Louisiana Torts

The Duty-Risk Analysis

• Cause-in-Fact
• Duty
• Traditional Duty
• Scope of Duty
• Breach
• Injury

Louisiana Torts

The Pitre Policy Factors

• The plaintiff's need for compensation
• The historical development of precedents
• The moral aspects of the defendant's conduct
• The efficient administration of the law
• The deterrence of future harmful conduct
• The capacity of the respective parties to bear or distribute loss

Louisiana Torts

The Louisiana Merchant Liability Act

(R.S. 9:2800.6)

Under the LMLA, the plaintiff must first allege and prove that the defendant is a merchant, defined as "a party whose business it is to sell goods, foods, wares, or merchandise.

The plaintiff must also allege and prove that

• The condition presented an unreasonable risk of harm
• The harm was reasonably foreseeable
• Prior to the harm, the merchant either created or had actual or constructive notice of the condition which caused the harm
• The merchant failed to exercise reasonable care

Louisiana Torts

Vicarious Liability

The plaintiff must prove that

• An employment relationship existed
• The employee's activities were within the course and scope of the employment relationship
• The employee acted negligently

Louisiana Torts

The Louisiana Products Liability Act

Under the LPLA, the plaintiff must prove:

• The defendant is a manufacturer
• The plaintiff has suffered injury
• The product is unreasonably dangerous due to one or more of the following four defects:
• Defective Construction or Composition
• Design Defect
• Failure to Warn
• Breach of an Express Warranty
• The defect is the proximate cause of the plaintiff's injury
• The damage resulted from a reasonably anticipated use of the product
• The defect existed at the tim the product left the manufacturer's control

Louisiana Torts

Comparative Fault:

The Watson Factors

• Whether the party's conduct resulted from inadvertence or involved awareness of danger
• How great the risk created by the party's conduct was
• The significance of what was sought by the party's conduct
• The relative capabilities of the parties, whether superior or inferior
• Extenuating circumstances
• The relationship between the negligence of the party's conduct and the harm to other parties

Louisiana Torts

Medical Malpractice

The Coleman v. Deno Factors