Louisiana in General

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On January 22, 2010, President Obama signed a law which allows taxpayers to claim a charitable deduction in the 2009 tax year for cash donations made through March 1, 2010 for the relief of victims in areas affected by the January 12, 2010 earthquake in Haiti. The IRS notice on this new law indicates that…

In the January 20, 2010 Louisiana Register, the Office of Conservation, Louisiana Department of Natural Resources issued a Notice of Intent to amend Statewide Order 29-B to incorporate new rules for the evaluation and remediation of groundwater conditions at exploration and production sites.

The proposed rules can be found at this link.   As part…

During the past few years, the Louisiana Legislature has adopted many “green” initiatives as part of climate and energy policies. The state has placed a strong emphasis on increasing both renewable energy generation and energy efficiency. The following is a list of some of these important initiatives:

  • The Louisiana Renewable Energy Development Act allows Grid Tied Net Metering systems throughout the state, which allows electric utility customers, who wish to install a net metering facility, to reduce their monthly electricity bill by using electricity that is generated from solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal, or biomass resources. See La. R.S. 51:3061-51:3063 (2003).

Continue Reading State of the State: Louisiana Government Active in Green Initiatives

The Louisiana Civil Code provides an implied warranty for all things sold.  Specifically, a seller warrants the buyer against all redhibitory vices and defects.  A defect is “redhibitory” if it renders the item so useless or inconvenient that a buyer would not have purchased it or would have purchased it for a lesser price.   Louisiana does not have warranty statutes which are specific to marine products.  The following outline is an overview of Louisiana’s warranty statutes in connection with marine products such as boats, personal watercraft, and outboard motors.
Continue Reading Louisiana Warranty Statutes and Marine Products

In the wake of the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009 (FERA), which was enacted by Congress on May 20, 2009 and expands the federal False Claims Act, the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (“DHH”) announced on October 29, 2009, a new fraud initiative against agencies who deliver in-home direct care to Medicaid beneficiaries.  DHH is partnering with the Louisiana Attorney General’s office to audit of all Medicaid in-home direct care providers. DHH will engage the services of six (6) audit firms to perform the audits.  Any potential fraud or abuse identified by the auditors will be reported to the Attorney General for prosecution. Funding for these audits will be provided by a $3,000,000.00 fund created with dollars previously recovered from fraudulent providers.
Continue Reading Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals Plans to Audit All In-Home Direct Care Providers to Fight Medicaid Fraud

The Louisiana Supreme Court has issued two decisions in the past year, Borel v. Young and Warren v. LAMMICO, which are favorable to Louisiana health care providers. In the Warren case, a potential plaintiff waited almost four years from the date of her father’s death to file a wrongful death and survival claim against the health care providers.  The plaintiff had not participated in the Medical Review Panel or filed a lawsuit within either the one and three year prescriptive periods (a.k.a. statute of limitations) required by La. R.S. 9:5628.  The plaintiff’s mother and sister had already filed a timely complaint with the Louisiana Patients’ Compensation Fund, proceeded with a Medical Review Panel, and subsequently filed a lawsuit.  The issue before the Court was whether the new plaintiff could file her own wrongful death and survival claim that would “relate back” to the original, timely claims of her mother and sister.
Continue Reading Louisiana Supreme Court Upholds Special Prescriptive Periods for Medical Malpractice Cases

Throughout 2004–2007 a housing boom along with a series of hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico combined to create a shortage of drywall in the United States.  Needing drywall to build the homes that were much in demand, suppliers turned abroad. Chinese manufacturers stepped in, providing cheap and readily available material.  This influx of Chinese drywall was concentrated in Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi; the states most affected by Hurricanes Wilma, Katrina, and Rita.  Since 2006, it has been estimated by some sources that more than 550 million pounds of drywall have been imported from China.  There are reports that some 100,000 homes could possibly be affected nationwide. Continue Reading What does the Transfer of Chinese Drywall Cases by the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation Mean?

The Louisiana Legislature has adopted House Concurrent Resolution No. 185, authored by Representative Tim Burns.  The resolution urges and requests that the Department of Health and Hospitals and the Deptartment of Insurance, in consultation with the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors, investigate the health risks associated with living in homes that contain drywall imported…

Beginning at 12:01 a.m. (Eastern Standard Time), on Saturday, June 13, 2009, members of the social networking website, Facebook, will be able to claim usernames to associate with their Facebook accounts and Facebook pages. This will allow Facebook pages to be accessed by using a url such as, http://www.facebook.com/unitedairlines, or something similar.

Facebook is…