| 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! | | Share with your FB friends! | |
| | BP reports profit of $7.2 billion, Posted on April 27, 2011, Fuelfix Blog, Houston Chronicle. LONDON — BP PLC posted a 16 percent rise in first-quarter net profits on Wednesday as gains from the sale of major assets to pay for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill outweighed the ongoing cost of that disaster. Click on headline to read more. | | Study | |
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| | Which Hospitals Have More Problems After Surgery? | |
| | A new study finds mixed results in the rates of death and complications after surgery at hospitals that train doctors versus those that don't. Teaching hospitals have more deaths after emergency surgery than non-teaching hospitals, while both types of hospitals have similar risks of dying after elective surgeries, according to research published in the May issue of the Annals of Surgery. Kerry Grens, Reuters 04/28/2011 | | Read Article: Reuters | | Study Ranks Food Pathogens by Cost to Society | |
| | Of the food pathogens that cost society the most money — in terms of medical care, lost days of work, long-term chronic health problems or deaths — half are found in poultry, pork, beef and other meat products, according to a study. For the first time, researchers used federal data on food-borne illnesses to link the pathogens — bacteria, viruses or parasites — and the foods that most often carry them and then ranked them according to the financial burden they place on society. Lyndsey Layton, The Washington Post 04/28/2011 | | Read Article: The Washington Post | | Laws/Cases | |
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| | US High Court Rules Arbitration Agreements Can Ban Class-Actions | |
| | Large corporations won a substantial victory at the Supreme Court, as ideologically split justices ruled that consumers may not band together in class-action arbitration to pursue their complaints. AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion involved cellphones and a familiar contract that requires customers to press claims through arbitration rather than lawsuits. Such ubiquitous contracts, which mandate individual rather than group claims, are becoming standard for companies offering loans, cable service, credit cards and even employment. Robert Barnes, The Washington Post 04/28/2011 | | Read Article: The Washington Post | | A.I.G. to Sue 2 Firms to Recover Some Losses | |
| | AIG, the giant insurer rescued by the federal government, will file the first of what could be a series of lawsuits against Wall Street firms, contending that it was the victim of fraud. Though the insurer received a hefty bailout, much of that money ultimately flowed to banks. Now, A.I.G. is trying to “recoup potentially billions of dollars from the fraudulent conduct of these defendants and other parties,” according to a copy of the suit obtained by the NYT. Because A.I.G. is still largely owned by the government, taxpayers would share in any recovery. Louise Story, The New York Times 04/28/2011 | | Read Article: The New York Times | | Jury Awards $37.5 Million to Family of Slain Officer | |
| | A Huntsville, Ala., family was awarded $37.5 million in a wrongful death lawsuit involving a member of their family, a slain Huntsville police officer. The officer was fatally shot in 2005 by a local restaurant employee while responding to a domestic violence call at the restaurant. The suit alleged the defendant was drunk at the time of the shooting. Victoria Cumbow, The Birmingham News Blog 04/19/2011 | | Read Article: The Birmingham News Blog | | Lawsuit Filed After PlayStation Accounts Hacked | |
| | A lawsuit has been filed against Sony Corp.'s network entertainment unit after a hacker broke into PlayStation user accounts across the world. The hacker may have had access to all of the account information, including credit card numbers, the company reported this week. The lawsuit accuses the company of failing to protect the identity and information of its customers. Staff Report, Indianapolis Star 04/28/2011 | | Read Article: Indianapolis Star | | Suit: Clothing CEO Put Nude Employee Photos Online | |
| | Three former female American Apparel employees have filed a lawsuit against the clothing company and its CEO, claiming he posted revealing and naked pictures of them on the Internet. The pictures, the lawsuit claimed, were taken during company photo shoots in which the women were forced to pose in provocative and inappropriate ways. In March, several women filed lawsuits against CEO Dov Charney, accusing him of sexual harassment. Terry Baynes, Reuters 04/28/2011 | | Read Article: Reuters | | A 9/11 Judge Sets a Timer for a Month | |
| | For almost nine years, the family of Mark Bavis, a passenger on the second plane to hit the World Trade Center on 9/11 has been waiting for a trial in a wrongful-death lawsuit it filed against United Airlines and other defendants. Theirs is the last wrongful-death action still pending. With a trial scheduled for later this year a federal judge has set a time limit. Judge Hellerstein will restrict each side to the same number of hours — in one estimate, 50 to 60 — to present its case, and time the trial like a speed chess match. BENJAMIN WEISER, The New York Times 04/28/2011 | | Read Article: The New York Times | | Court Rules Starbucks Shouldn't Reveal Identities of Potential Plaintiffs | |
| | A California appeals court ruled this week that Starbucks does not have to reveal the identities of potential plaintiffs who were illegally required in job interviews to disclose if they had marijuana convictions. A lawsuit was filed against the company in 2005 over this practice, but it was dismissed because the plaintiffs themselves had no marijuana convictions. A lower court then ordered Starbucks to search their former applicants to find people that were victimized by the practice and contact them. The appeals court ruled against this, however, saying that disclosing the identities would "ironically" violate the legislation meant to protect them. Edvard Pettersson, Bloomberg 04/27/2011 | | Read Article: Bloomberg | | Insurance | |
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| | Life Insurers Skimp on Payouts: States | |
| | States are investigating whether some life insurers are failing to ensure that they pay out on policies of deceased customers, in a battle that could shift hundreds of millions of dollars to consumers and state coffers. An auditing firm 3 years ago pitched cash-strapped states on identifying unclaimed life policies that those states could seize as abandoned property. Some 35 states eventually signed up, agreeing to give Verus Financial a cut of any take. Concerns have emerged that insurers weren't just slow in turning over unclaimed funds. Rather, some appeared to have turned a blind eye to data sources that could have revealed that certain policyholders had died and that their heirs were owed money. LESLIE SCISM, Wall Street Journal - $$ Subscription Required 04/28/2011 | | Read Article: Wall Street Journal - $$ Subscription Required($) | |
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