| | COLLABORATE! TTLA’S 2014 ANNUAL CONFERENCE! | | COLLABORATE! Join TTLA President Mike Guajardo at TTLA’s 2014 Annual Conference in Austin, June 11-13. ALL MEMBERS are invited and encouraged to attend a very important meeting of our Board of Directors Meeting on June 12th. In addition, the CLE Committee has once again planned three dynamic programs. We’ll start things off with The Jury Bias Model™ - From Car Wrecks to the Complex Case presented by Greg Cusimano and David Wenner on June 11th, followed by a ½-day CLE on June 12th with some of TTLA’s brightest stars sharing their best tips. The conference will wrap up with our Annual Med Mal program with all the latest updates and insights, before closing with an evening of Magic and Music. Click here to see all we have planned for you! Two days. Three great seminars. TTLA’s 2014 Annual Conference. Click on the headline for more information and to register. | | Texting-and-Driving Ban Takes Effect Today in Denton | | | | Denton's new city ordinance banning phone use for anything other than calls while driving takes effect Tuesday morning. The ban does include any interaction with a phone, including texting, operating a GPS device or other apps, surfing the Internet, etc. The use of Bluetooth or hands-free technology will still be allowed, as will talking on the phone and dialing a number. Also, the interstates that run through Denton will not be included in the ban to avoid confusion for drivers just passing through.
Brian Scott |, NBC 5 - DFW 05/20/2014    | | Read Article: NBC 5 - DFW | | Texas Gets Poor Marks on Pedestrian Safety | |  | | Texas ranked as the 10th most dangerous state for walking commuters, with nearly 4,200 pedestrian deaths between 2003 and 2012. That's roughly 10 percent of such deaths nationally during that time period, according to data compiled from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration statistics. Although the total number of traffic fatalities has decreased nationally, the number of pedestrian deaths has grown. In 2012, 15 percent of all traffic fatalities involved people on foot.
Cathaleen Qiao Chen, Texas Tribune 05/20/2014 | | Read Article: Texas Tribune | | Oilfield Deaths Spur Safety Agency to Study Fracking | | | | The Obama administration is investigating the health risks of hydraulic fracturing after at least four deaths among oilfield workers since 2010 in North Dakota and Montana. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health said the workers were exposed to high levels of volatile hydrocarbons during the drilling process known as fracking.
Jim Efstathiou Jr, Bloomberg 01/01/1900 | | Read Article: Bloomberg | | Climate Change: Get Ready or Get Sued | | | | On April 18, 2013, the Illinois Governor declared a state of emergency after an epic deluge left much of the Chicago area under water. Now a lawsuit filed by Farmers Insurance Co. on behalf of itself, other insurance companies and customers whose property was damaged, allege the governments of Chicago-area municipalities knew their drainage systems were inadequate and failed to take reasonable action to prevent flooding of insured properties. “During the past 40 years, climate change in Cook County has caused rains to be of greater volume, greater intensity and greater duration than pre-1970 rainfall history evidenced,” a fact that local governments were well aware of, a suit filed in Cook County, Ill., alleges, citing a climate change action plan adopted in 2008 that acknowledges the link between climate change and increased rainfall.
Gail Sullivan , The Washington Post 05/20/2014 | | Read Article: The Washington Post | | Abused Adopted Boy Receives $1M Settlement | | | | An adopted boy from Alaska who suffered years of abuse at the hand of his adoptive parents has received a $1 million settlement from the state Office of Children's Services. According to the lawsuit, state officials ignored warning signs and reports from the boy's aunt of the abuse. The lawsuit cited instances of the plaintiff, along with the couple's four other children, being hit with switches, shovels and metal pipes and kept from attending school. Both of the adoptive parents were charged criminally in 2004 with multiple counts of mistreating the children.
Lisa Demer, Anchorage Daily News 05/17/2014 | | Read Article: Anchorage Daily News | | Another Guardrail Accident, Victim Loses Both Legs | | | | As 36-year-old Jay Traylor drove alone on a NC highway, his Isuzu Trooper veered sharply and slammed head-on into a guardrail, which cut through the SUV’s floorboards and straight into his seat amputating both his legs. Traylor filed a lawsuit against highway manufacturing heavyweight Trinity Highway Products which manufactured the guardrail. His suit is one of many Scripps reporters have uncovered across the country. And this week, a noted product safety organization joined the fray. Safety Research and Strategies filed a lawsuit against the federal government for access to information about the government’s approval of changes made to the guardrail.
Lynn Walsh, Scripps National Desk , Dave Biscobing, Maria Tomasch, ABC11 Eyewitness News (NC) 05/20/2014 | | Read Article: ABC11 Eyewitness News (NC) | | Exonerated Man Files Suit After Two Decades in Prison | | | | A man who was wrongfully convicted of a double murder and served over twenty years in prison has filed a lawsuit alleging that police and prosecutors coerced him into confessing to a crime he did not commit. The lawsuit was filed on Monday and names the city of Chicago, Cook County, seven police officers and two assistant state's attorneys as defendants. The plaintiff was serving a sentence of life without parole before records were brought to light showing that he had been in lockup when the two murders actually occurred.
Steve Mills, Chicago Tribune 05/19/2014 | | Read Article: Chicago Tribune | | Ex-Players: NFL Illegally Used Drugs | | | | A group of retired NFL players says in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that the league illegally supplied them with risky narcotics and other painkillers that numbed their injuries for games and led to medical complications down the road. The league obtained and administered the drugs illegally, without prescriptions and without warning players of their potential side effects, to speed the return of injured players to the field and maximize profits, the lawsuit alleges. Players say they were never told about broken legs and ankles and instead were fed pills to mask the pain.
BEN NUCKOLS, AP, Yahoo News 05/20/2014 | | Read Article: Yahoo News | | Thousands of Dogs, and 3 People, Sickened by Jerky Pet Treats, FDA Says | | | | The FDA released updated information about an ongoing investigation into illnesses and deaths caused by jerky pet treats imported from China. As of May 1, 2014 the regulatory agency has received more than 4,800 reports of illness affecting a total of 5,600 dogs, 24 cats, and 3 people. A number of reports came from owners with multiple dogs. More than 1,000 dogs have died. There have been 1,800 new cases of illness since the last FDA report in October 2013.
Jessica Firger, CBSNews.com 05/20/2014 | | Read Article: CBSNews.com | | Breaking: GM Recalls Another 2.4M Vehicles | | | | General Motors is recalling a total 2.42 million vehicles to fix four separate safety flaws, nearly matching the 2.6 million cars GM recalled earlier this year for a deadly ignition switch flaw.
James R. Healey, USA Today 05/20/2014 | | Read Article: USA Today | | |
