By Jessica C. Engler & Michael deBarros[1] Policyholders are often disappointed in the amount of time their insurers take to investigate and pay claims.  In 2003, the Texas Legislature enacted the Texas Prompt Payment of Claims Act (“TPPCA”) to facilitate the prompt investigation and payment of Texas insurance claims.[2] Codified at Section 542 of the Texas Insurance Code, the TPPCA imposes an affirmative duty on insurers to promptly pay claims as soon as…

By Ed Hardin As reported by national and local media outlets, two Gretna, Louisiana, police officers were fired for social media activity that targeted Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.  In the case of one of the officers, he posted a message on his personal Facebook page regarding the Congresswoman that allegedly included threatening remarks directed toward her.  The second officer then gave a “like” to the post.  Media outlets quickly picked up the story. The Gretna Police…

By Max B. Kallenberger A potential purchaser of a business and a corresponding seller often disagree on the value of the business, particularly in regard to sales projections.  The purchaser may attempt to entice the seller with what it believes is a fair compromise – accepting the perceived over-inflated price asked for by the seller, but paying only a portion at closing, with the balance payable a few years later if the projected sales forecast…

By Jill A. Gautreaux Effective June 6, 2019, Act 164 of the 2019 regular session of the Louisiana legislature legalized the use of Cannabidol (CBD) for certain applications.  The Act permits the use of industrial hemp, which was declassified from being a Schedule 1 controlled dangerous substance by the US Congress last year in the 2018 Farm Bill.  Industrial hemp is derived from the Cannabis Sativa L species of plant, exclusive of the plants of…

By Tod J. Everage Today, the U.S. Supreme Court resolved a Circuit Split, holding that punitive damages are not recoverable to a seaman under an unseaworthiness claim. The Court, in a 6-3 ruling, sided with the U.S. Fifth Circuit’s analysis under McBride and reversed the U.S. Ninth Circuit’s decision in Dutra v. Batterton. The Court followed Townsend, in which the Court previously allowed punitive damages for failure to pay maintenance and cure under General Maritime…

  By: Katie M. Hollowell, Devin Ricci, and Eric Lockridge A recent United States Supreme Court decision handed down in May addressed what occurred when contract, bankruptcy, and intellectual property laws intersected.[1] In Mission Products Holdings, Inc. v. Tempnology, LLC nka Old Cold, LLC, the Supreme Court was presented with the question of whether a debtor’s rejection of an executory contract rescinded the rights conveyed with that contract. Holding that a rejection of the contract…

By: Jessica C. Engler Outsourcing of basic business functions is increasingly popular. While businesses would once perform data management in-house and rely on their on-site server infrastructure to store data, businesses today are frequently turning to cloud storage providers and other third-parties to hold and manage data. These third party vendors are frequently charged with holding sensitive personal information, such as protected health information, social security numbers, and payment card information, supplied to them by…