| Have you registered for TTLA PMD Seminar, Feb. 10 in Austin? | The 2017 faculty features some of the most seasoned and talented mass tort attorneys in the country, providing information you cannot get anywhere else and a program structured to maximize the flow of up-to-the-minute information in an interactive setting. Click on the headline to learn more and register.
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| General Membership Lobby Day, Feb 7th | Deadline to register for the General Membership Lobby Day is Jan 27th. This is a great opportunity to learn about key bills and meet face-to-face with lawmakers. Click on the headline to register.
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Texas Tribune Daily Brief
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| Second Former Employee Claims Baylor Blocked Investigation into Sexual Assaults |  | A second former Title IX employee at Baylor University has gone public with claims that the school blocked attempts to thoroughly investigate sexual assault complaints, bolstering a prior allegation that Baylor set its Title IX office up to fail "from the beginning." Gabrielle Lyons, who worked as a Title IX investigator for seven months in 2015, said Baylor failed to implement Title IX -- the federal law that calls for gender equity in education and requires universities to promptly respond to sexual violence on campus -- during her time there, creating a discriminatory and hostile environment for female employees and students.
Sarah Mervosh, The Dallas Morning News 01/20/2017    | | Read Article: The Dallas Morning News |
| Costco Agrees to Pay $12M Over Lax Pharmacy Practices | | Costco Wholesale Corp. has agreed to pay nearly $12 million to settle Justice Department allegations of lax pharmacy controls over a four-year period. The Issaquah, Washington-based company acknowledges in the settlement announced Thursday that some of its pharmacies improperly filled prescriptions, kept poor records or failed to adequately track inventory between the start of 2012 and the end of 2015.
Associated Press, Austin American-Statesman 01/20/2017 | | Read Article: Austin American-Statesman |
| U.S. Supreme Court to Decide Fate of Plavix Suits | | The U.S. Supreme Court took up a case Thursday that will determine where Bristol-Myers Squibb must battle with plaintiffs who say the blood thinner Plavix caused bleeding or a stroke. Back in March 2012, the pharmaceutical giant was hit with eight separate product-liability lawsuits related to Plavix in San Francisco Superior Court. The plaintiffs purport to represent 678 people who suffered side effects or death after taking the prescription drug, but Bristol-Myers Squibb contends that the California courts do not have a right to adjudicate the claims of the 592 nonresident consumers.
BARBARA LEONARD, Courthouse News Service 01/20/2017 | | Read Article: Courthouse News Service |
| Montanans Settle Asbestos Mine Cases for $23 Million | | A Montana state court judge approved a $23 million settlement on Wednesday for 1,087 people or estates that claimed state officials knew asbestos from a Libby mine was making them sick but didn't inform them of the hazards from mining, processing and transferring of vermiculite-related products. The latest settlement involves people who lived in Libby and Lincoln County in northwestern Montana who either did not work at the W.R. Grace & Co. vermiculite mine or lived with someone who did.
EVE BYRON, Courthouse News Service 01/20/2017 | | Read Article: Courthouse News Service |
| Court Upholds Conviction of Massey Ex-CEO in Fatal Mine Blast | | A federal appeals court on Thursday rejected former Massey Energy Co Chief Executive Officer Donald Blankenship's bid to overturn his conviction and one-year prison sentence related to his role in a 2010 West Virginia mine explosion that killed 29 workers. The decision by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals likely means Blankenship will remain in prison at least until he is eligible for release on May 10. Blankenship led Massey from 2000 to 2010 and is the most prominent U.S. coal executive convicted of a crime related to miners' deaths.
Jonathan Stempel, Reuters 01/20/2017 | | Read Article: Reuters |
| Jury Says Truck Crash Victim's Family Entitled To Over $16M | | An Alabama jury found Thursday that the family of a man killed in an October 2013 automotive crash involving the truck he was driving was entitled to more than $16 million in punitive damages over a defective cab guard. The jurors found in favor of the family of Larry Albritton, who was killed after a truck he was driving crashed and caused the load of logs in the truck to shift and break through the truck's cab, striking Albritton.
Adam Lidgett, Law360 ($) 01/20/2017 | | Read Article: Law360 ($) |
| Tesla Autopilot Not Defective in Fatal Crash | | A fatal Tesla Model S crash in May was not the result of any defect in the car's Autopilot semi-autonomous driving system, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration concluded Thursday. Joshua Brown died in May when his Tesla Model S drove under a tractor-trailer truck that was turning left in front of him. The six-month investigation found that Brown had set the Autopilot system to a speed of 74 miles per hour before the crash and that neither the Autopilot system nor Brown made any attempt to brake before the deadly impact.
Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNN 01/20/2017 | | Read Article: CNN |
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