The Three Katrinas: Hard Cases Make New Law

Coastal Louisiana has become ground zero for disasters and disaster litigation in recent years, ushered in by the massive Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, and again, as we speak, by the blowout of British Petroleum’s deepwater oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico.  The hurricanes spawned a legal storm of their own over insurance claims, the evacuation of hospitals and old-age homes, and floodplain zoning requirements, but three major hurricane-based lawsuits have asserted civil liability for the human causes of the subsequent disaster.  Five years after the hurricanes hit, the legal and practical consequences of these cases could be enormous.