The Louisiana Supreme Court answered the question of when general damages are recoverable for mental anguish by tort plaintiffs who suffer no physical injury in Spencer v. Valero Refining Meraux, LLC. In this action which involved the claims of four plaintiffs, an accident, fire, and explosion occurred at the Valero refinery in Meraux, Louisiana
Last week, the Supreme Court of the United States heard argument in Badgerow v. Walters[1] as to an important jurisdictional question under the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”), 9 U.S.C. 1, et seq. Specifically, the question presented to SCOTUS was whether federal courts have subject-matter jurisdiction to confirm or vacate an arbitration award under
CMS has released a Proposed Rule specifying how and when it must impose penalties on responsible reporting entities (RREs) that fail to meet their Section 111 reporting obligations. Here are the highlights:
Over the past few years, Energy Intelligence Group (“EIG”) – the New York and London-based publisher of 15 newsletters for the oil and gas industry – has sued more than a dozen energy companies and investment houses, alleging violations of federal copyright law. The alleged violations result from buying subscriptions to its publications (sent by
Consistent with public comments that it will pursue all available appellate remedies, today the South Louisiana Flood Protection Authority filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the United States Supreme Court, to seek review of the decision in Board of Comm. of the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East v. Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company
The Texas Supreme Court recently handed down a decision in Forest Oil Corp. v. El Rucio Land & Cattle Co., Inc., 14-0979, 2017 WL 1541086 (Tex. Apr. 28, 2017), that at first glance, is reminiscent of the landmark Louisiana legacy cases Corbello and Magnolia Coal. Forest Oil, like Corbello, supports the
On March 3, 2017, the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its long-awaited opinion in the matter of Board of Commissioners of the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East, et al. vs. Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, LLC, et al., No 15-30162, Slip Op. (5th Cir. 3/3/17). The Fifth Circuit’s decision affirmed the
CMS issued an Alert on November 15, 2016, concerning 2017 Recovery Thresholds. On December 12, 2016, it issued another Alert regarding 2017 Reporting Thresholds. CMS also updated its NGHP User Guide on January 3, 2017.
The effect of the Alerts:
Reporting Threshold: $750.00 for liability insurance (including self-insurance), no-fault insurance, and workers’ compensation payments.
Historically, the Benefits Coordination and Recovery Center (“BCRC”) arm of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) collected Medicare’s conditional payments. While the BCRC continues to address Medicare’s reimbursement rights with Medicare beneficiaries, in late 2015 the CMS’s Commercial Repayment Center (“CRC”) took over responsibility for seeking reimbursement directly from Applicable Plans. Applicable Plans
A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit that the New York Times referred to as “The Most Ambitious Environmental Lawsuit Ever” on February 13, 2015, with a finding that the plaintiffs did not state a viable claim for relief.
The Board of Commissioners of the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East (“SLFPA-E” or “Authority”) filed a lawsuit