Day: June 8, 2009

Grit and grocer win $3.5 million – Ferrara v Lafayette Insurance (Corrected)

Credit the New Orleans firm Capitelli and Wicker with the grit to win a $3.5 million jury award for Ferrara’s Supermarket.  The grocer had been in business 99 years before the Elysian Fields location was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

Attorneys Carey Wicker and James Watkins brought home the bacon for the Plaintiffs with evidence  Lafayette’s engineer was not licensed to practice in Louisiana or supervised by a Louisiana licensed engineer as the law requires “direct control and personal supervision”.

While the engineer’s qualifications were clearly a significant issue, the Plaintiffs had a strong case against Lafayette.  A reader from New Orleans provided SLABBED with a summary of the case tried in State court:

During Hurricane Katrina, wind and driving rain opened spaces in the roof, walls, doors and windows of the supermarket, and water and moisture entered the premises causing extensive damage.

Additionally, uplift forces on the flat roof (wind blowing over parapet) caused structural damage to the north-facing wall of the building as well as roof framing members’ connection to that wall. That structural damage, solely caused by wind forces, rendered the building a total loss Continue reading “Grit and grocer win $3.5 million – Ferrara v Lafayette Insurance (Corrected)”

Now the Insurance Industry goes after Ron Klein’s Homeowner’s Defense Act

The tree huggers at Sierra Club and the insurance industry that bought them will not be happy until we’re all bled white shipping all our money offshore paying for wind-insurance. First they got Gene’s bill; now the only alternative is in the crosshairs. MIchael Gibson of the Sun-Sentinel has the story:

An odd-bedfellows coalition of environmentalists and private-market advocates today unveiled a website and concerted efforts to defeat legislation introduced by South Florida Congressman Ron Klein.

Klein’s bill — backed by House leaders and, in concept, by President Obama — would create a federal backstop for homeowner insurance against damage from hurricanes and other major disasters.

Obama’s support in concept is about as meaningful as his support in concept of Gene’s multi peril’s bill. As we’ve found first hand Obama can not be trusted to keep his word as the story continues:

The coalition, SmarterSafer.org, opposes the bill on the argument that it would interfere with the private insurance market and encourage development in areas vulnerable to disasters and the impact of global warming. Presumably that includes low-lying parts of coastal Florida. Continue reading “Now the Insurance Industry goes after Ron Klein’s Homeowner’s Defense Act”

Stormy Daniels forms exploratory committee to flesh out the issues in Louisiana

I almost feel guilty for following Nowdy’s last excellent post on the State Farm video game with one involving a political race in 2010 but my original non-substantive post on Stormy Daniels has racked up almost 1,000 page views and to the extent David Vitter is a hypocrite of biblical proportions I figured we’d circle back to last month and the news Stormy is taking a serious looksie at a run against Vitter. While Stormy’s on screen exploits have gained her the most fame, a lesser known fact is that Ms Daniels is evidently an astute business woman as well.

The Times Picayune has the story:

Adult-film actress Stormy Daniels announced today that she is forming a committee to explore a potential campaign against Sen David Vitter, R-La.

The announcement, in part:

Today, I am excited to announce that I am taking the next step in exploring a possible run for United States Senate. Two weeks ago, I embarked on a listening tour where I had the pleasure of hearing the thoughts and concerns of my fellow Louisianans. These conversations were highly encouraging and convinced me to officially explore the possibility of running for the United States Senate. To this end, I have formed an exploratory committee to gauge Louisianans’ support for my potential candidacy. Continue reading “Stormy Daniels forms exploratory committee to flesh out the issues in Louisiana”