# Jordan v. Travelers Insurance Company

> Supreme Court of Louisiana · February 24, 1971 · 257 La. 995

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9679280

## Case

- **Full name:** Joseph H. JORDAN, Plaintiff-Appellant-Relator, v. the TRAVELERS INSURANCE COMPANY Et Al., Defendants-Appellees-Respondents
- **Court:** Supreme Court of Louisiana
- **Decided:** February 24, 1971
- **Citations:** 257 La. 995; 245 So. 2d 151; 1971 La. LEXIS 4447
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Concurrence by Dixon
- **Judges:** Tate, Hamlin, Dixon, McCaleb, Appeal
- **Cited by:** 489 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9679280

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- observing that "proof by direct or circumstantial evidence is sufficient to constitute a preponderance, when, taking the evidence as a whole, such proof shows that the fact or causation sought to be proved is more probable than not"
- observing that a tort victim has the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence the damages caused by the defendant's fault

## Opinion text

DIXON, Justice
(concurring):
Although the opinion and the judgment reached are correct, the law teaching portion leaves a sense of unfulfilled expectation. Instead of clarifying the meaning of *1017 “preponderance of the evidence,” we say that it occurs when the “proof shows that the fact * * * sought to be-proved is more probable than not.”
Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Mcrriam Company, shows:
probability \,prab-o-‘bil-3t-e\ n 1: the quality or state oí being probable 2 : something probable 3 : a mathematical basis for prediction that for an exhaustive set of outcomes is the ratio of the outcomes that would produce a given event to the total number of possible outcomes 4 : a logical relation between statements such that evidence confirming one confirms the other to some degree prob*a»ble \'prab-(a-)boi\ ad) [ME, fr. MF, fr. L probabllis, fr. probare to test, approve, prove — more at prove3 1: supported by evidence strong enough to establish presumption but not proof <a ~ hypothesis) 2 : establishing a probability <~ evidence) 3 : likely to be or become true or real (— events) — prob*ft*bly \'práb-(3-)blé. 'prab-le\ adv syn probable, possible, likely mean such aa may be or may become true or actual, probable applies to what is supported by evidence that is strong but not conclusive; possible applies to what lies within the known limits of performance, attainment, nature, or mode of existence of a thing or person regardless of the chances for or against its actuality; likely differs from probable in implying cither more superficial or more general grounds for judgment or
What have we said ?

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9679280. Public record. Not legal advice.