If you are facing an issue regarding injuries or harm caused by an individual or company, contact Kristin M. Lausten, an experienced tort & insurance litigation attorney.
Tort law closely intersects with insurance law because a majority of tort claims against corporations and other businesses are defended pursuant to an insurance policy. Through the company’s policy, the liability insurer may have a duty to defend. Attorney Kristin Lausten is here to act as counsel on behalf of the person who has been harmed, the insurer, or the person who was insured and is being sued.
Kristin represents businesses and individuals in tort claims and serves insurance companies in regard to tort defense and insurance coverage, fraud, and bad faith claims. To speak with her about a current claim, contact The Lausten Group, LLC by the online contact form or by calling (504) 377-6585.
Tort Defense Representation
Kristin is highly experienced in representing corporations, businesses, professionals, and individuals in tort cases, which include any wrongful act, other than a breach of contract, that causes another party harm and leads to civil liability. She has represented clients in a variety of industries, including:
- Oil and Natural Gas
- Chemical
- Coal
- Pulp and Paper
- Hazardous Waste Treatment
- Asbestos Manufacturing
- Technology
- Commercial Real Estate
- Transportation
- Construction
- Maritime
- Retail
- Restaurant
- Automotive Sales/Service
- Defective Construction/Manufacturing
- Products Liability
- Mass Torts/Multi-District Litigation
Her clients range from local businesses to international corporations and Fortune 500 companies. She has handled first- and third-party tort claims for both private and public companies. No business is too big or too small, though she routinely represents businesses and insurers in complex, multi-party litigation.
Common Tort Claims
Torts typically fall into broad categories, including:
- Personal Injury: These types of claims encompass any situation in which one party is responsible for another party sustaining one or more bodily injuries. Personal injury claims typically rely on allegations of general negligence or gross negligence.
- Premises Liability: Each state’s premises liability law dictates when property owners are liable for injuries that other parties sustain on their properties. Kristin is highly experienced in defending property owners against claims brought by invitees, licensees, adult trespassers, and parents or representatives of child trespassers.
- Product Liability: Various federal and state product liability laws dictate when designers, manufacturers, retailers, and other parties may be responsible for injuries suffered by consumers due to products with a design, manufacturing, or warning defect.
Kristin has broad litigation experience, enabling her to efficiently and successfully handle all types of tort claims.
Theories of Liability
Tort litigation can be based on several different forms of liability, such as:
- Ordinary or General Negligence: Under a general negligence claim, the allegedly injured party must prove the company owed them a duty of care, breached that duty of care, and caused them a compensable injury.
- Gross Negligence: While ordinary negligence can be described as carelessness, gross negligence is a more significant breach of a party’s duty toward another. When a plaintiff claims gross negligence, they must show that the business voluntary acted or failed to act in a way that demonstrated a reckless disregard for the safety of another person or property.
- Strict Liability: Under a strict liability claim, the plaintiff does not need to prove the business did anything wrong. Instead, depending on the specific type of claim, the plaintiff must merely demonstrate that the business is legally liable for the plaintiff’s injury. Various federal and state laws dictate when individuals or companies may be strictly liable for another party’s physical, psychological, or financial injuries.
- Breach of Warranty: In a breach of warranty claim, the plaintiff must establish that a business made an express or implied warranty, failed to uphold that promise, and this breach resulted in the plaintiff’s injury.
- Bad Faith: Another way in which a plaintiff may claim a company is liable for their injury is by demonstrating the company acted in bad faith, which means the business intended to deceive the plaintiff. Insurance bad faith claims may arise if a plaintiff claims the insurer failed to treat them fairly as required by the policy and state or federal law.
Kristin is prepared to handle tort claims that rely on any of these theories of liability. In some cases, plaintiffs will plead multiple theories of liability, hoping to succeed on at least one. Kristin is prepared to thoroughly investigate the circumstances surrounding the complaint, including aggressively pursuing evidence during discovery. She carefully reviews and analyzes each piece of evidence to determine the strengths and weaknesses of your case. Additionally, she works closely with you to fully understand your goals and preferences, which will impact her suggested strategy.
Tort & Insurance Litigation
When dealing with a tort claim, people often rely heavily on their insurance provider. Insurance coverage may be necessary to aggressively defend against the allegations or reduce the company’s financial losses following a settlement or court verdict in the plaintiff’s favor.
Kristin is highly experienced in negotiating coverage for tort claims. Whether as a representative of the person injured, an insurance company, or defendant-business, Kristin is known to skillfully and efficiently help her clients reach an appropriate solution to their needs.
A brief example of claims Kristin has worked on include representing:
- Manufacturers in obtaining coverage for claims arising out of allegedly defective products.
- Distributors in obtaining coverage for claims of negligence repairs.
- Distributors in obtaining coverage for recall liabilities.
Mass Torts/Multi-District Litigation
Kristin M. Lausten has experience as defense trial and appellate counsel in mass tort and product liability litigation, serving as a strategic adviser to clients who are typically involved in national and/or multi-state liability actions. She offers a multidisciplinary practice that incorporates industry knowledge and experience with sophisticated trial and appellate litigation techniques to provide corporate clients and their insurers a multi-faceted approach to mass tort defense.
Kristin has represented a variety of industries, ranging from food and beverage, to oil and gas, as well as agricultural, chemical, pharmaceutical, construction, energy, software, mining, and more. This includes serving as trial and national defense counsel in complex multi-district litigation. She also provides strategic advice and counseling to insurers seeking information on risk assessments and coverage issues.
Case Examples
Examples of mass tort cases Kristin has worked on include:
- Defending products liability, consumer protection, class action, and mass tort claims;
- Serving as lead multi-district litigation counsel for various companies involved in mass tort litigation;
- Serving as lead defense counsel for various companies involved in products liability litigation;
- Advising clients on how to mitigate potential future tort risk during contract discussions;
- Advising various types of companies concerning advertising and labeling claims;
- Helping to overturn decisions concerning the side effects of products at the appellate level;
- Representing companies in class action litigation alleging violations of consumer protection laws and/or injuries in the marketing and/or manufacturing of the companies’ products;
- Representing companies in consumer class actions arising out of recalls of their products; and
- Assisting government contractors in successfully asserting the government contractor defense.
Tort & Insurance Litigation
Kristin M. Lausten represents businesses, corporations, professionals and their associations, and individuals in complex and even high-risk tort claims ranging from negligence to products liability, construction defects, transportation, and more throughout Louisiana and the Gulf States. Kristin represents clients in state and federal courts, as well as before administrative agencies and at the appellate level.
Kristin M. Lausten has experience representing manufacturers, distributors, retailers, property owners, automotive dealerships, privately held businesses and public businesses in a variety of first and third party tort matters. This includes providing skilled services in alternative dispute resolution and a full range of expertise to insurers in areas such as:
Bad Faith & Business Litigation, General Negligence, Trucking & Transportation, and Premises Liability
Kristin M. Lausten represents insureds in defense of general negligence, premises liability, automobile claims, coverage disputes, bad faith, unfair claims, consumer protection claims, and more. This includes defending the construction industry against negligence claims, as well as contract, indemnity issues, and insurance coverage, as well as claims before alternative dispute resolution forums in resolving business, contract, insurance coverage, and general litigation disputes. Kristin has represented insurance companies and their insureds in first and third party claims involving commercial general liability, automobile, property and casualty and bad faith claims. With broad commercial litigation experience, Kristin understands how coverage litigation relates to each case.
Personal Injury & Products Liability Defense
Kristin M. Lausten defends parties against any and all personal injury claims, including wrongful death and torts and defend manufacturers, retailers, and distributors involved in a myriad of products, including product recalls.
Representation
Some examples of issues Kristin M. Lausten has worked on include representing and/or negotiating:
- Manufacturers in obtaining coverage for product liability claims
- Manufacturers in obtaining coverage for claims involving alleged defective products
- Distributors in obtaining coverage for negligent repair claims
- Distributors in obtaining coverage for recall liabilities
- Construction product manufacturers in multi-carrier litigation in lawsuits to obtain coverage for construction product claims
- Companies in multi-state litigation
- Companies in business interruption and property damage first-party loss claims arising from large loss damage claims
- Manufacturers in litigation against carriers to obtain coverage for tort liabilities
- Clients in obtaining insurance coverage
- Cost-share agreements for liabilities
- Companies in connection with coverage for losses
An Aggressive Tort & Insurance Litigator
Over the years, Kristin has developed a reputation as an aggressive defense attorney for individuals and companies involved in insurance claims and as a strong representative for insurers during coverage disputes. For answers to your tort and insurance litigation questions, or for effective legal representation, contact The Lausten Group, LLC via the online contact form or by calling (504) 377-6585 to schedule an initial appointment.