| | COLLABORATE! TTLA’S 2014 ANNUAL CONFERENCE! | | COLLABORATE! Join TTLA President Mike Guajardo at TTLA’s 2014 Annual Conference in Austin, June 11-13. ALL MEMBERS are invited and encouraged to attend a very important meeting of our Board of Directors Meeting on June 12th. In addition, the CLE Committee has once again planned three dynamic programs. We’ll start things off with The Jury Bias Model™ - From Car Wrecks to the Complex Case presented by Greg Cusimano and David Wenner on June 11th, followed by a ½-day CLE on June 12th with some of TTLA’s brightest stars sharing their best tips. The conference will wrap up with our Annual Med Mal program with all the latest updates and insights, before closing with an evening of Magic and Music. Click here to see all we have planned for you! Two days. Three great seminars. TTLA’s 2014 Annual Conference. Click on the headline for more information and to register. |
| AP IMPACT: Deadly Side Effect to Fracking Boom | | 
| | An Associated Press analysis of traffic deaths and U.S. census data in six drilling states shows that in some places, fatalities have more than quadrupled since 2004 — a period when most American roads have become much safer even as the population has grown. In 21 Texas counties where drilling has recently expanded, deaths per 100,000 people are up an average of 18 percent. Across the rest of Texas, they are down by 20 percent. In two Texas drilling regions, 259 people were killed last year, compared with 148 a decade ago. An average of 100 more people were killed in vehicle accidents in each of the last two years compared with before the boom.
JONATHAN FAHEY and KEVIN BEGOS, AP, Star Telegram 05/06/2014    | | Read Article: Star Telegram |
| Lawsuit Highlights Concern Over Air Quality and Shale Drilling | |
| | When a Dallas jury awarded three million dollars to a North Texas family in their case against a drilling company, people wondered what it could mean for fracking and its opponents. But the case also highlights a growing health concern in Texas’ booming oil and gas fields. For years, a lot of the debate around the drilling boom focused on its potential to pollute groundwater. Lately concerns over water seem to have been overtaken by a new worry, one exemplified in the recent multi-million dollar jury verdict.
Mose Buchele, StateImpact Texas (NPR), Texas Tribune 05/06/2014 | | Read Article: Texas Tribune |
| Suing Polluters: Texas Again Considers Curbing County Attorneys | |
| | After being the target of intense lobbying that drew criticism in last year’s Texas legislature, lawmakers will again hear why big business wants restrictions on local governments that go after polluters in court. The House Judiciary Committee will take up the issue at a hearing next week. “I wasn’t surprised to see it still out there. There’s an effort to limit cities and actually it’s been going on for several years now,” said Bennett Sandlin, Executive Director of the Texas Municipal League. Sandlin cites cases like one recently in which Ector County sued an oil field services company after acid was dumped into Odessa’s sewage system.
Dave Fehling, StateImpact texas (NPR), Texas Tribune 05/06/2014 | | Read Article: Texas Tribune |
| First Liability Settlement Approved for Injured Teen in Couch Case | |
| | Maria Lemus and Sergio Molina sued the family of Ethan Couch of Fort Worth, a teenager who was driving a speeding pickup last year when it started a chain reaction of collisions, killing four people and injuring 12, on behalf of their son, Sergio Molina, saying that his injuries from the wreck have left him unable to do anything more than blink his eyes. In the settlement reached Friday in 96th state District Court, Fred and Tonya Couch’s liability insurer agreed to pay $1.638 million cash to the Sergio E. Molina Special Needs Trust. The Couches’ insurer also agreed to purchase two sets of annuities to provide payments to the trust, beginning in July, of $1,515 monthly and of $1,837 monthly, both for life and guaranteed for 25 years.
Elizabeth Campbell, Star Telegram 05/06/2014 | | Read Article: Star Telegram |
| High Court Revives Tolan Lawsuit in Bellaire Police Shooting | |
| | The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that Robbie Tolan, a former minor league baseball player who was shot by a Bellaire police sergeant in 2008, will get another chance to argue that his lawsuit against the officer should not have been thrown out of court.
Brian Rogers, Houston Chronicle 05/06/2014 | | Read Article: Houston Chronicle |
| Family Files Suit Over Fatal Shooting of Boy by Police | |
| | The city of Brownsville, Texas has asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed against it over the shooting death of a teenager by police. The family of the 15-year-old boy who was shot to death by police in January 2012 after bringing a BB gun to school filed the lawsuit against the city. The boy was shot after he held the gun, which resembled a 9mm or a .45-caliber handgun, to his own head and then approaching another student. The lawsuit alleges that the boy's rights were violated by the officers' use of excessive and deadly force. The city has asked for the lawsuit to be dismissed, claiming "the plaintiffs cannot show that [the boy's] constitutional rights were violated."
Mark Reagan, Brownsville Herald 05/05/2014 | | Read Article: Brownsville Herald |
| Abuse Victim Close to Settlement With Boy Scouts of America | |
| | A man who alleged he was sexually abused by a Boy Scout scoutmaster and the Boy Scouts of America have reached a settlement in principal. The lawsuit accused the Boy Scouts of negligence in allowing the scoutmaster "access to children and failing to warn parents and adult leaders about the risks of pedophiles infiltrating Scouting." The lawsuit is being settled only with the national Boy Scouts of America. The other defendants, including the plaintiff's former troop and its sponsors, were dropped.
Steve Karnowski, San Francisco Chronicle 05/05/2014 | | Read Article: San Francisco Chronicle |
| School Bus Wreck Victim Challenges PA Damages Cap | |
| | A young woman who lost a leg when she was struck by a runaway school bus will ask Pennsylvania's high court Tuesday to overturn a half-million-dollar cap on damages involving public agencies. Ashley Zauflik's lawyer said she deserves the full $14 million jury award that followed the 2007 accident at Pennsbury High School in Bucks County. Instead, the trial judge reluctantly cut the award to the $500,000 state tort limit, even though the Pennsbury School District had $11 million of insurance coverage.
MARYCLAIRE DALE, The Associated Press, Philadelphia Inquirer 05/06/2014 | | Read Article: Philadelphia Inquirer |
| GM Recalls About 60,000 Saturns to Fix Gear Shifts | |
| | General Motors is recalling nearly 60,000 Saturn Aura midsize cars because the automatic transmission shift levers can show the wrong gear, and says it has known about the problem for at least a year. The problem, caused by failure of the transmission shift cable, has led to 28 crashes and four injuries but no deaths during the past seven years, GM said in a statement issued Tuesday. The Auras can roll away unexpectedly because the driver may think the car is in "Park" when it's in another gear.
TOM KRISHER, AP , ABC7 - San Francisco 05/06/2014 | | Read Article: ABC7 - San Francisco |
| Ford Recalls About 4,000 Super Duty F-Series Trucks | |
| | Ford Motor Co is recalling almost 4,000 commercial versions of its F-Series full-size pickup truck, mostly in the United States, because they could slip into reverse and increase the risk of a crash, according to documents filed with U.S. safety regulators. Ford is recalling 3,976 of F-250, F-350, F-450 and F-550 Super Duty trucks from model year 2015 that are equipped with 6.2 liter gasoline or 6.7 liter diesel engines, and 6R140 transmissions because a transmission control software error could cause the vehicle to engage "reverse" for 1-1/2 seconds when the driver believes he or she is shifting from "park" to "drive," according to the company and documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Reuters, Reuters 05/06/2014 | | Read Article: Reuters |
| Safety Agency Pressures Graco to Recall More Child Seats | |
| | The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is increasing pressure on Graco Children’s Products to recall about 1.8 million car safety seats the agency deems dangerous, and has ordered a series of tests. The goal, the agency said, is to see how long a malfunctioning buckle would delay freeing an infant during an emergency.
CHRISTOPHER JENSEN, The New York Times 05/06/2014 | | Read Article: The New York Times |
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