To our friends, clients and colleagues —

We deeply appreciate all of the calls, e-mails and concern expressed by our clients, contacts and friends in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Because our headquarters are in Baton Rouge, we were spared the brunt of the damage and devastation being experienced by our friends in New Orleans and on the Gulf Coast. Thankfully, our Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, and Plaquemine offices were not affected. Continue Reading MESSAGE TO CLIENTS, CONTACTS AND FRIENDS CONCERNING HURRICANE KATRINA

The Louisiana Department of Labor has issued a notice advising of its efforts to make sure that all qualified UI recipients can file their claims and receive their checks.

From the notice:

“We want those in need to know that within the next 48 hours we will have dozens of Department of Labor employees and our local partners taking claims at shelters, hotels and wherever there are large groups of displaced people.

For those who are able, we ask that they go to the nearest One Stop or Job Center to file their claims. Others can file over the Internet by going to our Web site at www.LAWORKS.net. We will be establishing a 1-800 number so that victims can call for information.”

Read the whole notice here: http://www.ldol.state.la.us/qm_pressrelease_details.asp?PRseqno=304

The United States Department of Labor has posted an advisory explaining the qualifications for Disaster Unemployment Assistance here. As stated in the notice:

“Before an individual can be determined eligible for Disaster Unemployment Assistance, it must be established that the individual is not eligible for regular unemployment insurance benefits (under any state or federal law).”

Here are some links to sites offering avenues to help and hurricane relief information:

The American Red Cross is taking donations to help the thousands of
victims at http://www.redcross.org/donate/donate.html.

Following is a list of other Web sites offering disaster relief
Information –

Federal Emergency Management Agency
Phone: 1-800-621-FEMA
http://www.fema.gov

Louisiana Homeland Security
http://www.ohsep.louisiana.gov

Louisiana Governor’s Office
http://www.gov.state.la.us

Catholic Charities
Phone: 1-800-919-9338
http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org

FEMA Charity tips
http://www.fema.gov/rrr/help2.shtm

National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster
http://www.nvoad.org

Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
http://www.la-spca.org

Local Red Cross contacts – Continue Reading Hurricane Katrina – How To Help

The Los Angeles Times has posted a list of useful links to a variety of storm-related sites: providing or seeking information about family members, news, storm relief, weblogs, and general information:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-083005weblog,0,999372.htmlstory?coll=la-home-headlines

The link may not last long, so grab the contents while you can.

Per its website at http://www.laed.uscourts.gov, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana has closed until further notice, and has suspended “all deadlines and delays in matters pending before this court…until ordered otherwise.”

Today the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality issued an emergency order effective for 60 days that suspends or modifies existing environmental requirements in many areas in order to facilitate response to Hurricane Katrina. The order applies in 25 parishes in the New Orleans to Baton Rouge area. Among the provisions are those waiving 24 hour notification of upsets under NPDES permits and establishing special discharge authorizations and requirements; authorization of repairs to solid waste facilities without prior approval of DEQ, although notice is required; special exemptions and reporting requirements for management of woodwaste, construction debris, animal carcasses, and asbestos; a waiver of the prohibition on open burning for management of hurricane generated waste, with conditions; authorization of air emissions due to minor repairs to previously permitted stationary sources subject to conditions; and extension of deadlines for some otherwise due reports, but not for Title V or PSD reports, reports due under settlement agreements and the like. A full copy of the order is available at the DEQ website http://www.ldeq.org/news/pdf/EmergencyDeclarations(2).pdf

La. R.S. 47:315.1 permits the owner of personal property destroyed by a natural disaster (i.e., one declared by the President to warrant federal assistance) to obtain a sales tax refund under certain circumstances. According to the Louisiana Department of Revenue (http://www.rev.state.la.us/forms/taxforms/1362I(10_02).pdf), a claim can be made for “taxes paid on movables such as clothing, boats, appliances, furniture, etc.,” but not fixed items such as carpeting, cooling systems, etc. You should read the referenced link for more information.

Persons suffering movable property losses must file a claim with the Department using Form 1362 (Natural Disaster Claim for Refund of State Sales Taxes Paid), Form R-1362I (Natural Disaster Claim for Refund – General Information), Form R-1362S (Natural Disaster Claim for Refund – Schedule), and Form R1363 (Refund of State Sales Taxes Paid on Titled Assets). The forms are available from the Department’s website at www.rev.state.la.us under “Tax Forms” and the sub-heading “Sales Tax.”

The full text of the statute follows: Continue Reading Sales Tax Refund for Personal Property Destroyed By Natural Disaster

In light of the Louisiana Supreme Court’s decision in the Suire case, businesses and industrial concerns may want to consider modification of their indemnity provisions in contracts in order to allow for the litigation of defense and indemnity claims during underlying tort litigation. Continue Reading Consider Modification of Indemnity Agreements in Light of Louisiana Supreme Court Case

It finally happened. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released on August 8, 2005 as part of the changes to Medicare reimbursement for the 2006 Physician Fee Schedule a proposed change to federal regulations that would include diagnostic nuclear medicine services to the type of radiology services that are subject to the federal physician self-referral statute otherwise known as the Stark Law. Continue Reading CMS Proposes to Add Nuclear Medicine Services to the Stark Law