A St. Charles Parish Louisiana jury sent a strong and unprecedented message to Veolia Water North America, LLC and its intoxicated driver Rodney Gonzales, by awarding $25,000,000 in punitive damages to the victims and their families of a drunk driving accident. After 8 days of trial, the jury found the…
Authorities are cracking down on drunk driving across the nation and in Louisiana . In 2009, the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration (NHTSA) recorded the lowest number of drunk-driving fatalities nationally in nearly a half a century . In 2009, 10,839 people were killed in alcohol-related collisions. For statistical…
Every accident is different: sometimes many people are responsible for the plaintiff’s injuries; other times, the plaintiff’s fault may have partially caused his injures. Comparative fault and contributory fault are general defenses a defendant may raise in an attempt to reduce the damages a defendant must pay. Contributory fault means…
Uninsured Motorist (UM) insurance permits its holder to recover in an automobile accident if the party who caused the collision is underinsured or uninsured. A plaintiff may receive UM benefits in several ways. If you are in an accident in your vehicle with an uninsured motorist, you may receive UM…
The United States Department of Justice filed suit December 15, 2010 seeking civil penalties and billions of dollars in fines against BP and its eight partnering companies over the Deepwater Horizon Gulf Oil Spill. The Government’s civil claims arise under the Clean Water Act and the Oil Pollution Act. The…
In Louisiana, a plaintiff may only recover exemplary damages if expressly authorized by Louisiana law. Exemplary damages are more commonly referred to as punitive damages and are imposed on a defendant in addition to general and compensatory damages. Louisiana Civil Code article 2315.4 expressly permits victims of drunk driving to…
Offshore worker employed by flare boom installer suffered injuries after the flare boom he was working on collapsed sending him falling 110 feet from a jack-up rig into the Gulf of Mexico. Discovery revealed that jack-up rig welder ignored installation instructions of the flare boom company and improperly welded the…
During the last legislative session, Louisiana lawmakers upgraded the existing law prohibiting text messaging to “primary enforcement status.” This means that law enforcement can now stop and cite violators if the officers observe someone texting while driving. The current law is as follows: text messaging is banned for all drivers…
A Calcasieu Parish jury awarded a total of $10,800,240.35 in a wrongful death trucking accident case. That sum included a $5,000,000.00 exemplary damage award, $2,000,000.00 for each parent for the loss of their only child, $1,395,956.06 for the injuries to the mother, $142,558.59 for the injuries to the father, and…