In Louisiana state courts, litigation costs can escalate quickly, especially for a defendant. While a prevailing party is generally entitled to an award of costs, the prospect of bearing unrecoverable costs quickly becomes a serious concern for defendants when facing aggressive opposing counsel on a contingency fee and a plaintiff with limited financial resources. Even
It seems that the death of Chevron deference was not the end of agency deference. Almost a year after striking down Chevron deference, today the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision on the role of judicial deference towards an agency’s fact and scope determinations. In an opinion penned by Justice Kavanaugh, the U.S. Supreme Court
In complex litigation, the strategic use of discovery tools is not just beneficial – it’s imperative. Every litigator knows that a well-executed deposition can be a game-changer by uncovering key admissions, streamlining discovery, and exposing weaknesses in an organization defendant’s case.
Among the various
On June 28, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo[1] definitively overturned Chevron deference[2], and held that, when reviewing agency action under the Administrative Procedure Act, courts “must exercise their independent judgment” and “may not defer to an agency interpretation of the law simply because a statute
In today’s legal landscape, jury awards to personal injury plaintiffs are trending upwards. Studies show that “nuclear verdicts” are increasing in prevalence as jurors grow more critical of corporate defendants and are increasingly persuaded by provocative trial tactics from plaintiff attorneys. However, recent decisions from Louisiana and Texas show that some courts are bucking the
Kean Miller is closely following the recent challenges to the Chevron Deference standard established by the Supreme Court in Chevron, U.S.A., Inc. v. Nat. Res. Def. Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837 (1984). As applied by federal courts for the last four decades, the Chevron Deference standard first requires that a court determine whether a statute
For decades, the Louisiana Supreme Court has grappled with the “open and obvious” liability defense, making several attempts to determine its proper use within Louisiana’s duty-risk negligence analysis. The latest of these cases is Farrell v. Circle K Stores, Inc. and the City of Pineville, in which the Court changed course from multiple of
On May 1, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari to Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo [1] – a D.C. Circuit decision that upheld agency deference under Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council. [2] Chevron has stood for nearly 40 years on the principle that agencies should be armed with the flexibility
In 2021, there were more civil cases filed in federal court based on diversity of citizenship than any other jurisdictional basis.[1] That means any changes to the rules affecting diversity cases are bound to affect lots of litigants. On December 1, 2022, one such change took effect.
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 7.1(a)(2) now
In Leisure Recreation & Entertainment, Inc. v. First Guaranty Bank, the Louisiana Supreme Court found the voluntary pay doctrine to be in direct conflict with the Civil Code. In this action, the borrower was to make payments with interest accruing at 6.5% for years one through five of the loan, 7.5% in years six