Louisiana Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
Concursus proceedings can be complicated. In a concursus proceeding, multiple parties assert competing claims to money or property. La. C.C.P. art. 4651. These types of proceedings are designed to free the court from the burden of dealing with multiple lawsuits. As a party to a concursus proceeding, you assert your claims to a particular piece of property against all other claimants. This necessitates a good lawyer, as demonstrated by a recent case of the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal.
In 2010, Joseph Shows was injured in an automobile accident that left him with extensive bodily injuries and significant medical expenses. Fortunately for Mr. Shows, he had prepared for such events by obtaining uninsured/underinsured motorist (“UM”) insurance through Farmers Insurance Exchange in the policy amount of $100,000. He was also covered under a health benefits plan provided by his employer Trimac Transportation, Inc., administered by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, Inc. (“BCBSTX”).
After the accident, Shows was able to recover $25,000 from the at-fault driver’s insurance company, Allstate, in addition to $63,933.34 of Shows’ $100,000 Farmers UM policy limit. However, one question remained: Who would receive the remaining balance of Mr. Shows’ UM policy limit, totaling $36,066.66? Farmers filed a concursus petition against Mr. Shows and BCBSTX to recover the remaining balance.
A car accident can create a significant change in one’s life. If nothing else, it can generate a large monetary cost that will be difficult to repay. Automobile insurance, which each person must have to a certain extent, can help with this cost. Other sources like governmental benefits may be of help to some, but it is essential to understand how public benefits and private insurance policies may interact. Louisiana law requires that a person who is suing an insurance company, such as the insurer of another driver at fault for a car accident, must exhaust any other insurance policies that the plaintiff may be entitled to benefits. 
In Louisiana, uninsured motorist coverage is mandatory. It seeks to protect drivers from motorists with no or insufficient liability coverage to pay for the damage they cause in accidents. In Louisiana, uninsured motorist coverage guarantees that anyone who purchases insurance on their car will automatically benefit from uninsured motorist coverage equal to the liability limits. This does not mean, however, that insurance companies can’t limit the scope of their uninsured motorist coverage. When coverage is denied, and lawsuits are filed, often times the issue is whether the accident falls within the insurer’s policy. A recent lawsuit in the Louisiana Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal is illustrative. 
Kenneth White’s road trip from Monroe to Shreveport, Louisiana wasn’t exactly uneventful. The Monroe man was involved in a traffic accident that led to a legal battle between insurance companies. White’s insurance dispute led to a significant change in the law, as the Court of Appeal held that a major auto carrier’s contract provision violated public policy.
How familiar are you with your motorist insurance policy? Are you fully covered for uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage? In Louisiana, uninsured motorist coverage protects you if you’re in an accident with an at-fault driver who doesn’t carry liability insurance. Underinsured motorist coverage, on the other hand, steps in when you’re in an accident with an at-fault driver whose liability limits are too low to cover the damage or medical expenses. Every insurance policy in Louisiana is considered to include uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage unless it is validly rejected. In a recent case, the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal found that an electronic signature on an online form was valid to uphold an insurance policy. 
A unique feature of our American federal system is the separate yet intertwined system of state and federal courts. Sometimes a dispute may begin in a state court and end up in federal court. And sometimes, there may end up being parallel proceedings in both the state and federal systems. There are limits, however. A federal court can decline to hear an action if there is a parallel proceeding in the state court system. Recently, the Fifth Circuit Court of appeal was called upon to determine whether a district court erred when it declined to hear a declaratory action and related counterclaims.
Car accidents have become so commonplace in our society that many states require automobile and accident insurance. If and when you find yourself in the unfortunate situation of being in a car accident, you expect the party at fault to foot the bill. That’s where insurance steps in. As insurance claims are one of the most litigated issues nationwide, the interpretation of insurance laws is not always so clear. The following case examines two specific issues that ultimately needed to be settled in the highest court in Louisiana.
People get car insurance to protect themselves in the event of a car accident. It is thus important that one takes care to research and consider what insurance plan is best for one’s needs. Liability insurance is designed to protect a person who owns or drives a vehicle from the costs of a lawsuit that might happen if that vehicle is in an accident. Insurance contracts define the scope of what sort of vehicles or potential plaintiffs will be considered covered under the policy. Generally, courts prefer to preserve the “
Insurance is such a lucrative business because while almost everyone will purchase some form of it, very few will ever make a claim against the insurance company, and even fewer will be successful. This allows insurance companies to generate huge profits on premiums paid by policyholders. Unsurprisingly, those who do make claims against insurance companies can count on being challenged at every turn, as the insurance companies will hire some of the best attorneys in order to avoid shelling out a dime to cover the policyholder. That is exactly what happened when Shelter Mutual Insurance Company became a party to a suit brought by a University of Louisiana Lafayette student after her professor, the insured, went on a tirade in class.
Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is an insurance add-on that protects you against another person’s failure to maintain adequate insurance. This coverage can pay for injuries and property damage caused by another motorist who is not carrying adequate insurance. However, the policy will only cover those things set out in the agreement with the insurer. All insurance agreements are considered contracts under Louisiana law. Therefore, the rules governing contracts generally apply to insurance agreements.