16/Dec/2008
LEGAL Lyla Q&A
While doing some early Christmas shopping, I slipped and fell on an unknown substance in the store. I have tried to contact several local attorneys, but most say that they will not take a slip and fall case. I went to the hospital after the fall and I need the store to pay for my hospital bill. Is there anything I can do?
Louisiana has a very specific law regarding slip and fall incidents, which places a heavy burden on you to prove that the store should have to pay for your injuries. In summary, you must prove that the substance on the floor existed for some period of time prior to your fall. Therefore, just because there is a spill on the floor, the store is not necessarily responsible for your injuries. It is very common for attorneys to not get involved in slip and fall cases because proving that the store is at fault often poses many difficulties.
My husband and I recently separated and we have two young children. Neither of us has hired an attorney and we are in a bit of disagreement as to how we should share the children during the holidays. Do you have any suggestions?
Often times the parents will agree on a holiday visitation schedule on a rotating year-to-year basis. For example, in even-numbered years, the father may have the children on Christmas Eve, Easter and Thanksgiving Day, while the mother has the children on Christmas Day and the day before Easter and Thanksgiving. The arrangement would then be reversed in odd-numbered years. Parents are encouraged to work together to formulate these holiday visitation schedules, as each family has unique circumstances which may come into play. However, there is no set law or standard as to how parents should share holidays with the children.
I was rear-ended by a drunk driver after he left a Christmas party, which was held at a local bar. Can the bar be held responsible for letting the gentleman drive home after serving him alcoholic beverages?
Louisiana law provides that as long as the gentleman was over the age of majority, the bar that served him the alcoholic beverages is not liable for any injuries suffered by anyone, so long as the injuries occurred off the bar’s premises.
For more information, submit your questions to lyla@deblieuxlaw.com. This column contains general information about legal issues, and is not intended as specific attorney-client advice or as an adequate substitute for consulting an attorney and providing all the specific facts at issue, in order to receive adequate guidance. The author of this column has not accepted any engagement as counsel for the anonymous questioners. Lyla Neelis DeBlieux, Attorney: 263 Third St. Ste. 605, Baton Rouge, LA 70802; 225.448.LYLA(5952)
While doing some early Christmas shopping, I slipped and fell on an unknown substance in the store. I have tried to contact several local attorneys, but most say that they will not take a slip and fall case. I went to the hospital after the fall and I need the store to pay for my hospital bill. Is there anything I can do?
Louisiana has a very specific law regarding slip and fall incidents, which places a heavy burden on you to prove that the store should have to pay for your injuries. In summary, you must prove that the substance on the floor existed for some period of time prior to your fall. Therefore, just because there is a spill on the floor, the store is not necessarily responsible for your injuries. It is very common for attorneys to not get involved in slip and fall cases because proving that the store is at fault often poses many difficulties.
My husband and I recently separated and we have two young children. Neither of us has hired an attorney and we are in a bit of disagreement as to how we should share the children during the holidays. Do you have any suggestions?
Often times the parents will agree on a holiday visitation schedule on a rotating year-to-year basis. For example, in even-numbered years, the father may have the children on Christmas Eve, Easter and Thanksgiving Day, while the mother has the children on Christmas Day and the day before Easter and Thanksgiving. The arrangement would then be reversed in odd-numbered years. Parents are encouraged to work together to formulate these holiday visitation schedules, as each family has unique circumstances which may come into play. However, there is no set law or standard as to how parents should share holidays with the children.
I was rear-ended by a drunk driver after he left a Christmas party, which was held at a local bar. Can the bar be held responsible for letting the gentleman drive home after serving him alcoholic beverages?
Louisiana law provides that as long as the gentleman was over the age of majority, the bar that served him the alcoholic beverages is not liable for any injuries suffered by anyone, so long as the injuries occurred off the bar’s premises.
For more information, submit your questions to lyla@deblieuxlaw.com. This column contains general information about legal issues, and is not intended as specific attorney-client advice or as an adequate substitute for consulting an attorney and providing all the specific facts at issue, in order to receive adequate guidance. The author of this column has not accepted any engagement as counsel for the anonymous questioners. Lyla Neelis DeBlieux, Attorney: 263 Third St. Ste. 605, Baton Rouge, LA 70802; 225.448.LYLA(5952)
