Day: August 13, 2009

Read ’em while they’re hot – briefs filed by State Farm, Haag, Forensic, and Rigsbys post-hearing in the Rigsby qui tam

keep in mind the purpose of this hearing. We’re dealing here with summary motions, we’re dealing here with is there a genuine issue of material fact that will justify this case going forward to a full-blown trial. Would y’all like to brief that for me in writing rather than come back this afternoon and argue?  What about it, Plaintiff?

Who wouldn’t rather write a brief than “come back this afternoon” on a Friday? No wonder Judge Senter is so well-liked.  The post-hearing briefs were filed directly with Judge Senter, as ordered, and did not appear on PACER until today – the result of a State Farm motion SLABBED reported in up their sleeve or in their briefs – State Farm comes up with another Eddie Haskell motion in Rigsby qui tam

Regardless of the ultimate outcome of this Action at the trial court level, there likely will be an appeal by one or more Parties and “[u]nder this Circuit’s general rule, arguments not raised before the district court are waived and will not be considered on appeal unless the party can demonstrate ‘extraordinary circumstances.’”

Had State Farm said no more in Defendants’ Joint Motion to Require All Parties to File their Previously Submitted Respective Post-Hearing Briefs in the Record, there might have been a different title; but, this paragraph followed:

Further, as a general proposition, the Fifth Circuit “is barred from considering filings outside the record on appeal….” Accordingly, it is especially important to all Parties’ respective ability to prosecute a potential appeal to have all post-hearing summary judgment briefs in the record.

And, then, there was this gotcha: Continue reading “Read ’em while they’re hot – briefs filed by State Farm, Haag, Forensic, and Rigsbys post-hearing in the Rigsby qui tam”

Housewarming – heartwarming, too!

So glad I stopped by Editilla’s Ladder or I would have missed the post he hung from our neighbor Y’all politics: Governor Barbour Announce New Affordable Housing Units. (make that h/t a double!)

An additional 128 affordable housing units officially open this week in D’Iberville, the latest in a series of such projects helping South Mississippi families recover from Hurricane Katrina.

Governor Haley Barbour said the Estates at Juan de Cuevas Apartment Homes is the latest project partly funded through Mississippi’s $5.4 federally-sourced Katrina recovery package, secured by Governor Barbour and administered through the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) Disaster Recovery Division.

“More than 1,000 new affordable housing units have opened since spring, and more are on the way,” Governor Barbour said. “As we approach the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, I want to reiterate this is all part of a $3.8 billion commitment to restoring housing stock along the Coast, ensuring that South Mississippians can continue rebuilding their lives after the worst natural disaster in American history.” Continue reading “Housewarming – heartwarming, too!”

Oh Ye of Little Faith

And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. – Matthew 8:25-26

The Wall Street Journal carried an interesting story on a Sarah Palin facebook impostor and the friends he made that illustrates better than most the true extent of the mindlessness of your standard political true believer, in this case illustrated by the Teabagging set. The concepts at play in the story probably also explain why the number 1 institution that suffers embezzlement are churches.

Blind faith may be a comfort when it comes to pondering our fates, place in this universe and infinity. It is next to useless where crictical thought is appropriate. And yes I expect this post to kick teabagging defense mechanisms into overdrive. Critical thinking, after all, requires first and foremost the submission of our egos to reality.

Was it easy for a Los Angeles screenwriter to pass himself off on Facebook as Sarah Palin? You betcha, it was.

In mid-June of this year, Alex Grossman – a former film executive who has since written and directed commercials and short films that appear on sites like funnyordie.com — began to work on a screenplay.

“I was messing around with the theme of those who put ‘faith over fact’ in this country,” Grossman said. “I started thinking about Sarah Palin and her following: ‘What would it be like to be her? What are these people like? And do they really know her?’”
Under the guise of research, he decided to attempt to pass himself off as Palin on Facebook. He tried every variation on Palin’s name he could think of. To his surprise, he was able to claim the Facebook name “Governor Palin.” Continue reading “Oh Ye of Little Faith”

Final Resolution of Robert’s Fresh Market v United Fire Group: The 5th Circuit Rules

Through the time I’ve spent reading and surfing non-financial blogs I’ve noticed some bloggers hold themselves out as on par with professional journalists especially in the area of the breaking news. Us bloggers are certainly more nimble not having layers of review to go through before publication for instance but that carries costs many of which are hidden from the public. Many times I refuse to incur the costs of immmediate publication which meant for me personally having to put down the Corona beer I was enjoying long enough to post the Robert’s decison from the 5th Circuit, which a reader was kind enough to email us while the paper was still literally hot from the press.

We’ve blogged on the Robert’s case when they won their large jury verdict last year along with the Times Picayune who also reported the jury verdict. I was hoping to piggyback once again from their coverage but a technical glitch has left their story a blank page today. The bottom line here is that the 5th Circuit not only affirmed the jury’s award but also increased the bad faith penalties by almost $1 million dollars as the trial judge misapplied the bad Louisiana bad faith statute calculation shorting Roberts in the process.

What is most meaningful is that certain of the judges at the 5th Circuit have learned how to correctly apply Louisiana’s bad faith insurance statute and related LA Supreme Court decisions in the area.  Our knowledge in this area is derived from the willingness of the lawyer who argued the landmark case before the Louisiana Supreme Court to spend a few minutes with us explaining the concepts which are not that complicated. Insurers remain stuck on stupid in this area disingenuously citing cases that clearly do not apply as their legal precedent in support of their arguments. Continue reading “Final Resolution of Robert’s Fresh Market v United Fire Group: The 5th Circuit Rules”

Roubini, Taleb Talk Economic Recovery and Risk on CNBC

I noted the majority of the comments on the Huff Post post which featured this video were driven from a political idealogy standpoint than one of economic common sense which is one of the reasons I opined on the last Taleb CNBC video I posted that:

using history as a guide we’ll go bankrupt before most folks are able to pull their heads out of their asses.

This is simple common sense, not only do we spend far more than we take in, we have also rewarded those who brought us this disaster known as the financial crisis. My own greatest heartburn isn’t derived from the short term measures taken designed to cushion the economic blow, rather we have no long term solution designed to prevent the inevitable.

[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.860311&w=425&h=350&fv=]

 

 

more about “Roubini, Taleb Talk Economic Recovery…“, posted with vodpod

Continue reading “Roubini, Taleb Talk Economic Recovery and Risk on CNBC”