December 19, 2008

The newest installment of the Manhattan Institute's popular Trial Lawyers Inc. series is on the Pelican State, lately rated second-worst of the fifty for business defendants in a survey of corporate lawyers. There are profiles of leading tort lawyer Russ Herman and former attorney general Charles Foti, mild praise for the state high court's refusal to destroy insurance law in the aftermath of Katrina, and mentions of the toxic tort litigations for which the state is particularly known, such as those over asbestos and mold. Something I didn't know: "In Louisiana's pension funds, Trial Lawyers, Inc. found its most accommodating and enthusiastic plaintiffs; indeed, three Louisiana pension funds are among the five most active lead plaintiffs nationally." (& Legal NewsLine).

P.S. While on the subject of Louisiana, AP reports that a judge has dismissed former AG Foti's post-Katrina antitrust suit against hurricane insurers.