I post periodically on LinkedIn in an ongoing blog about “expectations of….” Recently, I started what I hope to be a dialogue about “finding your purpose” using some [...]

Suppose a driver said she was coming from a certain direction, but you question if it’s  true. Is there a way to analyze the cellphone GPS data to determine where she was coming from before [...]

Like many of my peers in defending trucking companies, I am often called upon to oversee the investigation of catastrophic accidents. I doing so, I retain the experts and field adjusters to [...]

This federal statute was implemented on October 1, 2013.   The section of the statute most important for discussion here is 49 USC §14916. Whereas, prior to passage of this statute, entities [...]

As you may know, I started my legal career as a prosecutor. I literally tried hundreds of  bench trial and scores of jury trials. In five years as a prosecutor, I was fortunate to have tried more [...]

Curious? Have you ever requested sanctions for a frivolous lawsuit or meritless defenses?   In Louisiana, the  Code of Civil Procedure article 863(B)(1)  states that no pleading should be [...]

You have a driver delivering a load, but he is about to use up his hours of service. He drops his load, unhitches the trailer and take the tractor on personal mission. In route on the personal [...]

Our firm would like to depose some of the doctors at the VA who treated a veteran. When contact was made with the VA hospital to get the dates when those doctors were available, the VA informed [...]

“The Impact of Sperl” posted on this blog in March 2012 remains one of the most viewed posts. Undoubtedly the impact of the Sperl decision of over $23 million against of the largest, [...]

The following is just another case (one of the most recent in Louisiana federal courts) on the issue: Are a plaintiff’s Facebook pictures discoverable when they are asserting a personal injury [...]

Even if a legal professional may be lucky enough to speak with a client in the native language of the client, the attorney tends to use a special set of words unique to the profession. Let me [...]

Other than discouraging  drivers from attending a strip club, most of trucking companies would not be concerned that their drivers have anything in common with exotic dangers. Yet in recent [...]

Many excess insurance carriers get nervous when sued under Louisiana’s Direct Action Statute and want us to get them dismissed.   However, under the Direct Action Statute (La. R.S. [...]

As a trial lawyer, I take the word “versus”  for granted. It has been in  every caption of every case that I have ever been involved. Sadly, it has become more than [...]

Much of this information, you may already have available electronically, but I have a checklist available in  PDF or Word version. Please let me know and I will forward it to you. [...]

Completely off topic from trucking defense, but still associated with employee management, I thought I would share some of the best excuses for tardiness anticipating so lame excuse for tardiness [...]

In your legal career, eventually you will come across RADS (Reactive Airways Dysfunction Syndrome), even in trucking litigation, particularly when hauling hazardous materials.   One of the [...]

The following is a great asset for a quick reference to the cellphone laws in each state. Thanks to Harvey Mensch with ATTIC for sending to me. Thanks to the Insurance Institute for Highway [...]

Although I cannot go into detail, I was recently contacted  about a possible insurance fraud investigation.  In the defense arena, this is an area that we are constantly [...]

Although the Veterans Administration has fallen under recent scrutiny for the backlog of patients to be seen, those of us the private practice of law have long been frustrated with the process of [...]

“It seems like the same lawyers are the ones filing frivolous lawsuits over and over, and judges are not enforcing the sanctions available to discourage this practice.” Louisiana Code [...]

As recently shared by Beata Shapiro at the Transportation Logistics Counsel Annual conference:   Liability: A motor carrier providing transportation services is liable to a shipper for [...]

  The following information may be somewhat outdated so please review recent decisions and statutes on the subject of gross negligence; however, for an overview read on. Please leave your [...]

The following is fully attributed to +Rick Norman for  the excellent outline of the legal issues of properly conducting background check of prospective employees. An employer who hires [...]

Background checks are extremely important in the trucking business. They are regularly at issue in the litigation of cases of negligent hiring. Recently, when reviewing changes in the law [...]

The following was shared with me by my friend, Mike Johnson. I wish I could claim any part of this. At least I can share the good news and hard work, and be reminded that when he first started [...]

  Now there is an elite group of thousands of highly qualified businesses providing  truck services for truck drivers everywhere ANY TIME. This first national network is designed to [...]

I recently  read  an article by Maxine Neuhauser that I thought you would be interested. At will employment disclaimers in employee handbooks are the norm, but recent decision by [...]

Have you been threatened by plaintiff’s counsel with a claim for double damages under Medicare Secondary Payer Act? It was tactic that was fairly popular a few years ago citing:   [...]

Suppose you’re  notified that an injured employee on workers compensation  is in violation of his treatment plan? For example, suppose the employee is on worker’s [...]

Rachal v. Brouillette, 12-794 (La.App. 3 Cir. 3/13/13), 111 So.3d 1137, 1142-43, writ denied, 2013-0690 (La.5/3/13), 113 So.3d 217, the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal, meeting en banc, [...]

In the odd circumstances when an employee is injured on the job and the other vehicle does not have adequate insurance, the employee may seek compensation from his employer’s UM insurer. [...]

Yep! Over Three months since  I last posted. The reason is that between late September through Thanksgiving, my wife, sister, brother-in-law and I were helping to care for our stepfather who [...]

Just what happens at those truck stops? Are there really prostitutes knocking on the doors of truck cabs? Do truck drivers encourage trafficking or prevent it? How serious is the problem?   [...]

Well, it’s been three weeks since I last blogged. I am sorry to all of you who expect a weekly blog on trucking issues, but I have been swamped with several cases and transition [...]

NO. Unless you’re arrested for a felony offense, you do  NOT have to voluntarily give a DNA sample for testing.   DNA analysis has come a long way since I was prosecutor in [...]

Louisiana should pass a similar statute enacted in Texas in which only the actual PAID medical expenses are reimbursable in a tort action. Presently the incurred expenses, even if  not [...]

Texting and driving seems to be fairly innocuous doesn’t it? I mean, what’s the big deal? In 2010, The National Safety Council announced today that at least 28% of all traffic crashes [...]

Sorry about missing the blog post for last week, but I was out of state attempting to resolve a catastrophic accident only a few weeks following the incident. Obviously, I cannot go into the [...]

I wish I had the time to blog  a more informative post this week, but since last week, the following  have inundated me: problems with my father problems with the server in the cloud [...]

This is no joke! I am not posting about trucking specific topics today because I am out of the office on an “ancestry search” with my seventy-nine year old father, who recently [...]

No matter how you slice it, lawyers are in the service industry. We are judged not only on our knowledge, expertise and results, but also on how well we PERFORM those services. How do we get [...]

In the past, I have blogged about and shared “standard voir dire” questions, but the following is to assist with instructions given to the jury. I am not presenting actual suggestions [...]

I empathize with truck driver who has to keep up with continuing changes in hours of service. It seems that every few months there is change or a proposed change. Don’t get me wrong, I am [...]

I cannot understand how anyone can make the argument with a straight face that social media posts of the plaintiff are not relevant. Surely the posts of a the plaintiffs’s activities before [...]

Although the decision is over a year old, in NACCO Materials Handling Group, Inc. v. Lilly Co. (No. 11-2415 AV, 2011 WL 5986649, W.D. Tenn. Nov. 16, 2011), the plaintiff brought a motion to [...]

Louisiana law recognizes a cause of action for breach of an employer’s duty to exercise reasonable care in hiring, training and retaining employees, and such cause of action is independent [...]