Alternative New Media for the Gulf South
A Notice of Appearance and Designation of Lead Counsel was filed in Shows v State Farm today.
Plaintiffs – Glenda Shows and 13 other former clients of the disqualified Katrina Litigation Group – have retained the Beaumont-based firm of Provost-Umphrey and designated Guy Fisher as Lead Counsel.
h/t bellesouth
With a vote of 92-6, the Senate approved a five-year extension of the National Flood Insurance Program and set the stage for resolving differences in the version passed by the House last September, according to the Clarion Ledger.
The House bill differs from the Senate legislation in extending the program to cover wind damage. There were widespread complaints after Katrina that private insurers with wind coverage were judging damage from the hurricanes to be the result of flood, rather than wind, so as to shift the burden of compensation to the federal program.
The White House said that any bill including wind coverage would face a presidential veto, Continue reading “Senate votes to renew Federal Flood Insurance Program”
You heard the other side of the story on why this motion would be turned down here on slabbed. We’ll be watching to see if the Oxford Eagle covers this setback for team Moultrie. We have Judge Mill’s order on our growing USA V Moultrie page here. These excerpts pretty much tells the tale:
The court finds that the defendant has not established that the science behind polygraph examinations is sufficiently reliable to be deemed admissible. Accordingly, Moultrie’s motion to admit the results of his polygraph examinations must be DENIED.
The judge goes on to wonder why this ever ended up before him to begin with given that Robert Moultrie was never willing to take an honest polygraph administered by the FBI: Continue reading “Judge Mills to Moultrie “Where’s the Beef”? Denies Moultrie’s Polygraph Motion”
We first mentioned this case here, which recapped the various 5th Circuit Court of Appeals rulings on anti concurrent causation. The importance is that the 5th Circuit follows state law and legal precedent in insurance cases. Since virtually all the cases have been tried in federal court the opportunity for the Mississippi Courts to speak for themselves on wind water issues has been very limited. Anita Lee reports on Corban V USAA, which originated in the Harrison County Circuit Court and now finds itself waiting legal clarification with the Mississippi Supreme Court due to inconsistencies between the Tuepker and Leonard decisions.
Circuit Judge Lisa Dodson followed the 5th Circuit’s ruling in the case (ostensibly Tuepker), but said a common-sense reading of the insurance clause indicates to her that only water damage is excluded from coverage. Her ruling will stand unless the Supreme Court agrees to decide the issue.
As we pointed out earlier this case has the potential to reverse some or all of the 5th circuit’s rulings thus far on anti concurrent causation which is precisely what attorneys for the Corbans are arguing, that anti concurrent causation is ambiguous and thus invalid. Continue reading “Corban V USAA Makes the News”
Locally the Carter-Habitat work project continues to dominate the local headlines. There were two stories in today’s Sun Herald that read better from the back to the front of today’s paper. So first is the perspectives of some Habitat volunteers and then those of former President Carter.
Perhaps the most common misconception about the Mississippi Gulf Coast is that rebuilding is over.
Like Nowdy said, 2 years and 256 days seems like a long time.
Almost three years of bouncing around? Isn’t Mississippi fixed already?
Adele Lyons of Biloxi puts it better than anyone I’ve heard in my nine months on the Coast. At a recent conference in Washington, she heard the dreaded, “Oh, you’re not finished yet?”
“Look how long it takes to build a new store. A year? And that’s with a perfect planning process. Three years would not be unheard of for a big development,” she said. Obviously, our conditions are far from perfect.
Lyons works for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which has donated more than $1 million for the weeklong housing blitz. Continue reading “Twofer Tuesday: Isn’t Mississippi fixed already?”