Day: November 6, 2009

Breaking: Jefferson Parish Judge Joan Benge removed from the bench

We covered Judge Benge’s legal troubles back in July in a post I think was one of Nowdy’s finest efforts. By all accounts Judge Benge is a decent jurist whose initial inexpereince on the bench lead her to make a terrible error in judgement. WWL radio New Orleans has the breaking story:

The Louisiana Supreme Court has removed a Jefferson Parish judge from her position with the 24th District.

The high court ruled today that Judge Joan Benge conspired to fix a personal injury case for a plaintiff who had ties to disgraced former Judge Ronald Bodenheimer.

Legal experts say the ruling by the court could also mean that Benge could lose her license to practice law altogether.

In 2001, a newly-elected Judge Benge was ensnared by an FBI “Wrinkled Robe” investigation of corruption in the Gretna courthouse. Continue reading “Breaking: Jefferson Parish Judge Joan Benge removed from the bench”

Breaking: Bossier Trial on Delay. Meantime lets drop a few names.

We heard the rumors late this morning and now Anita Lee makes it official, Bossier has been delayed until this afternoon.

Anita’s Wednesday mid afternoon update mentioned State Farm having their PR crew at the Russell courthouse. I was surprised to learn Bob Lapinski, formerly of Allstate, is now working for State Farm. Bob’s LinkedIn page needs some TLC.  Along with Bob is David Majors who is the regional PR contact on the insurance bad faith Farm. MIA is Phil Supple who has a good last name for being in the shillin’ biz. Phil may have gotten a bad oyster last time he was down.

I suspect our very good friend Sup knows Bob. By all accounts Bob is quite the chatty jovial type. Perhaps if Sup sees this he’ll stop in and share some insight with us.

So while we wait for more news on Bossier lets take a trip down memory lane to the 2006 CNN documentary The Town that Fought Back.  Vive La Revolution Continue reading “Breaking: Bossier Trial on Delay. Meantime lets drop a few names.”

Oops! State Farm’s experts on damage to Bossier’s home aren’t licensed – Judge Senter to issue ruling today

The trial resumes at 9:30 this morning. Judge L.T. Senter Jr. is expected to rule on how extensive testimony will be from two State Farm experts, an oceanographer and Florida university professor with a doctorate in engineering.

The witnesses are not licensed engineers, so Senter must decide if they can dispute a damage report, ordered by Bossier, in which a licensed engineer concluded that wind effectively destroyed the house.

Is State Farm trying to set up a run-to-mama-Jones appeal to the Fifth Circuit?  I don’t know the answer but I’d bet a slab Judge Senter is giving the possibility a great deal of thought.  Whatever else one can say about State Farm aside, no one would ever suggest the Company wrote “Insurance Claims Litigation for Dummies”– so there must be a reason the State Farm defense team looks like a bunch of monkeys f*&%#$% footballs in the Bossier trial. Anita Lee reports on what took place in court Thusday for the Sun Herald in State Farm manager notes: ‘Just say no’:

Two independent adjusters for State Farm testified in a Hurricane Katrina insurance trial Thursday that an 8-foot tidal surge destroyed the home of Reginald “Ed” and Katie Bossier on Back Bay, but both adjusters also said they could cover only visible wind damage. Continue reading “Oops! State Farm’s experts on damage to Bossier’s home aren’t licensed – Judge Senter to issue ruling today”