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| | Best Kept Trial Secrets: What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas | |
| | Don't gamble with your cases. 48 hours in Vegas can change your practice forever! Join some of TTLA's battle-tested veterans and emerging superstars in Las Vegas for a CLE experience that'll change your luck in the courtroom. February 23-25, 2012, Bellagio Hotel, Las Vegas, 8 hrs. MCLE w/ 1 hr. Ethics | | Laws/Cases | |
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| | Suit: Apartment Cop Could Have Prevented Murder | |
| | An apartment complex in Tennessee has been added to a $20 million lawsuit filed over the murder of a Middle Tennessee State University female basketball player at the hand of her roommate. The lawsuit alleges that a police officer working as a courtesy officer for the apartment complex found Shanterrica Madden with marijuana in her apartment shortly before she murdered her roommate, but the officer did not report the drugs to the police at the time. If the officer had notified "law enforcement authorities about the illegal drug use and remained in the apartment," the murder would not have occurred, the suit says. Mark Bell, Tennessean 02/06/2012 | | Read Article: Tennessean | | Insurance Company Hit with Class-Action Lawsuit | |
| | A class-action lawsuit has been filed against Citizens Property Insurance Corp. over the company's system of valuing replacement costs for homes. The lawsuit claims the company is using software that consistently overvalues the price of homes, raising customer premiums. The plaintiffs say the process "side-steps" legislative action as a way to raise rates without fighting the state legislature. Tolu Olorunnipa, Miami Herald 02/06/2012 | | Read Article: Miami Herald | | Rio Hondo Company Awarded $2.3 Million | |
| | A Cameron County jury awarded $2.3M plus $336,134 in interest to a Rio Hondo produce company that alleged a South Carolina company failed to pay for shipments of tomatoes. A lawsuit filed in 2008 states R&G Produce “provided goods to defendants on an open account. Defendants accepted the goods and became bound to pay … its designated charges, which were reasonable and customary for such goods.” R&G Produce “demanded defendants pay the amount due on the account but defendants refused and continued to refuse to pay said balance,” the lawsuit alleged. Staff, Valley Morning Star 12/15/2011 | | Read Article: Valley Morning Star | | JP Morgan Agrees to Pay $110M | |
| | JP Morgan Chase & Co. has agreed to pay $110 million to settle a class-action lawsuit claiming the bank charged excessive checking overdraft fees. The tentative deal was disclosed in a filing Friday in Miami federal court. It still must be approved by Senior U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King, who is overseeing similar lawsuits against about 30 banks. Associated Press, The Washington Post 02/07/2012 | | Read Article: The Washington Post | | Lawsuit Wants Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones' State Pay Halted | |
| | An Austin lawyer sued the state Monday, demanding that it stop paying the $115,200 salary of Jones, who moved from Austin to San Antonio last year to run for state Senate against incumbent Jeff Wentworth. Bill Aleshire, a lawyer and former county judge for Travis County, is asking Comptroller Susan Combs to stop “the use of his and other people's taxes from being used to pay the salary of a state official who has openly violated the Texas Constitution.” Tracy Idell Hamilton, San Antonio Express News 02/07/2012 | | Read Article: San Antonio Express News | | City, State Agency to Blame for Mass Murder, Suit Says | |
| | A lawsuit has been filed against the Riviera Beach Police Department and the Florida Department of Children and Families over a murder of four children and their mother at the hand of their father last year. The lawsuit alleges a "long, deep history of domestic violence" in the household and that investigations into the violence were "woefully inadequate." Police reports obtained after the shooting show officers were sent to the home 34 times in the four years before the shooting. Cynthia Roldan , Palm Beach Post 02/07/2012 | | Read Article: Palm Beach Post | | Issues | |
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| | After Honda Verdict, Will Consumers Head to Court? | |
| | Heather Peters' win in a Los Angeles small claims court against Honda Motor Co has all the makings of a David vs. Goliath battle, but some experts are skeptical it will spur angry consumers nationwide to do what she did: abandon complaint lines, class-action suits and lawyers, and just go it alone through the legal system. But not every consumer can sue every company they have a beef with. In the first place, many consumer contracts on everything from credit cards to cellular phone contracts to car rental agencies have clauses that require consumers to go to arbitration instead of filing lawsuits. Other clauses require consumers to waive their right to participate in class-action suits. (These clauses are controversial and there has been some push-back. Last week the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority sued Charles Schwab Corp , accusing the online brokerage of adding a provision to account agreements that would preclude customers from starting or joining class actions against the company.) Mitch Lipka, Reuters 02/07/2012 | | Read Article: Reuters | | The Wrong End of Lawsuits | |
| | Law firms are loading up on insurance against expensive liability claims as they increasingly find themselves on the wrong end of lawsuits. Getting blamed for poor results is nothing new for law firms, but they say clients have become more willing to sue in recent years. Claims of employment discrimination and firm mismanagement also are popping up more often as postrecession, law firms cull their ranks and sideline some partners in an attempt to boost profits for those who remain. Claims aren't tracked across the industry but several insurers say they have seen increases in the last year. A poll of six leading insurers last year found that four of them reported increases of 6% to 20% in malpractice claims, according to Ames & Gough Insurance and Risk Management, a specialty-insurance brokerage. Jennifer Smith, Wall Street Journal - $$ Subscription Required 02/07/2012 | | Read Article: Wall Street Journal - $$ Subscription Required($) | |
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