Winter 2011
Patrick Costello Has Been Selected to Serve a One-Year Term on the St. Martin’s Episcopal School Parent’s Council
Slip/Trip Hazard Created By Warning Sign!!!
Author: Trevor M. Cutaiar Donna Cates slipped and fell while walking through the cosmetics department at a Dillard department store. The alleged cause of the fall was not a slippery liquid or cosmetic product but, rather, a wet floor sign placed in the aisle that had fallen flat on the ground. The governing statute was [...]
Tool Shed Roof Repair = Maritime Situs and Status
Author: Will E. Bland, IV The Claimant and Employer each appealed an Administrative Law Judge’s Decision and Order denying benefits under the LHWCA on grounds of jurisdiction. The Claimant was employed as a carpenter, repairing and remodeling buildings at two separate properties owned by the Employer, and injured his back while repairing the roof at [...]
Fifth Circuit Explains Proper Calculation of Actual Cash Value
Author: Trevor M. Cutaiar The Fifth Circuit recently resolved an insurance dispute arising out of the total destruction of a home during Hurricane Katrina. The district court determined the owners were only entitled to the actual cash value (ACV) of their home calculated based on the home’s value prior to its destruction. On appeal, the [...]
Spouse’s Action For Consortium Permitted For Oil Platform Injury
Author: Beth S. Bernstein Denis Henderson was injured when a crane fell on him while he was dismantling it. Henderson was working on the West Cameron Block 639 platform, which was located offshore of Louisiana, beyond the boundary of Louisiana territorial waters on the Outer Continental Shelf. The dispute was therefore governed by the Outer [...]
Force-Placed Policy: Fifth Circuit Rejects Home Owner’s Katrina Claim
Author: Trevor M. Cutaiar In June 2005, the plaintiffs’ flood insurance on their New Orleans home lapsed. In response, their mortgagee, Homecomings Financial, purchased what is known as a force-placed or lender-placed insurance policy. A force-placed policy insures the lender’s collateral when the borrower does not have a specific type of coverage. After the plaintiffs’ [...]
Online Expectations Of Privacy
Author: Will E. Bland, IV A woman was injured when she fell off an allegedly defective chair. She sued the chair manufacturer for damages, arguing that her active lifestyle had been diminished and she was largely confined to bed as a result of her injuries. The defendant discovered pictures of the plaintiff on her Facebook [...]
Welcome New Associates: Bland & Cutaiar
Thunder Horse Production Platform Is Not A Vessel
Author: Jacques P. DeGruy The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas recently determined that a floating offshore production platform did not constitute a vessel under the Jones Act, and thus denied seaman status to a worker injured on the platform. BP America Production Company owns and operates the Thunder Horse, a large [...]
Answerable To The Call Of The Vessel?
Author: Adam P. Sanderson In December, 2003, plaintiff was employed as a deckhand with a rotating schedule of 14 days on followed by seven days off. After completing this 14 day hitch, crew members would not work at all for seven days before returning to the schedule described above. Crew members were paid a [...]