La. Appellate Court Affirms Award to More Than 20 Plaintiffs in Oil Spill Cases

LAKE CHARLES, La. –– A Louisiana appellate court has affirmed an award of more than $600,000 to more than 20 plaintiffs in an oil spill case, rejecting CITGO’s position that the plaintiffs had failed to present sufficient causation testimony.

In the Jan. 10 opinion, the Louisiana Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit opined that “a trial court is not bound by expert testimony; the court has the power to substitute its own judgment and common sense for the conclusion of an expert witness where the evidence as a whole warrants doing so.”

The claims arose from a June 19, …