Michael Kunzelman

February 26, 2007 | Law.com

State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. is asking a federal judge to disqualify himself from hearing a bid to certify a class action lawsuit against the insurer over Hurricane Katrina damages. A lawyer for the company questioned whether U.S. District Judge L.T. Senter Jr. can be impartial in the case because a federal magistrate judge and a federal court clerk in Mississippi could be plaintiffs in a class action against the company.

By Michael Kunzelman

3 minute read

November 08, 2007 | Law.com

Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti is suing the state's largest property insurance companies, accusing insurers of conspiring to limit payments to policyholders after hurricanes Katrina and Rita and engaging in an elaborate price-fixing scheme. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in a state court in New Orleans, alleges that Allstate Insurance Co., State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. and other insurers worked together to manipulate damage estimates and low-ball claims payments after the 2005 hurricanes.

By Michael Kunzelman

3 minute read

January 15, 2010 | Law.com

Althea LaCoste, a frail woman who needed a ventilator to help her breathe, died hours after Hurricane Katrina knocked out the emergency power at Pendleton Methodist Hospital in New Orleans. More than four years later, her family is asking a jury to hold the hospital liable for the death of the 73-year-old, one of more than 100 people who died at hospitals or nursing homes in Katrina's aftermath. The trial is believed to be the first for a lawsuit over a hospital patient's death after the August 2005 hurricane.

By Michael Kunzelman

5 minute read

January 26, 2007 | Corporate Counsel

A high-profile lawyer whose firm was paid more than $1 billion for helping negotiate a settlement with tobacco companies in the mid-1990s will earn a far more modest paycheck for his work on Mississippi's accord with State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. over Hurricane Katrina damage. Richard "Dickie" Scruggs and other members of his legal team can collect up to $46 million in fees from Tuesday's accord with State Farm. The insurance company is expected to pay hundreds of millions of dollars.

By Michael Kunzelman

3 minute read

June 24, 2010 | The Legal Intelligencer

The Louisiana judge who struck down the Obama administration's six-month ban on deepwater oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico has reported extensive investments in the oil and gas industry, according to financial disclosure reports. He's also a new member of a secret national security court.

By Curt Anderson and Michael Kunzelman

6 minute read

February 15, 2007 | The Legal Intelligencer

A homeowner who claims Allstate Indemnity Co. failed to properly or promptly pay his damage claim after Hurricane Katrina took the witness stand in federal court Monday, kicking off testimony in the first trial for one of the several thousand such Louisiana lawsuits.

By Michael Kunzelman The Associated Press

4 minute read

October 15, 2010 | Law.com

A Chinese drywall manufacturer facing thousands of homeowners' court claims and several other companies have agreed to pay to repair 300 homes in four states in a pilot program, an attorney involved in the deal said. Homeowners in Florida, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi whose homes had drywall manufactured by Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co. will be eligible to participate in the program and get their homes fixed, said Richard Duplantier Jr., an attorney for a Louisiana-based drywall supplier.

By Michael Kunzelman

4 minute read

July 11, 2006 | Law.com

A Mississippi federal judge on Monday began hearing a groundbreaking trial that could signal whether thousands of people whose homes were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina can receive payouts for losses their insurance companies claim were caused by flooding. The trial is the first among hundreds of lawsuits challenging insurers over the wind-versus-water issue. Plaintiffs attorneys hope a ruling in homeowners' favor would pressure companies to pay millions of dollars for homeowners whose claims were rejected.

By Michael Kunzelman

4 minute read

February 13, 2007 | Law.com

With descriptions of a wind-torn roof and pools of rainwater, the first trial started Monday for one of several thousand lawsuits that Louisiana homeowners filed against their insurers in U.S. court after Hurricane Katrina. In their lawsuit against Allstate Indemnity Co., Lawrence Tomlinson and his wife, Elizabeth, accuse the company of bad faith, saying it failed to properly or promptly adjust their claim after the August 2005 storm.

By Michael Kunzelman

4 minute read

March 20, 2007 | Law.com

The 5th Circuit ruled Monday that Enron shareholders cannot proceed with a $40 billion class-action lawsuit against investment banks for their alleged role in the accounting fraud that led to Enron's collapse. Reversing a district court decision, the three-judge panel said it was appropriate for the court to intervene "before settlement may be coerced by an erroneous class certification decision." A trial was set to begin next month, but plaintiffs attorney William Lerach said it now must be postponed.

By Michael Kunzelman

3 minute read