13,000,000.
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In Brewer v. J.B. Hunt Transport, Inc., 9 So.3d 932 (La.App. 1 Cir. 2009), an 18 wheeler driver changed lanes on a multi-lane highway in Livingston Parish and was rear-ended by a following motorist. The following motorist was awarded in excess of $13,000,000 in total damages for multiple injuries, including permanent brain damage. The following motorist sustained traumatic injury to the right anterior temporal lobe of his brain. Dr. John Clifford, the treating neurological surgeon, testified that the plaintiff’s magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) reports show atrophy and brain cell death. Dr. Clifford also noted that he suffered seizures following the accident and that his initial electroencephalogram (EEG) report, prior to the use of anticonvulsant medications, was markedly abnormal. Dr. Clifford opined that Brewer’s various items of brain damage and epilepsy could be attributable to the accident. The body of medical testimony showed that Brewer’s brain injury is permanent. Dr. Clifford testified, based on his review of two separate neuropsychologists’ reports, that Brewer has residual brain impairments and that there will be future worsening of his cognitive functioning.
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Louisiana Lawyer, Paul H. Dué, was selected by Best Lawyers ® as the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Personal Injury Litigation 2009 Lawyer of the Year. (Copyright 2009 by Woodward/White, Inc., of Aiken, S.C.). The personal injury lawyers honored as “Lawyers of the Year” were selected by Best Lawyers ® because, during the past two Best Lawyers ® surveys, they received particularly high ratings from most of their peers. The selected personal injury lawyers are believed to have earned a high level of respect among other leading personal injury lawyers in the same communities and the same specialties for their abilities, their professionalism, and their integrity. Congratulations Paul Dué!
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Louisiana injury attorney, Randy A. Piedrahita, of the Baton Rouge, Louisiana personal injury law firm of Dué Guidry Piedrahita Andrews Courrege L.C., obtained a final judgment for a $776,944.13 jury verdict against a driver who struck a police officer with his truck at slow speed while the police officer was attempting to arrest him. The truck driver and his employer asserted numerous legal defenses, including a claim that the police officer assumed the risk of injury because he chose to arrest the defendant, which were overcome in the trial court and on appeal. The police officer received a cervical surgery and was able to return to work in a different law enforcement job.
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