| | 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. | | Bad Fire Code, Not Firefighter Laxity, Was at Source of West Explosion | |  | | A new state fire marshal’s report on the April 17, 2013 explosion in West suggests that mistakes by firefighters responding to the blaze might have contributed to the own deaths. The report states that they were unprepared for the out-of-control warehouse fire they were fighting. There were, most certainly, problems with the way West’s volunteer fire department prepared for potential disaster at the fertilizer plant and how senior members supervised the initial response. The warehouse’s owner didn’t help by failing to abide by inspection and reporting rules that should have initiated local emergency-preparedness training.
Tod Robberson, The Dallas Morning News 05/19/2014    | | Read Article: The Dallas Morning News | | Lawsuit Over Abuse of Penn. Boy by Camp Counselor | | | | A lawsuit has been filed by the family of a 12-year-old Pennsylvania boy who was allegedly molested by a camp counselor at a sleep-away camp. The lawsuit contends that the camp counselor molested the plaintiff's son and another camper last July and that camp officials had been aware of the counselor's attraction to younger boys and tried to cover up the abuse. The 20-year-old counselor pleaded guilty to molesting the plaintiff's son and was sentenced to 5 to 23 months in Monroe County jail in Pennsylvania.
Steve Lieberman, LoHud.com 05/18/2014 | | Read Article: LoHud.com | | Louisiana lawsuits Seek Oil and Gas Industry Money to Restore Coastline | | | | Last summer, the independent board that oversees flood protection for New Orleans decided that oil and gas companies should pay their share. In a move that roiled a state where the energy industry is the economic foundation, the board voted unanimously to sue all 97 companies operating in the state for unspecified damages. The lawsuit alleges that in "racing to extract the region's resources," the oil and gas industry built a canal network of more than 10,000 miles that is "a mercilessly efficient, continuously expanding system of ecological destruction." n November, two southeastern parishes, Jefferson and Plaquemines, also sued companies that had dredged canals. Two other coastal parishes are considering lawsuits. The cases are pitting those who believe the industry should be held to account for its role in the relentless coastal erosion against those who see it as a crucial business that has followed state laws in its shoreline construction.
Neela Banerjee, LA Times 05/19/2014 | | Read Article: LA Times | | Lawsuit Accuses On Duty Police Officer of Abusing Girl | | | | A federal lawsuit has been filed accusing a former police officer from Pharr, Texas, of raping a minor while on duty. The lawsuit contends that the former police officer sexually abused the girl five times while on duty during 2013. It also accuses other officers of standing watch as guards while the abuse was taking place. The lawsuit was filed after the police department did not file criminal charges against the officers, who were eventually terminated.
Cristina Garcia, KGBT.com 05/17/2014 | | Read Article: KGBT.com | | Utah Couple Win Against Co that Charged for Bad Online Review | | | | The tables have turned for a online gadget retailer that tried to force a Layton couple to pay it $3,500 for a negative review the wife posted about the company. A federal judge has ruled John and Jen Palmer owe nothing to KlearGear and that instead, the company owes them money. The amount is to be determined at a court hearing in June.
Pamela manson, The Salt Lake Tribune 05/19/2014 | | Read Article: The Salt Lake Tribune | | Minn. Attorney to File Sex Abuse Suit Against Monk | | | | A Saint Paul, Minn., attorney says he plans to file a lawsuit against St. John's Abbey and one of its monks who is accused of sexually abusing two boys at a cabin. The filing, served on Friday, contends that the monk sexually abused the two boys when they were parishioners at the Church of St. Joseph in St. Joseph during the early 1970s.
Staff Report, St. Cloud Times 05/19/2014 | | Read Article: St. Cloud Times | | Over 30 People File Over S.C. Bridge Collapse Detour | | | | Over 30 people have filed a lawsuit against CSX Transportation of South Carolina over a collapsed bridge over a railroad track in Berkeley County which has caused residents to take a 22-mile detour. The plaintiffs allege that the detour is causing them each 5 to 10 extra hours of commuting and additional money in gas each week. The new bridge, which will take another 5 months to build, will cost about $2 million. The plaintiffs are requesting class-action status for the lawsuit.
Wire Report, The State 05/19/2014 | | Read Article: The State | | Inquiry by General Motors Is Said to Focus on Its Lawyers | | | | As General Motors faces a number of continuing investigations into its handling of a vehicle safety defect linked to 13 deaths, its legal department has become a focus of a broad internal inquiry into how the company handled the issue, according to two people with knowledge of the inquiry.Even as G.M. acknowledged that it knew about the defect for more than a decade, it has insisted that work on defective ignition switches was limited to a handful of midlevel employees.
BILL VLASIC, The New York Times 05/19/2014 | | Read Article: The New York Times | | Nurse Practitioners Look to Ease Supervision Rules | | | | Nurse practitioners in Texas have long fought against state regulations that link them financially and professionally to supervising physicians, a construct they say ties their hands and limits their ability to treat patients in a state with a looming shortage of primary care physicians. Texas lawmakers loosened some supervision requirements during the last legislative session following a compromise with physician groups, which argue that nurse practitioners do not have the training or experience to be entirely independent. But nurse practitioners are still battling for increased autonomy in the state Medicaid program.
Alexa Ura, Texas Tribune 05/19/2014 | | Read Article: Texas Tribune | | Mom to File Lawsuit Over Son's Death in Hot Jail Cell | | | | A New York woman has announced plans for a $25 million wrongful death lawsuit against the city over the death of her son, a mentally-ill, homeless veteran, in a 101 degree jail cell. The 56-year-old Marine veteran was found dead in his jail cell at Rikers Island on Feb. 15. An official cause of death has not yet been determined according to the medical examiner’s office, but the preliminary report indicates that hyperthermia was the likely cause. The veteran had been jailed on a misdemeanor trespassing charge and was unable to make bail.
Jake Pearson, San Francisco Chronicle 05/15/2014 | | Read Article: San Francisco Chronicle | | |
