| 
| | | 
| Announcements |
|
|
TTLA is accepting nominations for the Making a Difference Award. |
| TTLA, at the discretion of the Executive Committee, presents the Making a Difference Award to recognize and honor those clients whose cases demonstrate the critical role of the civil justice system in protecting the rights of Texas families. Any client (past or present) of a current TTLA member is eligible for this award. Click on the headline to learn more and download the nomination form. |
Laws/Cases |
|
|
Oil Refinery Contaminated Nearby Town, Suit Says |
| The village of Roxana, Ill., has filed a lawsuit against the owners and operators of the Wood River Refinery, accusing them of releasing cancer-causing chemicals near the village. According to the suit, some parts of the village are contaminated with benzene at levels 2.6 million percent above the legal limits in the state. The suit also states that because much of the contaminant is below ground, the residents' groundwater is at risk and that some volatile products have already seeped into homes. Terry Hillig, St. Louis Post Dispatch 03/21/2012 | Read Article: St. Louis Post Dispatch |
Multiple Suicides at New York Jail Prompt Suit |
| The New York Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit against Nassau County and the local jail over the death of an Iraq war veteran who hung himself while imprisoned on DUI charges. The lawsuit claims the death is one of five suicides in the past two years, along with more than 200 complaints from inmates about prison conditions. The suit accuses jail and county officials of ignoring inmate complaints and says that some of the deaths could have been prevented. Aman Ali, Reuters 03/21/2012 | Read Article: Reuters |
Menlo Park Woman Receives $22M Med-Mal Verdict |
| The Palo Alto Medical Foundation has been slapped with a $22 million medical malpractice verdict after a Menlo Park woman suffered a stroke during an unnecessary procedure and lost the use of her arms and legs, her attorney said. Doctors at the medical foundation ordered an angiogram on Oct. 20, 2006, to investigate an abnormal vein in the brain of Robyn Frankel, who was seeking treatment for migraines. The procedure was done at Stanford Hospital & Clinics because the medical foundation lacked the necessary facilities. When dye for the angiogram was injected into the blood vessels of her brain, Frankel suffered a vasospasm and fell into a coma. She was a quadriplegic when she woke up roughly two weeks later. The actual award will be much less than $22 million, about $16 million is for past and future economic losses. The rest is for human suffering, which under the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act of 1975 will be reduced to $250,000. Jason Green, San Jose Mercury News 03/22/2012 | Read Article: San Jose Mercury News |
Issues |
|
|
Despite Decades of Scrutiny, State-Run Residences Not Passing Muster |
| After 21 years of contentious legal wrangling, a federal judge had dismissed a class-action lawsuit accusing the state of abusing and neglecting residents in its institutions for people with intellectual disabilities. Texas' centers were finally taking proper care of their residents, the judge said. And state leaders vowed that would continue. Ten years later, the centers were in trouble again for the same system failures, this time with the U.S. Department of Justice. So in 2009, the state Department of Aging and Disability Services — which oversees the 13 state-supported living centers — struck a five-year, $112 million deal with the Justice Department to make major changes at the facilities. Andrea Ball, Austin American Statesman 03/22/2012 | Read Article: Austin American Statesman |
Wrongful Death |
|
|
Hawaii Settles $15.4 Million Wrongful Death Suit |
| The state of Hawaii has agreed to pay $15.4 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit over the deaths of two hikers in 2006. The hikers fell to their deaths while walking down an unmarked trail in Waialua River State Park in Kauai. The settlement is the largest personal injury settlement in the state's history. Martha Neil, American Bar Association Journal 03/20/2012 | Read Article: American Bar Association Journal |
|
|
| |
| Published by TRIALSMITH, Litigation Tools for Trial Lawyers
5113 Southwest Parkway, Suite 285, Austin, TX 78735
You received this email because you are subscribed to this service from your trial lawyers association.
• Unsubscribe • Search National Litigation Bank • 800-443-1757 |
|