This is a guest blog post by my friend Seth Schmeeckle, a partner with Lugenbuhl, Wheaton, Peck, Rankin & Hubbard in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Seth and I worked together on defending a number of Hurricane Katrina insurance class actions. As you may recall, he did a previous guest post regarding the
Louisiana
Due Process Protections in State Class Actions: Louisiana Citizens Insurance Seeks Certiorari in U.S. Supreme Court
By Wystan Ackerman on
Posted in Class Certification Standards
In an insurance class action, the U.S. Supreme Court now has another opportunity to take up the issue of federal due process protections in state court class actions. The Court’s decisions last term in Wal-Mart v. Dukes and AT&T v. Concepcion are of limited help to defendants in state court because, while many state courts…
Louisiana Class Action: State Supreme Court Adopts Wal-Mart on Commonality
By Wystan Ackerman on
Posted in Class Certification Standards
This is a guest post by Seth Schmeeckle, a partner at Lugenbuhl, Wheaton, Peck, Rankin & Hubbard in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Seth and I have worked together on Hurricane Katrina and Rita litigation for the last six years. Seth and his partner, Ralph Hubbard, ran the defense group in the…
Insurance Bad Faith Class Action: Louisiana Supreme Court Reinstates $92 Million Verdict
By Wystan Ackerman on
Posted in Property Insurance
The hot topic in the insurance class action world this week is the Louisiana Supreme Court’s decision, by a 4-3 vote, to reinstate a $92 million verdict against Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, the state-sponsored insurer of last resort, in a bad faith class action. Remarkably, Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon (who was just recently…
Deadline for Katrina Insurance Suits Extended by Louisiana Supreme Court
By Wystan Ackerman on
Posted in Property Insurance
In Taranto v. Louisiana Citizens Prop. Ins. Corp.(pdf), the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled, in a 5-2 decision, that the filing of a proposed class action lawsuit against an insurance company extends the time to bring suit for all members of the proposed class under suit limitation provisions in homeowners’ policies. (The time to sue was originally one…