Insight and Information on Louisiana Law, Litigation, and Legal Culture
By the Kean Miller Construction Team
Conventional wisdom holds that arbitration is a more preferable mechanism for dispute resolution than full-blown litigation in the court system. Knowing nothing else about the particulars of a particular dispute, if arbitration is available as an alternative to state or federal litigation, we generally advise our clients to arbitrate.…
Continuing the trend from 2015, 2016 has seen a significant number of large, public data breaches. Many of these breaches involved high-profile companies such as the Democratic National Convention, Internal Revenue Service, MySpace, Yahoo!, and Anthem. Since large corporate and government breaches typically get the most attention, many smaller, local businesses can be lulled into…
Click here to review a Practice Note explaining how to enforce arbitral awards in the state and federal courts in Louisiana. This Note explains the procedure for confirming an arbitration award in Louisiana, and the grounds on which a party may challenge enforcement under Louisiana and federal law, including the New York Convention on the…
One of the activities regulated and licensed by the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors is Mold Remediation. Any person engaging in or holding herself/himself out as engaging in mold remediation must have a mold remediation license issued by the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors. Persons violating that prohibition are subject to administrative and…
Chief Judge Brian Jackson issued an “Omnibus Order Suspending All Deadlines” for cases pending or to be filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana. The Order explains that the court has been inaccessible—a key term in the Federal Rules of Civil and Appellate Procedure—since August 12, 2016 due to historic…
On August 17, 2016, Governor Edwards amended Executive Order JBE 2016-57 which had suspended the running of prescription, peremption, and all legal delays from August 12, 2016 until September 9, 2016. The amendment to Executive Order JBE 2016-57 modifies the suspension of deadlines as follows:
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Louisiana law is clear – all claims against a contractor or design professional arising out of the planning, construction, design or building immovable or movable property must be brought within 5 years of the date of registry in the mortgage office of acceptance of the work by the owner. If no such acceptance is recorded…
On May 3, 2016, the Louisiana Supreme Court held that the notice and recordation requirements of the Louisiana Public Works Act do not bar a suit on contract by a subcontractor against the general contractor’s surety. The Court’s opinion is nuanced, and dependent on the meaning and word choice of certain terms in the Louisiana…
By the Kean Miller Construction Team
On April 6, 2016, Louisiana’s Third Circuit Court of Appeal issued a ruling on the question of whether the state’s relatively new anti-indemnity statute affects a defendant’s ability to assert the “statutory employer” defense for purposes of workers compensation. Blanks v. Entergy Gulf States Louisiana, LLC, No. 15-1094,…
By the Kean Miller Construction Team
Louisiana’s Private Works Act [1] allows an unpaid contractor, subcontractor, or material supplier to file a “statement of claim or privilege” (i.e., lien) upon the property improved by their work or materials. A properly filed lien in the amount of the unpaid balance can then form the…
