A New Orleans premises claim often turns on two questions that the incident report does not answer: who controlled the unsafe area, and what did that person or business know before the injury? Ownership is a useful starting point, but the owner, tenant, manager, maintenance vendor, and contractor may have divided the work among…
After a rider is thrown, “the horse spooked” describes part of the event. It does not explain whether the saddle shifted, how the horse was selected, what the instructor knew about the rider, or whether a hidden property condition contributed. Those details matter under Louisiana’s equine-liability law. R.S. 9:2795.3 generally protects against participant claims…
At a corn maze, pumpkin patch, or farm tour, the ticket seller, landowner, animal handler, and equipment operator may be different people. After an injury, identify the exact attraction and who controlled the part of the event involved. The words “farm attraction” and a warning sign do not, on their own, establish Louisiana’s agritourism…
A guest burned by a tipped crawfish pot and a guest hurt by a loose deck railing may have very different claims. Louisiana does not make a host responsible simply because an injury happened at the gathering. The cause of the injury, who controlled the hazard, and what could reasonably have prevented it determine…
The Christmas Eve bonfires along the Mississippi River levee are one of Louisiana’s most recognizable traditions. They are also governed by an unusually specific liability statute. Louisiana law generally protects a qualifying bonfire sponsor from claims, but only for a permitted presentation on the Mississippi River levee and only when none of the statute’s…
Louisiana has a statute written specifically for parade injuries. It protects qualifying parade organizations, members and some contractors from many ordinary-negligence claims, but it does not create blanket immunity. A claim may still turn on whether the defendant is within the protected group, what caused the injury, and whether the conduct was deliberate and…
A fall in a grocery aisle and a fall on a broken apartment stair may look similar in a photograph. Louisiana law can ask different questions about each one. In the store, the duration of a spill may decide whether the merchant had notice. At the apartment, the condition of the stair and the…
A pool gate that will not latch may look different after a maintenance visit. A wet deck may dry before anyone photographs it. After a serious pool injury, the first question is often what condition existed at the time and who controlled it, rather than whether a pool is dangerous in general. The duty…
Last reviewed: September 26, 2026 A fall in a store does not make the store automatically liable. Louisiana law asks what made the area unsafe, whether the business created the condition or had enough time to discover it, and whether that condition caused the injury. The strongest cases usually begin with ordinary details: where…
A pool emergency begins with a person, not a claim. Get the swimmer out of danger without putting another person at risk, call 911 when breathing, consciousness or a possible neck injury is involved, and follow the dispatcher’s instructions. The physical conditions around the pool can be documented after rescue and medical care are…
The first question after an injury at a casino is usually where, exactly, it happened. A drink spill on a restaurant floor, a broken stair in a parking structure and an escalator malfunction call for different records and may be governed by different Louisiana rules. The casino’s name on a sign does not establish…
A ride can be back in service, packed onto a trailer or repaired before an injured guest learns what failed. That is what makes the first record of an amusement park incident so important. It should identify the particular device, seat, cycle and operator, not just the park where it happened. Not every park…
Editorial & Legal Accuracy Notice (Louisiana) Last reviewed / updated: September 22, 2026 Reviewed, updated, and authored by: Stephen Babcock, Louisiana trial lawyer, Louisiana Bar No. 26792. This article provides general information, not legal advice. The location, cause and date of an accident determine which rules apply. After a pool injury, the scene may…
A store’s incident report may establish that you fell. It usually does not answer the harder questions: what caused the fall, how the condition got there and whether the store had a reasonable opportunity to address it. Those details often determine whether an injury supports a claim against the merchant. If you are hurt,…