Words are powerful. Being acutely aware of word choice and precise language in contracts is key to a successful agreement. Even in the world of construction, words matter as shown by the recent Louisiana Supreme Court case, Gustavo Bonilla v. Verges Rome Architects—A Professional Architectural Corporation, et al., 2023-0928 (La. 3/22/24), 2024 WL 1229219, — So.3d. — (2024). In Gustavo Bonilla, the Louisiana Supreme Court held no duty exists for an architect or contract administrator to protect against injury of a subcontractor’s employee, relying upon the Louisiana Civil Code for contrac ..read more

Media outlets around Louisiana recently reported on a new program from the Louisiana Workforce Commission pursuant to which employers have the opportunity to report job applicants who are either no-shows for job interviews or who turn down job offers. Here are links to stories from WAFB in Baton Rouge, KTBS in Shreveport, KNOE in Monroe, KATC in Lafayette, and KPLC in Lake Charles. Employers now able to report no shows, job refusals | WAFB Employers able to combat no-shows, job refusals | KTBS La. employers can now report no-shows for interviews or job refusals | KNOE New process aims to imp ..read more

Back in March of 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court granted cert in the case of Great Lakes Insurance SE v. Raiders Retreat Realty Co., LLC (find our coverage of that grant here). Last week, the Court released its opinion in that case, a 9-0 decision in favor of the insurer-appellant. In short, the Court put the presumption back into the presumptive enforceability of choice-of-law clauses in maritime contracts. To briefly recap the case, Great Lakes Insurance issued a maritime insurance contract for a yacht owned by Raiders Retreat Realty Co., which has its headquarters in Pennsylvania. The parties ..read more

Baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani recently agreed to a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.  While the headline number came as a shock to even sports business nerds like us, as always, the devil was in the details: $680 million of Ohtani’s contract is deferred until after Ohtani is no longer obligated to play for the Dodgers.     Our last post contemplated what might happen to Ohtani’s $680 million in deferred compensation if the Dodgers filed bankruptcy in 2034 (i.e., after Ohtani no longer has to play for the Dodgers, but before Ohtani’s deferred c ..read more

On December 28, 2023, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) signed a final rule delegating primacy over the issuance and enforcement of permits for Class VI Underground Injection Control (“UIC”) wells under the Safe Drinking Water Act to the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (“LDNR”).[1] This decision came after a lengthy review process lasting over two years and involving over 45,000 public comments. The EPA determined that Louisiana’s UIC Class VI rules enacted under the Louisiana Geologic Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide Act (La. R.S. 30:1101-1112) and Statewide ..read more

The sports world is buzzing about Shohei Ohtani’s record-setting $700 million dollar contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.  As bankruptcy lawyers, we are abuzz thinking about the bankruptcy implications of Ohtani’s contract.  Today’s blog post will discuss what type of claim Ohtani might have if the Dodgers file for bankruptcy (again).  In the near future, another blog will discuss how contracts like Ohtani’s are treated by the Bankruptcy Code.   In case you haven’t seen the specifics of Ohtani’s contract with the Dodgers, it obligates Ohtani to play baseball for the Dodg ..read more

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 trend by scrutinizing and, in some instances, curtailing these excessive awards.  The analysis below examines three such cases—Gregory v. Chohan (Texas Supreme Court),[1] Warner v. Talos ERT LLC ..read more

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 is ambiguous. If the statute is ambiguous, the federal court defers to the agency’s interpretation of the statute. If the statute is not ambiguous, the federal court applies the clear intent of Congress under the principles of statutory interpretation. In ..read more

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the rise of telehealth, and its subset, telemedicine, has been significant.  Medical practitioners need to pay attention to the shifting telehealth landscape on topics such as licensing, exceptions to in-person care, acceptable electronic communication technology, labeling of visits, prescription drug monitoring program queries, and record-keeping to maintain proper documentation and safeguard from potential prosecution. In the federal regulatory space, on October 10, 2023, DEA, in concert with other federal regulators, issued a second temporary rule ..read more

The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (known as “OPA 90”) and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (known as “CERCLA”) are two federal environmental laws with significant effects on businesses and individuals across the nation. OPA 90 provides a remedial scheme that apportions the liability and costs of oil spills among responsible parties. CERCLA does the same but for spills of “hazardous substances,” a term of art that is defined in the statute. But what if there is a spill that is a mix of oil and hazardous substances? Which law governs, OPA 90 or CERCLA? That ..read more