Cooper v. Bouchard Transportation, 140 So. 3d 1

Cooper, chief engineer aboard the tug Robert J. Bouchard, suffered extensive third-degree burns from an engine explosion caused by a failed engine.
The failed engine had been overhauled and serviced by MSI using remanufactured WRI parts, with MSI work occurring in April and November 2004 (the latter three months before the explosion).
Bouchard sued MSI, Bouchard Coastwise Management Corp., and WRI; WRI's claims were dismissed with prejudice; trial yielded a verdict for Cooper against MSI and Bouchard for $7,248,935, with Bouchard prevailing on a cross-claim against MSI.
Jury found MSI and Bouchard 50% jointly liable for Cooper’s damages; plaintiffs cross-appealed MSI’s issues; MSI and Bouchard appealed the judgment; the trial court’s related maintenance and cure payments were undisputed.
The appellate court affirmed in part, reversed in part, and rendered: upheld damages against MSI and Bouchard; reversed the maintenance-and-cure reimbursement against MSI and entered a specific recovery amount for Bouchard; overall judgment affirmed in part, reversed in part, and rendered.
The final account and allocations showed damages against MSI and Bouchard, with a separate computation of maintenance and cure reimbursement totaling $623,750.53 in favor of Bouchard against MSI.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Allocation of fault between MSI and Bouchard	Cooper’s team urged equal fault (50/50)	MSI and Bouchard argued the split was not supported by the record	Affirmed 50%/50% allocation; not manifestly erroneous
Future medical expenses award	Award supported by life-care planning and cost calculations	Evidence was not purely medical; not proper for future medicals	Affirmed award of future medical expenses ($648,935) as reasonable and supported
Reimbursement of maintenance and cure	Maintenance and cure were properly paid; third-party reimbursement due	MSI contested the amount or applicability of reimbursement	Reversed; rendered judgment for Bouchard against MSI for $623,750.53 reimbursement of maintenance and cure

Hall v. Folger Coffee Co., 874 So.2d 90 (La. 2004) (manifest error standard for factual findings on appeal)
Stobart v. State, 617 So.2d 880 (La.1993) (poll of permissible views; defer to fact-finder if reasonable)
Green v. K-Mart Corp., 874 So.2d 838 (La.2004) (weight given to expert testimony within trial court’s discretion)
Lirette v. State Farm, Ins. Co., 563 So.2d 850 (La.1990) (testimony of experts and reliance on facts within its scope)
Robin v. Allstate, 889 So.2d 450 (La. App. 3 Cir. 2004) (future medicals admissibility where medical care is obvious and necessary)
Youn v. Maritime Overseas Corp., 623 So.2d 1257 (La. 1993) (Damages awarding discretion of the jury)