Announcements | 
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Laws/Cases |
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Parker County Couple Sues Range Resources |
| A Parker County couple has filed a $6.5 million lawsuit against Range Resources of Fort Worth, contending that the natural gas producer contaminated two water wells with methane. Steven and Shyla Lipsky also named Silverado on the Brazos Development Co. and Durant, Carter, Coleman Llc. as defendants in the suit, filed Monday in Parker County. Lance Winter, Fort Worth Star-Telegram 06/24/2011 | Read Article: Fort Worth Star-Telegram |
Supreme Court Sides with Pharmaceutical Industry |
| The US Supreme Court gave the pharmaceutical industry a pair of victories, shielding the makers of generic drugs from most lawsuits by injured patients and declaring that drug makers have a free-speech right to buy private prescription records to boost their sales pitches to doctors. In both decisions Thursday, the court's conservative bloc formed the majority, and most of its liberals dissented. Federal law requires the makers of brand-name drugs to label their products with FDA-approved warning information and to update the warnings when reports of new problems arise. But in a 5-4 decision, the high court said this same legal duty to warn patients of newly revealed dangers did not extend to the makers of copy-cat generic drugs. David G. Savage, LA Times 06/24/2011 | Read Article: LA Times |
Illinois Sues Heart Check America Over Body Scan Sales |
| In scores of consumer complaints, Heart Check America clients have accused the company of using pressure sales tactics inappropriate for a health care firm as it markets long-term medical imaging contracts costing thousands of dollars. The company says scans from its Electron Beam Tomography machines can detect dangerous heart conditions and other health problems. But doctors say many people receiving the pitches most likely do not need the scans.The Illinois attorney general’s office filed a lawsuit accusing the owner and manager of Heart Check America of pressuring patients into purchasing pricey body scans that many did not need and used “unfair and deceptive business practices” to manipulate consumers into 10-year screening contracts costing up to $7,000, plus additional annual dues. Marshall Allen, ProPublica, LA Times 06/24/2011 | Read Article: LA Times |
FL Justices Affirm Malpractice in Infant's Death |
| The Florida Supreme Court has rejected a public hospital's appeal of a $2M malpractice verdict in the death of an infant. Justice Jorge Labarga wrote in the unanimous opinion that the Public Health Trust of Miami-Dade County was trying to use a "gotcha" tactic. The trust argued the verdict in favor of the baby's parents should be thrown out on a technical error. Associated Press, Miami Herald 06/24/2011 | Read Article: Miami Herald |
W.VA. Med Mal Damage Limit Upheld |
| West Virginia can limit certain judgments in medical malpractice cases. A 4-1 state Supreme Court decision Wednesday upholds the cap on non-economic damages. These are meant to compensate for such things as pain and suffering. The cap is around $288,527 for most cases, and $577,054 in the more serious cases, including those involving wrongful death. Each amount increases with CNBC, Associated Press, AP Wire 06/24/2011 | Read Article: AP Wire |
US High Court: Railroad Injury Suits Made Simpler |
| The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Thursday a plaintiff doesn't have to show a railroad's negligence as the principal cause of an injury under a federal law. The law in question is the Federal Employers' Liability Act, which holds railroads liable for employees' injuries "resulting in whole or in part from (the railroad's) negligence." UPI, United Press International 06/24/2011 | Read Article: United Press International |
MO Jury Rules for Hog Farm Owner |
| Weeks after a jury ordered a hog farm to pay dozen Missouri residents $2M because of its foul smell, another jury rejected a farmer's claims in a similar case. Vernon Hanes had sought $3 million, saying odors from a Premium Standard Farms hog farm in Daviess County damaged his use and enjoyment of his property. The verdict comes a month after Gov. Jay Nixon signed into a law limiting how much money people can win in certain lawsuits against farms and livestock producers. Associated Press, Forbes 06/24/2011 | Read Article: Forbes |
GlaxoSmithKline to Pay 37 States, DC, Nearly $41M Over Substandard Drugs |
| British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline PLC said Thursday that it has reached a $40.75 million settlement with 37 states for selling potentially faulty and contaminated medicines produced at its former Puerto Rico factory during the last decade. The settlements involve production of adulterated, or substandard, products made from 2001 through 2004 at a factory in Cidra, Puerto Rico. Associated Press, The Washington Post 06/24/2011 | Read Article: The Washington Post |
Wise County Jury Clears TXI in Deadly Wreck |
| In Dec 2002, a pregnant woman, her mother, grandmother and brother were killed while returning from a Fort Worth shopping trip when their vehicle collided with a gravel-hauling truck. A 14 months old child survived the wreck on Texas 114. A Wise County jury's verdict this week ended a nine-year saga by finding that the family's driver was at fault -- a reversal of an initial jury's finding that the truck driver caused the accident and TXI Transportation should pay about $22.4 million to the family. A new panel of jurors heard new testimony, including that the family's driver was on a cellphone. The Texas Supreme Court ordered a new trial last year, saying that lawyers improperly introduced evidence that the truck driver was an illegal immigrant and overturned an appeals court ruling that had upheld most of the jury's findings. Darren Barbee, Ft. Worth Star Telegram 06/24/2011 | Read Article: Ft. Worth Star Telegram |
State Sues Holden Roofing Inc. |
| Holden Roofing Inc., a residential roofing contractor, has been accused in a lawsuit by the TX AG of deceiving homeowners. A statement by the AG said that the company's sales personnel offer to consult with homeowners' insurance carriers and adjusters over the cost to repair roof damage caused by severe weather. Homeowners believe they are consenting to a free inspection and work estimate. In reality Holden Roofing obligates homeowners to hire the company or pay a penalty totaling 20 percent of the roof repair. Patrick Danner, San Antonio Express News 06/24/2011 | Read Article: San Antonio Express News |
Missouri Monk Accused of Sexual Abuse |
| A Missouri man has filed a lawsuit against a former monk at the Conception Abbey in northwest Missouri, claiming he was sexually abused by the monk in the late-1980s and that the abbey covered up the abuse. The lawsuit alleges the monk molested the plaintiff during a summer camp in 1987. The suit also claims abbey officials were aware that the monk had a prior history of abusing children but failed to take action. The lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages. Judy L. Thomas, Kansas City Star 06/23/2011 | Read Article: Kansas City Star |
Suit: School Failed to Monitor Abusive Teacher |
| Three families have filed lawsuits against a Utah boarding school, alleging school officials "failed to supervise a counselor charged with sexually abusing several students." According to the lawsuits, the counselor had been fired from the school once before because he was "too close to the teenagers in the program." Upon his re-hire, the suits say school officials failed to monitor his interaction with students. The teacher has been charged with eight counts of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse. Melinda Rogers, The Salt Lake Tribune 06/24/2011 | Read Article: The Salt Lake Tribune |
Judge Dismisses One Suit Over Student Suicide |
| A federal judge in Ohio has dismissed one of two lawsuits filed over the suicides of two students allegedly caused by bullying. Both lawsuits contended that school officials did not stop the bullying of the students, but the judge ruled in his dismissal that only one of the suits provided evidence showing school officials were made aware the bullying was occurring. Both suits asserted "violations of the parents' 14th Amendment right to 'the companionship, care, custody and management of their child'." James F. McCarty, Cleveland Plain Dealer 06/23/2011 | Read Article: Cleveland Plain Dealer |
Issues |
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Fracking and Water: E.P.A. Zeroes in on 7 Sites |
| The EPA has chosen 7 natural gas drilling sites to conduct case studies to evaluate the impact of hydraulic fracturing on local drinking water. The agency chose the case study sites by considering the proximity of drinking water supplies to the fracking activity and by striving for geographic diversity. The agency said that two spots — in Haynesville Shale in DeSoto Parish, La., and Marcellus Shale in Washington County, Pa. — were selected because fracking had not yet begun there. Thus the E.P.A. will be able to study the impact of the process through the entire life cycle of a gas well. Five places where hydraulic fracturing has already occurred were also chosen: Bakken Shale in Kildeer and Dunn counties, N.D.; Barnett Shale in Wise and Denton Counties, Tex.; Marcellus Shale in Bradford and Susquehanna Counties, Pa.; a different spot in Marcellus Shale in Washington County, Pa.; and Raton Basin in Las Animas County, Colo. LESLIE KAUFMAN, Blog, The New York Times 06/24/2011 | Read Article: The New York Times |
TEXAS LAWYER CASE SUMMARIES |
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El Paso Court of Appeals: Torts |
| George Haddy, appearing pro se, appeals from an order dismissing his legal malpractice suit against an attorney on the ground that Haddy lacked standing. A party's standing may be challenged by a plea to the jurisdiction as well as by other procedural vehicles, such as a motion for summary judgment. The trial court did not err by considering the standing issue raised by the attorney in his motions seeking dismissal of the suit. The attorney argued that Haddy lacked standing because his loss of consortium claim is a derivative claim which required his former wife to be joined as a party in order for Haddy to have standing to prosecute the legal malpractice action. The attorney essentially argues that Haddy's loss of consortium claim is completely derivative of his former wife's medical malpractice claim, but this argument is not supported by applicable case law. Loss of consortium claims are not entirely derivative because they are separate and independent claims distinct from the injured spouse's claim. The trial court's dismissal is reversed and remanded. Haddy v. Caldwell, El Paso Court of Appeals, No. 08-10-00168-CV, 06-15-2011. , Texas Lawyer Opinions (TTLA Members Only) 06/24/2011 | Read Article: Texas Lawyer Opinions (TTLA Members Only) |
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