In a recent ruling handed down in Federal District Court in New Orleans, Federal District Judge Carl Barbier assigned the majority of the responsibility to BP for the 2010 explosion of Deepwater Horizon. Judge Barbier found the discharge of oil to be the result of BP’s “gross negligence” and “willful…
The Louisiana State Bar Association’s (LSBA) 2014-15 officers and members of the Board of Governors were installed June 5, in conjunction with the LSBA’s Annual Meeting in Destin, Fla. Lafayette lawyer, Blake R. David, was installed by Louisiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Bernette Johnson as the Third District Member of…
A man accused of drunk driving faces two counts of vehicular homicide and a 2nd DWI, among other charges, after he rear-ended a vehicle while driving on I-10 over the Mississippi River Bridge, killing two passengers. Three others were transported to the hospital and treated for injuries that were not…
A three-vehicle collision on U.S. Highway 90 claimed the life of a Jeanerette resident after a 2007 Mercury traveling eastbound crossed the median and struck the vehicle travelling westbound by the victim. After colliding with the victim, the motorist driving the Mercury struck another vehicle also traveling westbound by a…
A jury in Lafayette has awarded $1.5 million in compensatory damages and $9 billion in punitive damages to a former user of the Actos diabetes medication after the jury determined that the drug was linked to the plaintiff’s bladder cancer. Both defendants, Takeda Pharmaceuticals Co. and Eli Lilly & Co.,…
While the number of motor vehicle drivers killed in Louisiana declined in 2012, twenty-four bicycle riders were killed in Louisiana in 2012, the highest number in ten years. East Baton Rouge Parish and St. John the Baptist Parish contained the most bicycle crash fatalities with five and three respectively. “Many…
State police consider excessive speed to be a factor in a fatal vehicular collision on La. 42 after a Port Vincent man over-corrected and struck his truck into a vehicle heading in the opposite direction. The victim was properly restrained in her vehicle but ultimately succumbed to her injuries on…
A state law was enacted fourteen years ago that designated Bluebonnet Drive in Baton Rouge as a roadway free of hazardous materials to provide the public a safe route in the event of an emergency. This law has not stopped truckers transporting hazardous materials such as gasoline from using this…
A judge approved of class-action status for former and state workers who allege that they were exposed to contaminants when they worked at the Baton Rouge building that housed the Louisiana Department of Revenue. Almost 300 current and former state employees have completed forms alleging that the building contained contaminants…
A six-year-old boy along with his nine-year-old sister were struck at a crosswalk at a Gentilly intersection by a man driving a Honda Crosstour, who immediately fled the scene after hitting the children with his vehicle. The boy died shortly after he was transported to a local hospital while his…