Louisiana Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
In litigating claims, parties (particularly the attorneys) must exercise diligence. This means being timely when it comes to gathering evidence, complying with a court order, or filing a pleading, motion, appeal etc. In its Commentary to the Model Rules of Professional Responsibility, the American Bar Association specifically warns that procrastination can seriously harm a client’s cause. Good attorneys heed this warning. Procrastination can and will often prompt the court to dismiss a litigant’s claims or objections. Illustrative is a recent case from the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal.
In 2011, Red Barn Motors, Inc. entered into a financing agreement with Dealer Services Corporation (“DSC”). Under the financing agreement, DSC would finance Red Barn’s purchase of vehicles at auction. But soon, things went sour. In March of 2013, Red Barn stopped making payments on its line of credit with DSC and DSC began seizing some of Red Barn’s assets. The next month, Red Barn delivered several vehicles to Louisiana’s First Choice Auto Auction, L.L.C. First choice was supposed to sell the vehicles, but instead, it delivered them to DSC. Red Barn eventually declared bankruptcy. At some point, DSC was absorbed by another company, NextGear Capital Inc.
Red Barn filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana against NextGear and First Choice. Red Barn alleged that NextGear breached the financing agreement and benefited from unjust enrichment and that NextGear and First Choice committed conversion. According to Red Barn’s petition, sometimes six to eight weeks would pass before the auction house could transfer title to DSC, and DSC would refuse to pay the auction house until it received the title, though it would charge interest and fees starting from Red Barn’s initial purchase.
Even if a property is zoned for commercial purposes, a city may discretionarily deny a business from buying and developing that property if the city determines it is against the public interest. The city of Shreveport, Louisiana was challenged when they denied a Dollar General’s site plan to develop a commercially zoned, “use by right” 1.13-acre lot. While Dollar General’s developer, GBT Realty Corporation, petitioned the trial and appellate courts for damages resulting from loss of a business opportunity, the courts ruled that the city was immune from tort liability when a city exercises its discretion in the use of its commercially zoned properties. 
In joint real estate ventures, all partners are presumed to be equal unless agreed otherwise. All parties should have equal decision-making power, share equally in gains and losses, and possess equal interests in the subject property. Cooperation among the partners is essential to the success of the venture. Each person must enter into the transaction with an open mind towards other partner’s ideas and business tactics. However, when one person uses the other partners for his own personal gain, litigation usually follows. This was the unfortunate situation in the following case.
Louisiana law strongly encourages arbitration as a method of resolving disputes. Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution whereby parties agree to be bound by the decision of neutral third parties. Arbitration promotes efficiency in dispute resolution because it attempts to resolve disputes before court involvement becomes necessary. It prevents courts from becoming backlogged with excessive caseloads. While arbitration promotes court efficiency, it can be a burdensome roadblock to certain litigants seeking recovery. A recent Louisiana case is illustrative.
The State of Louisiana has laws in place to protect whistleblowers with legitimate claims. These laws are critical to protecting workers and promoting healthy corporate self-governance. In Louisiana, 
Getting a judgment in your favor can often feel like a big win in court. After a judgment has been declared by the court many people believe the losing side simply gets out their checkbook and pays what they owe. While this may happen in some cases, many times after getting a judgment a person must fight an uphill battle to collect on that judgment. This is exactly what happened when a Louisiana company, Monster Rentals, obtained a default judgment against Coonass Construction of Arcadia (CCA). 
In a lawsuit, a client’s claims need to be monitored every step of the way. If an issue is revived in an appeal, an attorney must keep track of it and reinforce it at each new representation. If an attorney doesn’t continue to assert a claim, a court might think the party abandoned the issue and the court will not review it on appeal. Keeping these claims alive is not a major undertaking, but as Glenn E. Alphonse, Jr. learned in his recent case, even the slightest misstep in this area can make or break an outcome. 
We enter into contracts all the time without putting the agreement in writing; we form contracts when we buy a cup of coffee, when we shop online, etc. Some types of contracts, however, are required by law to be in writing. Kevin and Monica Schmidt (the Schmidts) learned this the hard way when they could not enforce an oral agreement to frack oil wells in Beauregard Parish.
Sometimes even the best-planned of deals amongst parties may fall through. Parties often turn to the courts to resolve contractual disputes. When a court is interpreting a contract between two parties, it is often as simple as applying the “four corners” rule. I.e. it will not look at anything outside the four corners of the contract. This particular method of interpretation is useful (and under Louisiana law mandatory) where a contract is written clearly and is not ambiguous. In a recent case, the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal upheld this method of interpretation when faced with a contract dispute out of Orleans Parish.
Ever wondered about the seemingly daunting world of contracts: the myriad of pages and often boring mechanical reading, not to mention those terms and conditions written in legalese? For most of us, not really. That’s for sure. But sometimes contractual disputes can be interesting. Ever hear the saying don’t mix business with pleasure? Well in a recent case, the Louisiana Court of Appeal was called upon to rule upon the terms of a settlement agreement that prohibited the parties from making disparaging or negative comments about each other.