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Insurance & Casualty Litigation
Commercial General Liability Total Pollution Exclusion Endorsement
Commercial General Liability Total Pollution Exclusion Endorsement Will Not Apply to All Contact with Pollutants In its 2000 decision of Doerr v. Mobil Oil Corp., 774 So.2d 119 (La. 2000), the Louisiana Supreme Court reshaped the application of the Commercial General Liability Total Pollution Exclusion Endorsement, overruling its previous position expressed in Ducote v. Koch […]
- April 15, 2014
- By Allen & Gooch
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Emerging Companies and Start-ups
Fundera, New Site Helps Entrepreneurs Find Alternative Lending Options
Group Me Founders, Jared Hecht and Steve Martocci, have launched a new alternative lending platform for small businesses called Fundera. The Challenge of Financing a Small Business It’s a problem that all start-ups, entrepreneurs, and small businesses face – capital. Whether you have a great idea and you are trying to build the proof of […]
- April 10, 2014
- By Allen & Gooch
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Employment Law & Litigation
FLSA Outside Sales Exemption: Recent Favorable Ruling for Employer
Federal Court Rules Loan Officers are Exempt from Overtime Prospect Mortgage faces more than one hundred cases on whether loan officers were exempt from the minimum wage and overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Prospect has argued that the loan officers were exempt from the FLSA overtime provisions because the primary duties […]
- April 8, 2014
- By Allen & Gooch
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Insurance & Casualty Litigation
ABIZ: I Hereby Waive & Release Any and All Liability…Or Do I?
This article originally appeared in ABIZ Acadiana Business on February 21, 2014. Liability waivers are everywhere. We find them in recreational sports application forms (youth and adult), on signs and menus in restaurants that serve raw oysters, in church and school field-trip permission forms, on parking garage tickets, in alarm service monitoring contracts, etc. But […]
- April 3, 2014
- By Troy Broussard
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Workers' Compensation
Workers Comp: Employee’s Right to Select a Treating Physician
First Circuit Rules that Employee’s Right to Select a Treating Physician is Mandatory In Nelson v. Windmill, the court found that LSA-R.S. 23:1121B(1) made an employee’s right to select a treating physician mandatory and without exception. The First Circuit added that there was no time frame for exercising that right and there is no requirement […]
- April 2, 2014
- By Allen & Gooch
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Maritime Casualty
Fifth Circuit: Bystander Damages Not Available to Jones Act Seamen
Jones Act Coverage Depends on the Danger Zone Jones Act seamen are only entitled to damages for emotional distress if they can pass the “zone of danger” test. This test inquires whether a seaman was “physically impacted or within the zone of potential impact.” See Naquin v. Elevating Boats, L.L.C., No. 12-31258 (5th Cir. March […]
- March 27, 2014
- By Allen & Gooch
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Business Litigation
Social Media as Evidence – Louisiana Courts Accept Facebook
Facebook Used to Prove Plaintiff’s Quality of Life In a recent trial, we were able to submit evidence to the jury regarding posts on plaintiff’s Facebook page regarding activities she participated in and her general quality of life. We argued that these posts showed that plaintiff had no loss of enjoyment of life and that […]
- March 24, 2014
- By Allen & Gooch
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Maritime Casualty
Fifth Circuit: Jones Act Seamen Need Not “Go to Sea”
Requirements to Qualify as Jones Act Seamen As we previously discussed, Jones Act seamen must “contribute to the function of a vessel or to the accomplishment of its mission,” and they must also have a substantial connection to a vessel or fleet of vessels in navigation. See Naquin v. Elevating Boats, L.L.C., No. 12-31258 (5th […]
- March 21, 2014
- By Allen & Gooch
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Construction Law
Fifth Circuit analysis of CGL Additional Insured Endorsement in MS
In Carl E. Woodward, L.L.C., v. Acceptance Indem. Ins. Co., the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently addressed additional insured endorsements and a subcontractor’s CGL insurer’s duty to defend the general contractor. In this case, Woodward was retained by Pass Marianne, L.L.C., to construct condominiums and in turn subcontracted the concrete work to DCM […]
- March 10, 2014
- By Allen & Gooch
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Construction Law
Strict adherence to bidding policies required for public contracts
In a recent Fourth Circuit case, two unsuccessful bidders on a project filed separate actions seeking injunctive relief against the city regarding the bidding process for the Harrison Avenue Streetscape Project public contract. Command Const. Indus., L.L.C. v. City of New Orleans, 13-0524 (La. App. 4 Cir. 10/23/13), 126 So. 3d 716, 720. The unsuccessful […]
- March 7, 2014
- By Allen & Gooch
