Category: Personal Injury

What Should I do After a Car Accident? 1. Stay at the scene: Never leave the scene of an accident, no matter how minor it seems.  2. Protect the scene: Put your vehicle in park, turn off the engine, and turn on your hazard lights.  If you have them, use cones, flares, or reflectors to warn other drivers of your presence.  If the wreck is minor, meaning there is little damage and no injuries, move the vehicles out of the way of traffic, especially if you are on the interstate. 3. Check for injuries: Check yourself, your passengers, and the

What is the Louisiana Direct Action Statute? Louisiana is a “direct action” state, meaning a plaintiff may name an insurer in a lawsuit.  In most other states, if you bring a personal injury lawsuit, you cannot name the insurance carrier in that lawsuit.  Louisiana on the other hand was one of the first to enact a direct action statute.  It expresses Louisiana’s long public policy that “an insurance policy against liability is not issued primarily for the protection of the insured but for the protection of the public.”  Davies v. Consolidated Underwriters , (La. 1942). La. R.S. 22:1269 does not create

What is Comparative Fault? The term “comparative fault” refers to a system of apportioning damages between negligent parties based on their proportionate shares of fault.  Under a comparative fault system, a plaintiff’s negligence will not completely bar recovery like states that employ the harsh contributory negligence rule, but it will reduce the amount of damages the plaintiff can recover based on the plaintiff’s percentage of fault. The “pure comparative fault rule” allows a damaged party to recover even if it is 99% at fault, although the recovery is reduced by the damaged party’s degree of fault.   Louisiana’s comparative fault law

Case Dismissed Because Not Presented to Review Board: Plaintiff filed suit against a hospital when he developed an infection following spine surgery. Defendant filed an exception of prematurity, arguing that it was a qualified healthcare provider under the Medical Malpractice Act (MMA) and that Plaintiff’s claims had not yet been presented to a medical review panel. The district court granted the exception as to all of Plaintiff’s allegations with the exception of the allegation that Defendant failed to properly maintain and service all equipment utilized in the sterilization process. On a supervisory writ, the Louisiana Supreme Court found that Plaintiff’s

Fax Filing Petition Interrupts Prescription: Plaintiff was injured on a city bus on May 1, 2013. He attempted to file suit on the one-year anniversary by facsimile filing on May 1, 2014. Multiple attempts were made, but Plaintiff received an error code each time due to a busy signal. The Clerk of Court received the fax the following morning, and stamp filed the petition on May 2, 2014. Defendants filed an exception of prescription pointing out that the petition was filed more than one year after the alleged injury. Plaintiff opposed the exception, arguing that he first attempted to fax file the