Have You Voted? | Find early voting locations in your county, the last day to early vote is November 2. | Appellate Court Weighs in on Partnership Dispute | | Texarkana's 6th Court of Appeals has reversed a trial court's ruling that found a Dallas attorney "wrongfully" withdrew from a partnership and that ordered him to pay more than $400,000 in damages and attorney fees to his former firm. The 6th Court's Oct. 2 decision in Ronald M. Bendalin v. Youngblood & Associates, et al., describes the dispute this way: "In its simplest terms, the withdrawal of Ronald M. Bendalin from his law partnership with Eldon L. Youngblood gave rise to this dispute involving the two men and their entities, most notably the Youngblood and Bendalin Partnership (YB Partnership.) The relationships involved and the fallout from the withdrawal, however, are far from simple." John Council, Texas Lawyer 10/22/2012 | Read Article: Texas Lawyer | Teacher, School Named in Sexual Abuse Suit | | An elementary school girl in North Carolina has filed a lawsuit against the Burk County school district, claiming she was sexually abused by a teacher. The 8-year-old girl says in the suit that she told a school counselor about the alleged actions and was told to "stop lying" and was sent back to class. The suit accuses school officials of allowing the teacher to spend inappropriate amounts of time with young female students and doing nothing to protect them. Cleve R. Wootson Jr., Charlotte Observer 10/23/2012 | Read Article: Charlotte Observer | Lesbian Couple Files Discrimination Lawsuit | | Two New York women have filed a lawsuit against the state's Division of Human Rights after they were turned away from a potential wedding site because they are homosexual. The suit claims that the site, Liberty Ridge Farm, does not qualify under religious-oriented discrimination exemptions and is therefore violating the plaintiffs' civil rights by refusing service based on sexual orientation. The lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages. Wire Report, The Washington Post 10/22/2012 | Read Article: The Washington Post | Documents in Meningitis Case Show Complaints in 1999 | | The Massachusetts Department of Health released hundreds of pages of documents on Monday detailing a history of violations at the New England Compounding Center, whose tainted medicine has caused a nationwide meningitis outbreak. The documents include dozens of complaints from as early as April 1999, less than a year after the company began as a compounding pharmacy in Framingham, Mass. The documents, released in response to requests from journalists, provide a window into regulators’ attempts to crack down on problems at the company, and the company’s efforts to correct them. SABRINA TAVERNISE and ANDREW POLLACK, The New York Times 10/23/2012 | Read Article: The New York Times | Is Texas Ready for 85-mph Speed Limit? | | While most states have raised speed limits gradually in recent years, Texas is going at it full throttle. Since 2002, the Texas Department of Transportation -- at the urging of state lawmakers -- has raised the speed limit to 75 or 80 mph on nearly 6,507 miles of road. Safety experts in the U.S. and Europe warn that fatalities and injury accidents are likely to rise. Texas' fatality rate is already higher than the national average, with 3,015 people killed on roads in 2011. Gordon Dickson, Star Telegram 10/23/2012 | Read Article: Star Telegram | Wage Suit Filed Against Wal-Mart | | A new lawsuit has been filed against Wal-Mart, accusing the company of forcing temporary employees to work extra hours without being properly compensated. The suit, which is seeking class-action status, claims plaintiffs are forced to work through lunch and after hours without being paid proper overtime wages. Staff Report, Reuters 10/22/2012 | Read Article: Reuters | Cleveland Indians Settle Suit over Man's Death at Ballpark | | The Cleveland Indians have settled a wrongful death lawsuit with the widow of a man who was killed after being hit with an inflatable slide outside the Indian's ballpark in June 2010. The suit accused defendants of failing to properly secure the slide, which crushed the man's back when it fell on top of him. The terms of the suit were undisclosed. Peter Krouse, Cleveland Plain Dealer 10/22/2012 | Read Article: Cleveland Plain Dealer | | |