We secured summary judgment in a premises liability case in Baton Rouge’s 19 Judicial District Court. The plaintiff alleged that she slipped and fell on a wet floor in a gas station, which caused a significant injury to her right knee requiring multiple surgeries. Surveillance footage showed that the plaintiff fell immediately next to a “wet floor” sign. The firm moved for summary judgment on the grounds the wet floor was open and obvious in light of the wet floor sign and the plaintiff failed to exercise reasonable care. Plaintiff argued that summary judgment was premature because she needed to take additional depositions of gas station employees. The Court rejected this argument and granted summary judgment on the basis of Plaintiff’s testimony and video footage of the accident alone.
The firm secured dismissal with prejudice at the outset of a construction contract dispute. A residential homeowner sued our client – a residential and commercial contractor who previously performed construction work on the home for the prior owner. Obtaining and analyzing the Act of Cash Sale, TWPD argued the plaintiff had no right of action against the contractor under the subsequent purchaser doctrine because the language in the Act of Cash Sale did not meet the specificity requirements under Louisiana law. TWPD’s client was dismissed with prejudice before discovery ever began.
The Firm’s Baton Rouge attorneys secured judgment in favor of an employer in a workers’ compensation matter before OWC District 6. While our client conceded the claimant had enough evidence to prove he broke his arm at work, our client still disputed the extent of his injuries and disability. Both parties also filed competing fraud claims against one another. The defense focused on whether claimant intentionally lied about two intervening motor vehicle accidents, his simultaneous treatment for multiple accidents and the timing of when he first returned to work.
The Court found Claimant proved an initial accident and injury but found he subsequently committed fraud, forfeited his rights to workers’ compensation benefits and he was fined $5,000. The court further found Claimant could not prove causation for any ongoing injury. Our client was only ordered to pay a single $153 medical bill.
The firm secured summary judgment in favor of its client, a large insurance carrier, on the grounds the client had no duty to defend plaintiff’s company. The plaintiff/company was sued in a large number of asbestos injury lawsuits and alleged it was entitled to recover significant defense costs under an insurance policy issued by TWPD’s client. The firm successfully argued that the plaintiff was not an insured under the policy, nor had it acquired any rights or interest in the policy from the named insured. Both the trial and appellate courts agreed there was no breach of the duty to defend, resolving the matter in favor of the insurer.
The success we have seen is because of the way we built our practice. It’s about more than routine strategies. It’s about creative resolutions to difficult legal questions. It’s about how we treat our clients and each other and how we work together to build the best possible defense for every single case. It's practice, made perfect.
