Register at the door: TTLA Car Wrecks Seminar in Dallas, Oct 6 | A must-attend program for anyone trying car wreck cases, this essential program provides relevant topics presented by your TTLA colleagues. Come away with the tools you need to compete in the courtroom! Happy Hour to follow hosted by the TTLA Advocates Board. Earn up to 7.0 hours MCLE credit including 1.0 hr ethics credit. Click on the headline to learn more. | 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 | | No Joke: Aversion To Jury Duty A Serious Threat To Justice | | Jokes about concocting clever excuses to avoid jury duty are a dime a dozen in recent history, a symptom of a widespread indifference or even aversion to serving that some experts say endangers the institution of the civil jury trial. Brandon Lowrey, Law360.com 10/04/2016 | Read Article: Law360.com | Judge to Decide Whether Jurors in Deadly 2013 Explosion Trial Can be Paid for Their Feedback | | A judge is being asked to step in and decide whether lawyers for a chemical plant in Geismar can dole out cash to former jurors looking for feedback on a recent trial. On September 26, an Iberville Parish jury ruled in favor of four contractors who were suing the Williams-Olefins company for an explosion left two people dead and more than 70 others injured on Thursday, June 13, 2013. The jury found that two management groups, the Williams Companies Inc. and the Williams Olefins LLC, knew that employees were at risk before the explosion occurred. Kiran Chawla, CBSNews.com 10/04/2016 | Read Article: CBSNews.com | Hospital Chain to Pay $513 Million to Settle Kickback Claims | | Texas-based Tenet Healthcare Corp. and two of its Atlanta subsidiaries have agreed to pay more than $513 million to resolve criminal and civil claims accusing the chain of paying kickbacks to steer pregnant Medicaid patients to their hospitals. Tenet also agreed to pay a total $368 million to the federal government, Georgia and South Carolina to resolve civil claims in a whistleblower lawsuit. Associated Press, The New York Times 10/04/2016 | Read Article: The New York Times | $12M Verdict Against Boy Scouts Overturned by Connecticut Supreme Court | | On Monday, Connecticut's Supreme Court overturned a $12 million verdict against the Boy Scouts of America in a sexual abuse case. The high court recently overturned the verdict and ordered a new trial in the lawsuit. The lawsuit alleged that the plaintiff was sexually abused when he was a child in the 1970's by an older scout in the organization. The high court agreed with the Boy Scouts' claim that the plaintiff needed to prove that the organization's conduct increased the odds that the abuse would take place. Staff Report, Reuters 10/03/2016 | Read Article: Reuters | Texas Camp Not Responsible for Fatal Fall, Says Jury | | A Texas jury has ruled that an adventure camp was not responsible for the death of a man who sneaked into the park and fell to his death from a zip line tower. The Tarrant County jury found that Camp Thurman was not responsible for the fatal fall that took place five years ago. The lawsuit was filed by the mothers of two of the victim's children and sought more than $1 million in damages for pain and suffering and mental anguish. An attorney for the plaintiffs says the women have not decided if they will appeal the ruling. Elizabeth Campbell, Ft. Worth Star Telegram 10/01/2016 | Read Article: Ft. Worth Star Telegram | Former Detainee Files Suit After Harris Cnty Jail Assault | | Last month Jerome Bartee was arrested on a drug and weapons charge and booked into the Harris County Jail. The next day Bartee's attorney says his client was on his way to the medical section of the jail. On the way, Bartee was attacked by a group of officers. Bartee's attorney filed a civil suit against Harris County and the three officers that were placed on leave. The suit alleges that Bartee's civil rights were violated. The suit also says there's a culture of excessive force at the Harris County Jail Marla Carter, KTRK-TV 10/04/2016 | Read Article: KTRK-TV | Two More Women Join Title IX Lawsuit Against Baylor | | Two women claiming they were sexually assaulted while attending Baylor University joined a Title IX lawsuit against the school Monday in U.S. District Court in Waco. Jane Doe 7 and Jane Doe 8 on Monday claimed Baylor failed to adequately investigate their cases. PHILLIP ERICKSEN, Waco Tribune Herald 10/04/2016 | Read Article: Waco Tribune Herald | GM Loses Bid To Put Ignition Switch Decision On Hold | | The Second Circuit on Friday rejected General Motorsâ?? request to put on hold a ruling reviving legal claims over ignition-switch defects previously blocked by the automakerâ??s 2009 bankruptcy sale until after the U.S. Supreme Court determined whether it will hear the case. Jonathan Randles, Law360.com 10/04/2016 | Read Article: Law360.com | Texas Uber Drivers Must Arbitrate Wage Claims, Judge Says | | A Texas federal judge on Monday told a proposed class of Uber Technology Inc. drivers seeking up to $7.5 billion in damages that they must individually arbitrate their claims against the ride-hailing service for alleged labor violations, rather than pursuing their suit in court. U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth found that a general â??choice of lawâ?? provision in Uberâ??s contracts does not effectively cancel out the contractsâ?? delegation provision, which requires drivers to arbitrate disputes individually under state law. Dorothy Atkins, Law360.com 10/04/2016 | Read Article: Law360.com | Doctors' Political Views May Affect Patient Care, Yale Study Says | | A new study by Yale suggests patient care may vary depending on whether the doctor is a Democrat or a Republican â?? at least when it comes to some hot-button health issues like firearm safety. Republican and Democratic doctors differed significantly when it came to some more politicized issues â?? abortion, marijuana and guns, the researchers reported Monday. Associated Press, NBCNewYork.com 10/04/2016 | Read Article: NBCNewYork.com | Feds Open Investigation Into Ford F-150 Brakes | | Federal auto-safety regulators have launched an investigation into the safety of brakes on certain versions of the Ford F-150 pickup truck, the most popular vehicle in the U.S. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is probing what vehicle owners have described as "sudden and complete loss" of braking in 3.5-liter engine versions of the 2015 and 2016 model-year F-150, according to an internal document posted to NHTSA's site. Nathan Bomey , USA Today 10/04/2016 | Read Article: USA Today | J&J Warns Diabetic Patients - Insulin Pump Vulnerable to Hacking | | Johnson & Johnson is telling patients that it has learned of a security vulnerability in one of its insulin pumps that a hacker could exploit to overdose diabetic patients with insulin, though it describes the risk as low. Medical device experts said they believe it was the first time a manufacturer had issued such a warning to patients about a cyber vulnerability, a hot topic in the industry following revelations last month about possible bugs in pacemakers and defibrillators. Jim Finkle, Reuters 10/04/2016 | Read Article: Reuters | | |