| | Car Wrecks CLE in Dallas, October 9, 2014 (8 hours MCLE with 1.5 hours ethics) | | TTLA's CLE Committee has revamped our exceptional Car Wrecks program to bring you innovative, relevant topics and some exciting new speakers. From new issues like E-Filing, to fresh looks at opening & closing, voir dire and defense strategies, you'll come away with tips, insights & valuable information to give you the edge in your car wreck cases. Additionally, the TTLA Advocates Board of Directors is pleased to host a post-CLE Happy Hour. Click on the headline to learn more. |
| Texas Tribune Daily Brief
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| Fracking & Hydraulic Drilling Have Brought a Spike in Fatal Trucking Accidents in Texas | | 
| | For six decades, highway deaths have dropped steadily all across the US, but in Texas all motor vehicle fatalities - and accidents involving commercial trucks - have turned back upward since the state's oil drilling and fracking boom began in 2008. In fact, consistently since then, Texas has led all states in motor vehicle deaths, surpassing California as the previous national leader, U.S. Department of Transportation records show.
Lise Olsen, Houston Chronicle 09/15/2014    | | Read Article: Houston Chronicle |
| Study: Texas Drinking Water Tainted by Natural Gas Operations | |
| | The shale-gas boom of recent years has contaminated drinking-water wells in North Texas’ Barnett Shale and the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania, a study published Monday concludes. The study, by researchers from five universities, concludes that neither drilling itself nor the hydraulic fracturing that follows it is directly to blame. The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, adds to a growing body of science that examines the environmental impacts of natural gas production, which has seen a rush of drilling and processing in numerous states over the past decade.
RANDY LEE LOFTIS, The Dallas Morning News 09/15/2014 | | Read Article: The Dallas Morning News |
| Nurse Files Whistleblower Suit Against Hospital | |
| | A former nurse for the University of Michigan Hospital has filed a lawsuit alleging that she was fired from her job after filing a complaint about a fellow nurse and because she is white. The lawsuit alleges that officials at the hospital violated the Whistleblower Act when they fired the plaintiff after she filed a complaint about another nurse failing to properly dispose of a medication. The plaintiff was officially fired for "use of excessive force in restraining a patient." The lawsuit names as defendants the University of Michigan, the Board of Regents and the clinical nurse manager.
John Counts, MLive 09/13/2014 | | Read Article: MLive |
| Lawsuit Filed Over Fatal Skiing Accident | |
| | A civil lawsuit was filed on Wednesday over the death of a skier in Colorado. The accident happened in February 2013 when another skier, a dermatologist from New York City, came down the mountain and collided into a resting skier. The skier who was hit died after suffering from a traumatic brain injury. The filing cites the Colorado Skier Safety Act by stating that the defendant "had the primary duty to avoid collision with any person or object below her." The lawsuit seeks a jury trial, the awarding of damages and other forms of compensation.
Staff Report, The Denver Channel 09/14/2014 | | Read Article: The Denver Channel |
| Breaking: At Least 19 Deaths Tied to Flawed GM Cars | |
| | Ken Feinberg, the attorney overseeing a compensation fund for victims of GM cars, has so far linked 19 deaths to a serious flaw with the automaker's ignition switches. That's more than the 13 deaths General Motors (GM) has said were tied to the problem, which went unreported for a decade, years after company engineers discovered it. Overall, Feinberg has received 125 claims for deaths and 320 for injuries in the five weeks he has been up and running. Of those, he has found 31 eligible for compensation. Most of the remainder are still under review. Feinberg said he has denied fewer than a dozen claims.
Gregory Wallace and Poppy Harlow, CNN 09/15/2014 | | Read Article: CNN |
| Biggest Home Insurers' Hefty Hikes Unchallenged by Texas Insurance Commissioner | |
| | Texas’ insurance commissioner has allowed the three biggest home insurers to impose hefty rate hikes on two-thirds of their policyholders, despite strong objections from the Public Insurance Counsel, the state consumer advocate for insurance, that have been all but ignored. State Farm policyholders have seen a 9.8 percent increase this year, on top of a 20 percent hike last year. Farmers raised rates an average 14.9 percent at the beginning of the year, and Allstate boosted its rates 6.5 percent.
TERRENCE STUTZ, The Dallas Morning News 09/15/2014 | | Read Article: The Dallas Morning News |
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