Edwin Dunahoe | Natchitoches Personal Injury Lawyer

Significant Cases

Southern American Insurance Company v. Dobson

This was a landmark case which established that uninsured motorist coverage would be imposed on umbrella liability policies, even in the absence of any reference to any uninsured motorist coverage. In this case, the umbrella liability policy was issued by Southern American Insurance Company and contained no mention of uninsured motorist coverage. After successfully securing a favorable ruling in the trial court, the Court of Appeal reversed. The Louisiana Supreme Court granted Dobson's writ and ultimately ruled in favor of our clients on rehearing on the coverage issue. This case was eventually tried and concluded in our client's favor.

For full details of this case see 441 So. 2d 1185 (La. Sup. Ct.) and 484 So. 2d 976

Merrell v. State of Louisiana, Department of Transportation and Development

This case was one of the early cases involving defective roads and road shoulders. Our client, following the "fog line" on the right side of the lane, ran into an eroded area of the highway causing him to lose control and veer into the oncoming lane. In the era when contributory negligence was a complete bar to recovery in Louisiana, we successfully represented our client and obtained a judgment which was affirmed in the Court of Appeal.

For full details of this case, see 415 So. 2d 660

John Doe v. State of Louisiana, Department of Transportation and Development

Returning from a Thanksgiving family gathering, our clients were struck head on by an oncoming motorist who had left the highway surface and struck a rut on the shoulder of the road causing them to lose control and then veering back across into our clients' lane of travel. The injuries included the death of one individual together with serious injuries to another passenger. After discovery, we obtained a favorable settlement for the family members.