Insurance Dispute Lawyer Blog
Expert testimony is one tool litigants can use to prove their arguments in a court of law. Expert witnesses are highly credible individuals with advanced knowledge in a particular field in a lawsuit. The testimony of experts is meant to assist the court in understanding the evidence in matters of fact. But not just anyone claiming to be an expert can testify on behalf of a litigant. As homeowners Blake and Courtney Freeman learned in a painful way, the testimony of six expert witnesses they offered was denied admissibility because it failed to meet Louisiana’s standards for expert testimony evidence.
The Freeman family purchased a home in Houma, Louisiana, which at the time contained prior termite damage previously treated by Fon’s Pest Management. In 2010, the Freemans began renovating their kitchen and discovered additional termite damage in the kitchen cabinets. As a result, Fon’s Pest Management again treated the Freemans’ home on two separate occasions by drilling holes in the floor, injecting termiticide into the soil beneath the floor, and using spot treatments of termiticide around the house. The spot treatment chemical contained fipronil, a colorless, odorless neurotoxin. Following Fon’s Pest Management’s treatments, the Freemans began to experience health problems that they believed were caused by the termiticide used in their home. As a result, the Freemans moved out of their house and filed an action against Fon’s Pest Management for damages due to injuries caused by the exposure to fipronil.
In support of their theory of recovery, the Freemans relied on the expert testimony of three toxicologists, an engineer, an industrial hygienist, and a professional counselor. Fon’s Pest Management filed motions in limine, arguing that none of the expert’s testimony should be admitted into evidence because they failed to meet the required legal standard for experts. A motion in limine is filed by a party who seeks to have the court limit or prevent certain evidence from being presented by the opposing party at trial. These motions, usually filed before the commencement of a trial, are handled outside of the jury’s hearing. The trial court granted Fon’s Pest Management’s motions to exclude the Freemans’ expert testimony and subsequently granted Fon’s Pest Management’s motion for summary judgment.
Car accidents are traumatic experiences that occur every day across Louisiana. An accident can cause initial damage upon impact, but many accident victims also spend months and sometimes years coping with accident-related injuries.
Aleashia Clarkston’s employment with the Iberia Parish School Board was terminated in April 2013 after she was accused of abusing the school’s Leave of Absence policy. She had been on medical leave since September 2012. Clarkston objected to what she believed was a wrongful termination. In addition, she claimed she was denied due process rights as a tenured employee. 
It’s a common scenario: a potential buyer visits a car lot, finds a vehicle he’d like to test drive, and heads out onto the road with the salesperson in the passenger seat. What happens, though, if an accident occurs during the test drive? Suppose the potential buyer loses control of the vehicle while driving — who is responsible for injuries and property damage that result?
Lawsuits resulting from car accidents can raise many difficult questions. Determining the precise events that led to an accident can be complicated and require courts to make close calls about witnesses’ credibility. Furthermore, parties may question whether they are entitled to certain damages if they prevail in their lawsuit. These questions arose in a lawsuit involving a car accident in Monroe, Louisiana. 
Car accidents are unfortunate but commonplace occurrences in modern life. The resulting lawsuits can involve complicated arguments over the allocation of fault between the drivers involved and the appropriate amount of damages awarded by the Court. Such questions arose in a lawsuit involving a car accident in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana. 
As more and more aspects of our lives are conducted online, data breaches have become an increasingly troubling prospect. If you have been involved in a data breach, you have likely worried about potential adverse effects and the possibility that you could become a victim of identity theft. However, the mere fact that a person’s information is compromised in a data breach does not necessarily mean victory in a lawsuit for damages. 
Sometimes words that we think have clear meanings become less than clear when used in the law. For instance, if a state statute prohibits cars from driving on park grounds, we would naturally conclude that a regular passenger vehicle is forbidden from entering the park. However, what about a toy car? Would a toy car be banned as well? It would be ridiculous to think that the legislature intended to forbid toy cars and passenger vehicles from park property. In some cases, courts are called upon to apply statutes to situations that, based on the plain language of the law, are not entirely clear. On the other hand, in cases where the rule is clearly written, Louisiana courts favor a direct application of the law. 
Anyone involved in a lawsuit knows that litigation can take months or even years to resolve. Though courts try to expedite the process, the parties involved are also responsible for moving the case forward expediently. If the plaintiff in a lawsuit files a complaint and fails to take further action for a certain amount of time, the defendant may file a motion to dismiss on the grounds of abandonment. The case below is an example of how the abandonment of a lawsuit by the plaintiff resulted in the dismissal of the action. 
Getting fired from a job can be devastating for anyone, and getting fired from a job unjustly is even worse. You may believe that if you are wrongfully terminated, you are entitled to all the costs, including attorney’s fees, that you incur in any legal action you take against your employer. However, the law is not always based on our notions of what is fair, as one resident of Plaquemines Parish learned in her efforts to get her job back.