Michael Kunzelman

June 06, 2007 | Daily Report Online

NEW ORLEANS AP - In November, a judge gave hope to homeowners trying to collect insurance money for flood damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. Now, that decision is under scrutiny by a federal appeals court and a judge on that court has promised a speedy decision.U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval Jr. sided with policyholders who argued that language excluding water damage from some of their insurance policies was ambiguous.

By Michael Kunzelman

3 minute read

March 30, 2007 | Daily Report Online

NEW ORLEANS AP - A judge on Friday ordered the release of up to 42 criminal defendants, saying they aren't being adequately represented by the city's financially struggling indigent defender office, but he immediately delayed the order to mid-April.It wasn't clear how many suspects would be released after April 18 if Orleans Criminal Court Judge Arthur Hunter's order stands.

By Michael Kunzelman

3 minute read

December 05, 2007 | Daily Report Online

By Michael Kunzelman

3 minute read

February 20, 2008 | Daily Report Online

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN

4 minute read

February 27, 2013 | Daily Report Online

A federal judge heard conflicting testimony Wednesday from two former BP executives about the effect of cost-cutting measures on the company's drilling operations before the 2010 oil well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico.

By Michael Kunzelman

4 minute read

January 27, 2009 | Daily Report Online

NEW ORLEANS AP - The wife of a helicopter pilot who died along with seven other people in a helicopter crash in southern Louisiana is suing the manufacturer of the aircraft, claiming it had design defects.The wrongful death lawsuit, filed Tuesday in an Alabama federal court against Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., doesn't elaborate on its allegation that the Sikorsky S-76C's "defective condition" caused it to crash Jan.

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN

2 minute read

July 01, 2008 | Daily Report Online

NEW ORLEANS AP - A federal appeals court has thrown out a $785,000 jury award to a woman who blamed her mother's cancer death on contamination from a wood treatment plant in Mississippi, one of hundreds of such cases against the facility's owner.The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled Monday that the state's three-year statute of limitations barred Kenesha Barnes' claim against Koppers Inc.

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN

2 minute read

April 23, 2007 | Daily Report Online

AP - Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. has agreed to settle out of court with more than 200 residents of Mississippi's Gulf Coast who sued the insurer over Hurricane Katrina damage, a lawyer for the policyholders said Monday.Terms of the mass settlement between the Columbus, Ohio-based company and up to 227 of its policyholders were not disclosed.

By Michael Kunzelman

2 minute read

January 03, 2007 | Daily Report Online

By Michael Kunzelman

3 minute read

January 04, 2008 | Daily Report Online

NEW ORLEANS AP - Lawyers for hundreds of people who sued Merck Co. over its withdrawn painkiller Vioxx are challenging a key provision of a proposed $4.85 billion settlement that requires lawyers to advise all or none of their clients to accept the deal.Plaintiffs lawyers who negotiated the settlement said Friday they expect the challenge will be withdrawn, as a similar one filed last month was.

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and LINDA A. JOHNSON

2 minute read