TTLA Annual Meeting: Registration is Open! | Join TTLA December 8-9, 2016 at the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas for the 2016 Annual Meeting and CLE Seminar. See this year's Keynote Speaker, Matthew Dowd, and other great speakers while earning up to 7.50 hours MCLE credit. Click on the headline to learn more. | Texas Tribune Daily Brief | | Court Gives President More Power Over Consumer Agency Chief | | In a blow to the authority of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday that the agencyâ??s structure was unconstitutional but offered a fairly simple remedy: Give the president the power to fire the agencyâ??s director at will. The highly anticipated ruling from a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit directly addressed a longstanding criticism of the consumer watchdog agency: that its structure improperly gives too much power and autonomy to a sole director. STACY COWLEY, The New York Times 10/12/2016 | Read Article: The New York Times | Man Files Lawsuit After Being Severely Burned by Exploding Samsung Phone | | Samsung is facing a lawsuit filed by a man whose Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phone exploded in his pocket. The lawsuit filed last month in Bergen County Superior Court in California alleges that the plaintiff's phone caught fire in his pocket, causing him to suffer second and third-degree burns. Following the incident, the plaintiff had to undergo skin graft surgery. The lawsuit seeks $15,000 in damages for the plaintiff's "serious and permanent bodily injuries, permanent impairment, disability, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment in life." The phone was purchased at a Best Buy store in Modesto, California, according to the complaint. Anthony G. Attrino, NJ.com 10/10/2016 | Read Article: NJ.com | Supreme Court Hears Lawsuit Over Juror's Racial Bias | | The U.S. Supreme Court heard a case on Tuesday seeking to overturn a Hispanic man's sexual offense convictions due to a juror's racial bias. The plaintiff was convicted after being accused of sexually groping two teenage girls in a bathroom. According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff was not granted a fair trial under the U.S. Constitutionâ??s Sixth Amendment, due to racial bias voiced during jury deliberations. The lawsuit alleges that one of the jurors in the case, who is a former law enforcement officer, stated that the plaintiff "did it because he's Mexican, and Mexican men take whatever they want." Lawrence Hurley, Reuters 10/11/2016 | Read Article: Reuters | Two Deaths Spark Recall of St. Jude Heart Devices | | St. Jude Medical Inc on Tuesday said it would recall some of its 400,000 implanted heart devices due to risk of premature battery depletion, a condition linked to two deaths in Europe. The devices shock dangerously racing heartbeats back to their normal rhythm or to treat heart failure. All the devices, called ICDs and CRT-Ds, contain batteries that were manufactured before May 23, 2015, when the company added insulation to reduce the chance of an electrical short circuit. Jim Finkle and Ransdell Pierson, Reuters 10/12/2016 | Read Article: Reuters | Ford Recalls 2017 Lincoln Vehicles Over Headlight Issue | | Ford Motor Co. on Tuesday announced it will recall approximately 1,900 2017 Lincoln Continental vehicles in the U.S. and Canada due to faulty headlamp assemblies with improperly installed headlamp components that fail to meet federal turn signal visibility requirements. Matthew Guarnaccia, Law360.com 10/12/2016 | Read Article: Law360.com | Family of HIV-Positive Patient Dumped by Hospital Settles Lawsuit | | The family of an HIV-positive patient who died a week after Alabama hospital staff dumped him on the street has settled a lawsuit over his death. The wrongful death complaint alleged that in March 2013, hospital staff "dragged a helpless" HIV-Positive patient off their property and dumped him on a side street while temperatures were in the low 40s. A week later, the man died of hypothermia and other complications, according to the complaint. Opening statements in the case were made last week in the three-year legal battle before settling last Thursday. Prescotte Stokes III, AL.com 10/06/2016 | Read Article: AL.com | Wrongful Death Lawsuit Alleges Lack of Care in Texas Inmate's Death | | A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against the Texas Department of Criminal Justice on behalf of an inmate who died in January. The lawsuit contends that the inmate died of various ailments, including malnutrition and varying weight. However, at the time of his death, officials stated that the inmate was killed by his cellmate. The lawsuit, which seeks $120 million in damages accuses the state of "denial, delay and withholding of medical care and deliberate indifference to medical and security needs, in violation of the Eighth Amendment." Staff Report, Amarillo Globe-News 10/11/2016 | Read Article: Amarillo Globe-News | | |