| Operation PAC 100 | | Operation PAC 100: Inspired by Past President Mike Gallagher’s $100,000 matching challenge, the TTLA Advocates formed Operation PAC 100 to amplify our members’ collective political voice through the TTLA PAC. Be one of the PAC 100, by contributing $1000 or any amount you can. Help give our legislative team the tools needed to protect the civil justice system in the 2015 legislative session and beyond.Click on the headline to learn more. |
| Texas Tribune Daily Brief
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| Editorials/Columns/Letters
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| Dave Lieber: Just a Question Can Raise Car Insurance Premium | | 
| | If you have a question about a potential claim on your Texas automobile policy and call your insurance agent or your insurance company and ask a question, asking alone could cause an increase in your premium when your policy comes up for renewal. Even if you never make a claim. The Legislature passed a law in 2013 making it illegal to penalize Texans who ask questions about their homeowners policy. But the same protection for automobile policyholders was deleted from the bill after intense pressure from insurance industry lobbyists.
Dave Lieber, columnist, The Dallas Morning News 08/25/2014    | | Read Article: The Dallas Morning News |
| Medicare Star Ratings Allow Nursing Homes to Game the System | |
| | The Medicare ratings, which have become the gold standard across the nursing home industry, are based in large part on self-reported data by the nursing homes that the government does not verify. Only one of the three criteria used to determine the star ratings — the results of annual health inspections — relies on assessments from independent reviewers. The other measures — staff levels and quality statistics — are reported by the nursing homes and accepted by Medicare, with limited exceptions, at face value.
KATIE THOMAS, The New York Times 08/25/2014 | | Read Article: The New York Times |
| Companies Ask TX Lege For Help to Fight County Lawsuits | |
| | After failing in an attempt to limit cities and counties' ability to take industrial polluters to court, some Houston businesses and lobbyists now want to limit how much local governments can collect in penalties aimed squarely at a Harris County Attorney's office they say is seeking high-dollar payouts at the expense of cleanup efforts.
Kiah Collier, Houston Chronicle 08/25/2014 | | Read Article: Houston Chronicle |
| Series: Up in Flames | |
| | In a yearlong investigation, Express-News reporters interviewed dozens of sources, reviewed thousands of pages of documents and analyzed a database with millions of drilling records to find out the impact of flaring in the Eagle Ford Shale.
JOHN TEDESCO and JENNIFER HILLER, San Antonio Express News 08/25/2014 | | Read Article: San Antonio Express News |
| Md. Doctor Accused of Sexual Assault by Two Women | |
| | Two women have accused a doctor at a Western Maryland urgent care center of sexually assaulting them during their examinations. The doctor was fired and indicted in May after one woman accused him of touching her inappropriately during an unchaperoned pelvic examination. The other woman has filed a $1.5 million lawsuit against the doctor and the medical facility over her alleged abuse. The lawsuit accuses the facility of negligence in the hiring of the doctor who previously served time in prison for raping a woman during his residency.
Scott Dance, Baltimore Sun 08/20/2014 | | Read Article: Baltimore Sun |
| Facebook Faces $123M Lawsuit over False Profile | |
| | Facebook is facing a $123 million lawsuit by a Texas woman who alleges the social media company would not remove a false profile of the woman containing pornographic images. The Facebook profile, which contained pornographic images with the plaintiff's face superimposed over them, was created by the plaintiff's former friend. The lawsuit, filed in district court in Houston, contends that Facebook failed to act after repeated requests to delete the false profile and that the incident caused the plaintiff "significant trauma" and "extreme humiliation." Facebook did eventually delete the profile.
Staff Report, KSAT.com 08/22/2014 | | Read Article: KSAT.com |
| 14 Women Accuse Probation Officer of Sexual Assault | |
| | Fourteen women from Alaska have accused their state probation officer of sexually assaulting them during a therapeutic court program while state supervisors looked the other way. The probation officer has been accused of sexually assaulting, threatening, harassing and extorting the women in their multiple lawsuits, which have been consolidated by the court for pre-trial purposes. The defendant was arrested on criminal coercion, harassment and sexual assault charges in 2010 after he was found to be accepting money from a female probationer in exchange for not having sex with her. The lawsuits name the State of Alaska, the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services and the Department of Corrections along with the probation officer.
Michelle Theriault Boots, Anchorage Daily News 08/23/2014 | | Read Article: Anchorage Daily News |
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