re: Allegedly, Madison Brooks had sex the day before incident that caused that caused injuries

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Posters that are members of the Louisiana Bar can better speak to the specifics of third-party practice in Louisiana, but the dad's attorney was just getting ahead of what the defense attorneys would do: claim that the ride-share driver caused/contributed to her death and should be assigned a portion of the liability at trial. This could potentially decrease any judgment obtained if the jury panel apportions a percentage of liability to the ride-share driver, or worst-case scenario, decides that its all the ride-share driver's fault.

By preempting the defense, dad's lawyer can attempt to settle with the ride share's defense counsel/commercial insurance carrier, who would be glad to get a potential catastrophic claim off the books. Upon settling, they can figure out how to dismiss the ride share driver/company in a way that is least beneficial to the other defendants.

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Louisiana is a pure-comparative fault state in civil actions. So whether or not the ride-share driver and, vicariously, his "employer" were parties to the lawsuit or not, the jury could be instructed to assign a percentage of fault to any entity/person they find to be at fault...regardless of if they were a party.

Plaintiff's attorney don't really want an "empty chair" a defendant can point to. But more than that, they want a viable source who can actually pay any judgment they might get at trial. 4 young adults probably don't have much in the way of money or assets to satisfy any judgment. The insurer of the ride-share company does (if fault can be proven).