Legal Talk

      Under what circumstances will a divorce be granted?   More

The Louisiana Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in the matter of Oliver v. Magnolia Clinic regarding the Third Circuit Court of Appeal's holding that "to the extent it includes nurse practitioners within its ambit, the medical malpractice cap violates the equal protection and adequate remedy of the Louisiana constitution." 71 So.3d 1170 (2011).    More

For any employer familiar with the H-2B temporary visa program for employees – or for any employer interested in it, a major starting point to consider are the extremely strict and unforgiving timelines of the Labor Certification process. The H-2B program encompasses temporary labor needs that fall into one of the following categories: seasonal, peak load, intermittent or a one-time occurrence.   More

If you make payments under liability insurance or self-insurance, don’t rely solely on the claimant or his attorney to take Medicare’s interest into account. If the government is not repaid the medical bills fronted by Medicare, then the feds can pursue the Medicare beneficiary, his attorney and the liability payer for repayment. That is a message reiterated in a recent federal court opinion from Arizona, Haro v Sebelius (D. Arizona May 5, 2011), No. 4:09-cv-00134-DCB:  More

$150 MILLION CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT IN FAVOR OF LOUISIANA HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS APPROVED BY LOUISIANA FOURTEENTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT  More

This article provides a short summary of current Louisiana law on wills and testaments, reflecting a few changes that have occurred over the last several years. Louisiana does not recognize oral or verbal testaments. As such, there are only two (2) valid forms of Louisiana last wills and testaments, both of which must be in writing. One form is an olographic testament and the other is a notarial testament. The author must intend for the writing to be his or her last will and testament.  More

Until recently, the Louisiana Supreme Court was silent as to the applicability of workers’ compensation in post-termination employee injury scenarios. Clearly, such a determination is of the utmost importance to self-insured employers and workers’ compensation insurers who could face liability for injuries sustained by employees after they are terminated or quit.   More

From classic employee embezzlement to outright theft and forgery, the number of incidents of dishonest and illegal activity related to checks and other negotiable instruments has increased in recent years in southwest Louisiana.  Generally, the perpetrators of these activities are eventually identified and prosecuted in some fashion.  While these individuals may pay a debt to society through the criminal system, they frequently contribute little or nothing to the civil damages which resulted from their willful acts.  The money acquired from the fraud was usually eaten, drunkor gambled away.  Regardless of the cause, the money simply disappears over a very short time and tangible property worthy of seizure almost never remains.   More

As we the attorneys and staff at the Stockwell Sievert Law Firm unveilour new and improved website, we also found it appropriate to discuss the business and legal uses of some of the new technology we are employing.  As evidenced by the fact that, according to statistics, the number of social networking users has doubled since 2007 and now exceeds 55.6 million in the United States alone (or almost 1/3 of the US population), businesses must either get connected or get left behind.  We chose the former.  More

The attorneys at Stockwell, Sievert, Viccellio, Clements and Shaddock would like to welcome you to our new website. Please check back on a consistent basis to see what is happening at our firm and in the legal community.