Kean Miller is pleased to announce that 12 lawyers, formerly in the Admiralty & Maritime, Construction, and Energy practice areas with Lemle & Kelleher, have joined the firm in the New Orleans office.

“We are very excited to welcome these distinguished attorneys to our law firm. They are an outstanding resource for our clients. Our offices are located in Louisiana’s major port cities — New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Lake Charles — and this esteemed group brings over 150 years of combined experience in maritime issues, admiralty law, marine insurance, oil & gas, drilling and exploration, pipelines, construction, and energy law to our clients.” said Gary A. Bezet, managing partner of the 121-lawyer firm.

Reproduced with permission from Class Action Action Litigation Report, Vol. 6, No. 21, pp. 793-795 (Nov 11, 2005). Copyright 2005 by The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. (800-372-1033). http://www.bna.com Katrina has already spawned a hurricane of lawsuits. These suits include: suits by individuals who claim they were injured by hazardous substances that leaked from storage facilities, refineries, or pipeline facilities; suits by individuals who claim that oilfield production and pipeline activities caused wetland damage that exacerbated the effects of hurricane Katrina; and suits by individuals who claim faulty levees caused the widespread flooding that followed in the days after Katrina made landfall. All of these suits have a common thread: each will require the courts to determine whether the damages sued upon resulted from nature’s fury or human blunder. Louisiana, like many other states, recognizes the general principle that an “act of God” can be a complete defense to liability for negligence and strict liability claims. Louisiana courts have generally used a consistent definition of the term “act of God,” but the application of that definition in the context of a specific event has not always been consistent or clear, particularly when the issue of contributing human fault is at play.

The Senate Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee has reported to the full Senate HB 148 (Rep. Arnold), which appears to be a compromise between the assessors and local government on the revaluation of property due to damage or destruction because of the hurricanes.

HB 148 (Rep. Arnold) must now be voted on by the full Senate and the House must vote to accept the Senate amendments or to send the bill to a conference committee.

HB 148 as amended would preserve the revaluation provisions dealing with flooded property (immovable and corporeal movable (i.e. real estate and tangible personal property) in current law, La. R.S. 47:1978. That is, flooded property must be revalued. Property destroyed, uninhabitable, or non-operational due to other hurricane related causes will be revalued as follows: If the local taxing jurisdictions vote to use pro-ration, the tax bill will be prorated for 2005 based on the number of days the property was “habitable”. This pro-ration provision cannot be used by Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, and St. Bernard. If the local taxing jurisdictions do not vote to use pro-ration and in Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, and St. Bernard the property will be revalued in its damaged state for the entire year.

HB90, dealing with Governor Blanco’s emergency orders suspending prescription, peremption, and legal deadlines, awaits final Senate passage. The Senate Judiciary A Committee adopted amendments which have not yet been incorporated into the latest version of the bill, but which should ultimately be included.

You can (and should) read the bill in its entirety here, together with the amendments by Senate Judiciary Committee A here.

Noteworthy aspects of the bill follow:

Three different bills dealing with revaluations because of hurricane damage are working their way through the Legislature.

Existing law, La. R.S. 47:1978 requires the revaluation of flooded property in the year of the flood even if the assessment rolls have been certified.

HB 148 (Rep. Arnold)

Revaluations

Creates a new La. R.S. 47:1978.1 that complements La. R.S. 47:1978. It expands on La. R.S. 47:1978 by requiring revaluation not only in the case of floods, but also in the case of property damaged or destroyed during a declared disaster or emergency.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) posted the final 2006 Physician Fee Schedule on November 1, 2005, thereby adopting the August 8, 2005 proposal to include diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine services in two categories of designated health services that are subject to the federal physician self-referral statute (a.k.a., the “Stark Law”). This new change will prohibit physicians from referring patients to a facility where the physician (or an immediate family member) has a financial interest for listed nuclear medicine services, unless an exception applies. Of note, the final rule does not apply to the in-office exception that allows cardiologists to provide nuclear cardiac imaging in their offices.

A recent case out of Louisiana could be big news for general contractors, owners, and insurers. Louisiana’s Second Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a lower court’s opinion that an upstream contractor was entitled to insurance coverage for the cost of repairing defective work performed by a subcontractor (Broadmoor Anderson v. National Union Fire Insurance of Louisiana).

The Senate versions of the Sales Tax on Machinery and Equipment and Corporate Franchise Tax bills are better than the House versions:

SB 39 (Sen. Mount) – Providing for a full state sales tax exclusion for equipment purchased to replace or repair equipment damaged in connection with the hurricanes, including damage from water, wind, fire, or criminal acts. Unlike HB 39 (Rep. Hammett), this bill does not require that the damaged equipment be uninsured or under insured.

Reported favorably by the Senate Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee and awaiting action on the Senate floor.