Mark Ballard: Despite new law, Louisiana's auto insurance rates won't go down next year; here's why

Louisiana drivers will pay the highest prices for auto insurance in the nation next year despite having passed a sweeping tort reform law that was sold as a way to dramatically lower premiums by as much as 25%, an insurance industry executive, who was one of the primary forces behind the legislation, told a panel of primarily Republican businessmen and legislators, who helped pass the new law. Read more...

Op-Ed: As battle over coastal lawsuits continue, Louisianans pay the price

In its brief ruling Monday regarding the coastal lawsuits against some of Louisiana’s largest job creators, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals sidestepped many substantive issues. The narrow decision made on the issue of timeliness sends the cases back to state court for the time being. Meanwhile, Louisiana’s working families continue suffering the consequences of their government’s sue-happy legal strategy. Read more...

Oil Industry Faces Litigation Worth Billions in Louisiana Courts (1)

Louisiana local governments scored what they called an “extraordinary victory” this week as federal judges allowed them to use the state court system to seek billions of dollars from oil and gas companies for the state’s receding coastline.

The Aug. 10 ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit gives Louisiana parishes their preferred forum to pursue claims that Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron USA Inc., and other companies, both large and small, destroyed coastal marshes and wetlands by failing to follow state permits regulating well drilling, canal construction, waste disposal, and landscape restoration. Read more...