Announcements | 
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TTLA Annual Conference has moved to June 1-3 in Austin |
| We’ll be hosting all the events you’ve come to expect from our December conference. Between the 2-day CLE, parties, meetings, legislative update & special events, you’ll leave the live music capital of the world feeling energized, connected, and bad to the bone! Check out the CLE program agendas for Wednesday and Thursday, which include a live video presentation with David Ball plus family friendly events to make this a true vacation opportunity. Click on the headline to register! |
Laws/Cases |
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Federal Judge Reject Dismissing Toyota Sudden Acceleration Lawsuits |
| A federal judge said Friday that he will deny another request from Toyota to dismiss lawsuits filed by car owners who claim sudden-acceleration defects caused the value of their vehicles to drop. U.S. District Judge James Selna in Santa Ana said in his ruling that the lawsuits have enough merit to move forward. Associated Press, The Washington Post 05/02/2011 | Read Article: The Washington Post |
Jury Rejects Missouri Hospitals’ Case Against Tobacco Firms |
| Tobacco companies are not liable to Missouri hospitals for money spent on patients with smoking-related illnesses who could not pay their medical bills, a St. Louis jury said. The case is the third such health care cost-recovery claim to reach trial, according to regulatory filings by Altria. The tobacco industry won the first, in Ohio, in 1999. The second initially resulted in a $17.8 million award for a health insurer by a New York jury in 2001. That was reversed on appeal in 2004. Bloomberg, The New York Times 05/02/2011 | Read Article: The New York Times |
Jury Awards $2.69 Million in Fatal DUI Accident |
| A West Virginia jury has awarded $2.69 million to the families of four people killed in a fatal drunken driving accident in 2008. The man responsible for the accident, who was sentenced to six to 26 years in prison, stole a truck from a local car dealership and drove it head on into another vehicle. The car dealership will be responsible for paying 20 percent of the damages, the jury ruled. Wire Report, The Charleston Gazette 05/02/2011 | Read Article: The Charleston Gazette |
FL Jury Awards Smoker's Widower $40M |
| A Jacksonville, FL man whose wife died of pulmonary disease after smoking cigarettes for decades has been awarded $40 million in damages by a jury. The award for Andy Allen was against cigarette makers R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris, both of whom said Friday they will appeal. Allen's lawsuit blamed the companies were responsible for the death of his wife Patty, who died in 2002 at age 54. Testimony showed she smoked two packs of cigarettes a day and couldn't quit. Associated Press, Miami Herald 04/30/2011 | Read Article: Miami Herald |
Settlement Reached in TCU Lawsuit |
| An attorney for a former Texas Christian University coed who claimed she was sexually assaulted by 3 athletes in a campus dormitory 5 years ago says her client has settled her lawsuit against the school. The former coed claimed she was drugged and raped by 2 TCU basketball players and a football player. The athletes were indicted on sexual assault charges that were later dropped. The woman’s lawsuit accused TCU of fraud for telling her it didn’t recruit “miscreant” athletes when in fact two of those charged in the case had criminal histories before enrolling. Associated Press, The Washington Post 05/02/2011 | Read Article: The Washington Post |
Plane Maker to Pay $48 Million in Crash Lawsuit |
| A Missouri jury has awarded $48 million to five families who lost children in a 2006 skydiving plane crash. The lawsuit said the plane's manufacturer used improper metals to construct the engine of the plane. Shortly after takeoff, the engine blew up, causing the plane to crash. Six people were killed in the accident. Phillip O'Connor, St. Louis Post Dispatch 05/02/2011 | Read Article: St. Louis Post Dispatch |
TX High Court Ruling: State Immune from Workers Comp Retaliation Suits |
| The state of Texas, including its political subdivisions, is immune from workers compensation retaliation lawsuits, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday. In Travis Central Appraisal District vs. Diane Lee Norman the court cited its 1995 ruling in a case in which it held that the governmental immunity of political subdivisions from retaliatory discharge claims under the statute is waived. Judy Greenwald, Business Insurance 05/02/2011 | Read Article: Business Insurance |
Federal Suit Over Comptroller's Data Leak |
| A Houston lawyer filed a class-action suit in federal court Friday against Comptroller Susan Combs and the state of Texas on behalf of 3.5M Texans whose personal information was left exposed on a state Internet server for more than a year. The federal suit asks that Combs be required to pay for costs relating to credit monitoring, identity theft and ensure that anyone whose information is misused will be compensated by the state. PATRICIA KILDAY HART, Houston Chronicle 05/02/2011 | Read Article: Houston Chronicle |
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