Community News | |
Date | Article |
7/6/2016 | In The News: BFC Attorney Richard Montgomery wins defense appeal for Sheriff Wiley - 1st Cir. Court of Appeal tosses plaintiff's lawsuit |
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Check out The Advocate's July 6th article here:
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4/29/2016 | BFC Lawyers named among Acadiana Top Lawyers |
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9/25/2014 | Coreil presentation at Lafayette Paralegal Association Luncheon |
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3/5/2014 | BFC Attorney Announcement |
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BFC Proud to Announce our Association with Joshua H. Dierker, Attorney
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11/21/2013 | J. Daniel Siefker, Jr. to speak at Lafayette Paralegal Association
Lunch Seminar 11/21/13 |
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4/3/2013 | BFC Attorney Announcement |
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Law Updates | |
Date | Article |
8/20/2015 | test |
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5/1/2015 | May 2015 Law Update |
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*Summaries courtesy of LADC Newsletter.*
ABANDONMENT
Plaintiff
argued that a motion to fix and tax costs filed and served in 2012 can be
considered a step in the prosecution or defense of the case by any party that
interrupts abandonment as to all parties. The motion was filed by defendant,
who was dismissed from this litigation in October 2010. A non-party’s seeking
of costs is a step sufficient to interrupt...[READ MORE]
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4/1/2015 | April 2015 Law Update |
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Case
summaries courtesy of Frank Maraist, La. Civil Law and Procedure Newsletter,
March 23, 2015 edition
ABANDONMENT
Extrajudicial efforts
such as informal and even extensive settlement negotiations between the parties
are not sufficient to constitute a "step” for purposes of abandonment.
Correspondences between the parties do not.....[READ MORE] |
3/1/2015 | March 2015 Law Update |
| Summaries courtesy of Louisiana Association
of Defense Counsel Newsletter, 2015 Vol. 3.
INSURANCE
In the absence of a statutory
prohibition, a clause in an insurance policy fixing a reasonable time to
institute suit is valid. The court thus rejects the notion that insurer’s
inclusion of deadline filing dates that comply with the requirements of either
La. R.S. 22:1311 or La. R.S. 22:868(B) made the filing deadline dates
statutory, rather than contractual. Hence, the two-year time limitation to file
suit imposed...[Read more]
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2/1/2015 | February 2015 Law Updates |
| Case
summaries courtesy of Frank Maraist, La. Civil Law and Procedure Newsletter,
January 21, 2015 edition.
LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANIES
In Nunez
v. Pinnacle Homes, LLC, the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal held
that a licensed contractor is a professional for purposes of Louisiana Revised
Statute 12:1320(D), and, therefore, a breach of the contractor’s professional
duty can render him or her personally liable [Read more]
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1/1/2015 | January 2015 Law Updates |
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Case summaries courtesy of Frank Maraist,
La. Civil Law and Procedure Newsletter, December 19, 2014 edition.
ARBITRATION
The burden of proving
a waiver of arbitration is on the party alleging the waiver. Because of the strong public policy favoring
the right to demand arbitration....[Read more]
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12/1/2014 | December 2014 Law Updates |
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FIRM
SUCCESS: MATTHEWS v. JORY BONIN, ET AL, 120791
Charles Foret obtained a defense verdict
on causation for Zurich American Insurance Company following a jury trial in
Iberia Parish in October 2014. The plaintiff attempted to link a significant
course of treatment (her medicals were $117,225) to a minor rear-end
wreck. A defense verdict on causation
was rendered by a New Iberia jury. (Read more)
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11/1/2014 | November 2014 Law Updates |
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decedent was killed in a motorcycle accident while riding a motorcycle co-owned
with another (the "co-owner”). Neither
the decedent nor the motorcycle met the policy definitions of "insured person”
or "insured auto” under the liability section of the co-owner’s automobile
insurance policy; however, the motorcycle met...(Read more)
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10/1/2014 | October 2014 Law Updates |
| COURT COSTS; DEPOSITIONS Code of Civil
Procedure article 1433(B) provides for use of post-trial depositions in pending actions only if
the trial court finds that the "perpetuation of testimony is proper” and issues
an Order granting
leave to take the deposition. Absent such an Order, the depositions should not
be
admitted at the
hearing... (Read more)
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9/1/2014 | September 2014 Law Updates |
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INSURANCE/UM COVERAGE
Under R.S.
22:1295(f)(1) and the policy at issue, for a miss-and-run claim, a plaintiff
must prove through an independent and disinterested witness that the injury was
caused by the driver of another vehicle. The testimony of the investigating
police officer was insufficient because (Read more) |
8/1/2014 | August 2014 Law Updates |
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ABANDONMENT
Interruption of the three-year abandonment period as to one defendant
who is solidarily liable with the other defendants interrupts the accrual of
abandonment as to all defendants....(Read more)
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7/1/2014 | July 2014 Law Updates |
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INSURANCE
COVERAGE
The Louisiana Third
Circuit of Appeal upheld an insurance policy’s first party collision coverage
exclusion which precluded coverage over a loss occurring to an insured vehicle
while the operator of the insured vehicle was driving with a blood alcohol....(Read More) |
02/01/2014 | February 2014 Law Updates |
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NEGLIGENCE
Louisiana
law does not impose a duty on the sheriff to allow family members to
participate in crisis negotiations, or more generally to assure the survival of
a suicidal man who has locked himself in a car with a loaded shotgun pointed at
his head. (read more)
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12/1/2013 | December 2013 Law Updates |
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MARITIME
LAW
Defective portable offshore quarters building is not
an "appurtenance” of a platform under 2008 amendments to La. Civ. Code Art.
466. Woods v. Apache Corp.,
2013 WL 5673606 (E.D. La. Oct. 17, 2013).
Platform owner,
Apache, represented by Chris Zaunbrecher of this firm, obtained summary
judgment dismissing "premises liability”...(Read more)
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11/1/2013 | November 2013 Law Updates |
| DAMAGES A plaintiff may have a cause of action for violations of the public accommodations provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act and may recover compensatory damages only in cases of intentional discrimination. The US Fifth Circuit requires a plaintiff to show that the discrimination was intentional, although most federal circuit courts addressing the issue of "intentional discrimination" have adopted a "deliberate indifference" standard. Under either standard, an award of compensatory damages....(READ MORE)
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10/1/2013 | October 2013 Law Update |
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Important
Update Regarding Calculation of General and Special Damages
In a recent opinion,
a Louisiana appellate court declined to extend the "collateral source” rule to
an instance in which the plaintiff’s attorney paid a discounted rate for the
plaintiff’s medical expenses. Hoffman v.
21st Century North American Ins. Co., 2013-0054 (La. App. 1 Cir. 9/13/13);
2013 WL 5176914. The appellate court also affirmed...(Read more) |
6/1/2014 | June 2014 Law Updates |
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INSURANCE
Where the policy
excludes coverage for bodily injury or property damage caused by any covered person
while engaged in commission of a crime, the claim of a plaintiff passenger
injured in the vehicle when the insured crashed while fleeing from law enforcement
is not covered; the willingness or unwillingness of the passenger to
participate in the crime....(Read more)
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9/1/2013 | September 2013 Law Updates |
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INSURANCE
Three employees
standing near the employer’s truck were "users” of the truck when struck by
another motorist. Their use of the truck related to its inherent purpose. The
truck was integral to their work of cleaning up a cemetery, and they were in
the process of using their truck to take the tools and trash they had gathered
to another part of the cemetery....(Read more) |
8/1/2013 | August 2013 Law Update |
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INSURANCE R.S.22:1266 requires that when cancellation is for non-payment of premium, at least 10 days' notice of cancellation, accompanied by the reason for the cancellation, must be given. There is no requirement in the statute that the premium be in default when the notice is sent. Lewis v Coleman, Second Circuit, No. 48,173-CA (6/26/13)
When an action is "brought” (i.e., commenced) against both the insured and the insurer, the six circumstances enumerated in R.S. 22:1269 (B)(1)(a)-(f)—insolvency, family relationship, insurer is UM carrier,..... (Read more)
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7/1/2013 | July 2013 Law Update |
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6/1/2013 | June 2013 Law Update |
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5/1/2013 | May 2013 Law Update |
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5/1/2014 | May 2014 Law Updates |
| PROCEDURE
Summary Judgment
A trial court does not have the
discretion to grant a motion for summary judgment for a nonmoving party. Burrows v Executive Property Management Co.,
Fourth Circuit, No. 2013-CA-0914 (3/12/14)
The appellate courts are in disagreement...(Read more)
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4/1/2013 | April 2013 Law Update |
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4/1/2014 | April 2014 Law Updates |
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INSURANCE;
UM COVERAGE
The U.S. Fifth Circuit concludes that
Louisiana UM statute may apply to an accident occurring out of state, and that
a forklift may be an uninsured motor vehicle for the purposes of the Louisiana
statute, La. R.S. 22:1295. Boyett v.
Redland Insurance Co., ___ F. 3d ___ (5th Cir. 1/27/14). ....Read more
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3/1/2014 | March 2014 Law Updates |
| Discovery and Healthcare Provider
Privilege
In LaBarrera v. Boyd Gaming Corp., the
Third Circuit found that the healthcare provider privilege afforded by
Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure article 510 was violated whenever an employee
of the defense counsel engaged in ex
parte communications with one of the plaintiff’s treating physicians ...(Read More)
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2/27/2013 | February 2013 Law Update |
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1/8/2013 | January 2013 Law Update |
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