Louisiana

Louisiana Supreme Court settles ADA probe by DOJ over mental-health queries on bar application

The Louisiana Supreme Court has agreed to settle a U.S. Department of Justice probe over claims that some mental-health questions on the state’s bar application could violate the Americans with Disabilities Act. Specifically, the DOJ found that those involved in evaluating bar applications have been making admission recommendations focused on…

Aug 18, 2014 8:40 PM CDT

Gadfly buys website in DA’s name after he lets registration expire

A Louisiana district attorney set up a website in his name when he was campaigning for election, then let the registration expire after he won a second term in office. Now an unidentified gadfly has purchased the domain name formerly used by District Attorney Sam D’Aquilla and is using it…

Aug 12, 2014 4:55 PM CDT

Office manager sues after ex-client fires dozens of rounds at law firm

When a former client broke into the small Covington, Louisiana, law office at which Robin Domingue worked as an office manager last summer and began firing dozens of bullets, she managed to hide from him. But she suffered permanent injuries while trying to escape and seek shelter, she says in…

Aug 6, 2014 2:35 PM CDT

Lawyer is charged with cyberstalking after allegedly sending harassing text message to club owner

A New Orleans lawyer has been charged with misdemeanor cyberstalking after allegedly sending a harassing text message to an opponent in a battle over noise regulations. Lawyer Stuart Smith was charged on Tuesday, report the New Orleans Times Picayune and the New Orleans Advocate. An environmental lawyer, Smith donated $1.25…

Jul 17, 2014 2:53 PM CDT

Kelly Hart opens New Orleans office with 6-lawyer team from Gordon Arata

A former Louisiana state lawmaker has opened a New Orleans office for Kelly Hart & Hallman. Headed by Loulan J. Pitre Jr., the office is the first outside Texas for the 140-attorney law firm, which will be known in New Orleans as Kelly Hart & Pitre, according to a law…

Jun 23, 2014 2:45 PM CDT

Posed cadavers at funerals in Puerto Rico allowed under 2012 law; a New Orleans trend?

Miriam Burbank, who died at age 53, looked much as she did in life at her June 12 viewing in New Orleans. Burbank sat a table with a Busch beer near one hand and a cigarette in another, the New York Times reports. Miniature New Orleans Saints helmets were displayed…

Jun 23, 2014 1:07 PM CDT

New Orleans lawyer gets probation on money-laundering charge

A New Orleans lawyer who received several marijuana shipments through the mail has been sentenced to two years of probation after pleading guilty to a single charge of money laundering. Cory Morton, 37, was arrested last month after a team of federal, state and local law enforcement agents raided his…

Jun 20, 2014 8:08 PM CDT

Elevator conversation results in new trial for BP engineer convicted in Deepwater Horizon case

A federal judge in New Orleans on Thursday blasted defense lawyers in a high-profile criminal case for interviewing jurors after their guilty verdict. Doing so may have violated his instructions to the jurors not to discuss their verdict even after the trial had concluded, U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval Jr.…

Jun 13, 2014 11:45 AM CDT

G-r-reat news for truck stop about Tony, a tiger: Special law may let it keep the big cat

Lawmakers may have the last word about Tony, a tiger who has resided for years at the Tiger Truck Stop near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. They passed a special bill Friday allowing the truck stop to keep the 550-pound cat, reversing court decisions to the contrary, the Associated Press reports. Now…

May 30, 2014 7:55 PM CDT

BP cries foul, says crafty lawyers and claimants collected $500M in comp unrelated to oil spill

In a written settlement agreement concerning the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill that began with a 2010 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, BP agreed to a compensation formula to reimburse businesses. But now BP is unhappy about language that is being interpreted not only by plaintiffs lawyers…

May 5, 2014 10:00 PM CDT

Federal magistrate says sheriff must do courthouse time-outs if he keeps missing discovery deadlines

Predicting that monetary sanctions will prove an ineffective if a Louisiana sheriff continues to miss discovery deadlines in litigation over conditions at Orleans Parish Prison, a federal magistrate has come up with an alternative penalty plan. Parents will likely recognize it as a version of the time-outs routinely used to…

Apr 25, 2014 6:55 PM CDT

Case of lost painting offers lessons in auction law; will buyer get $43K for missing $21K artwork?

A little over a year ago, a New Orleans art broker purchased an impressionist painting at a Maryland auction for $21,500. However, the nearly 100-year-old painting by Ellsworth Woodward disappeared before the buyer, Amanda Winstead, could collect it. She sued and was awarded $43,500 by a New Orleans court, even…

Apr 16, 2014 4:09 PM CDT

Lawyer faces two criminal cases and civil rights suit over 2012 taxicab incident

A Louisiana lawyer has been caught up in a complex legal situation after an April 2012 taxicab incident resulted in criminal charges against both the attorney, who was a passenger in the vehicle, and its driver. Jennifer Gaubert, 33, was convicted last week in a bench trial of simple battery…

Apr 10, 2014 4:00 PM CDT

Did law enforcement comment online about grand jury matter? Judge orders newspaper to reveal ID info

Did federal law enforcement officials make online comments related to a fraud case against the former chief of a New Orleans city-funded program? Stacey Jackson and the lawyer representing her in an effort to show grand jury proceedings were tainted say they suspect that did happen. And this week a…

Mar 28, 2014 3:50 PM CDT

Man fleeing police with juvenile detention escapee crashed into courthouse, news reports say

A police chase in Louisiana ended abruptly Thursday when the vehicle officers were pursuing crashed into the Vermilion Parish Courthouse. Police said the driver suffered a broken leg in the crash, and the courthouse sustained minor damage when the vehicle caught fire after it crashed into a column on the…

Mar 27, 2014 9:35 PM CDT