| | 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. | | Ship Pilot Didn't Hear Tug's Location Broadcast | |  | | Moments before a bulk carrier and barge collided in the Houston Ship Channel the carrier's pilot didn't hear the captain, Kelli Ann Hartman, of the tugboat pushing the barge broadcast her position and intention to cross the channel ahead of his vessel. The pilot, Michael Pizzitola, acknowledged in testimony at a hearing Tuesday that he had failed to monitor a Coast Guard-required radio channel over which the tugboat captain broadcast crucial information. The bulk carrier Summer Wind and the tugboat Miss Susan collided on March 22, leading to the largest oil spill in Galveston Bay in two decades.
Harvey Rice, Houston Chronicle 06/04/2014    | | Read Article: Houston Chronicle | | More Pipelines in Texas for a Smelly, Deadly Gas | | | | In a state dominated by the oil and gas industry, hydrogen sulfide — a dangerous gas with a distinctive smell — is ubiquitous. And as the industry continues to boom, worries about people coming into contact with the gas are on the rise. According to federal statistics, hydrogen sulfide has killed 10 workers in Texas in the past decade. They included drivers of tanker trucks hauling hazardous waste, as well as a worker in a gas processing plant.
Dave Fehling, StateImpact Texas, Texas Tribune 06/04/2014 | | Read Article: Texas Tribune | | Va. Dismissed from Girl's Lawsuit Over ABC Pursuit | | | | A federal judge has dismissed the state of Virginia from a lawsuit filed by a girl who fled in a panic after her vehicle was swarmed by undercover Alcohol Beverage Control agents who believed that she had illegally purchased alcohol. The girl was charged with eluding police and assaulting a police officer after she fled in her vehicle after the officers swarmed her, believing her just-purchased carton of sparkling water was beer. The federal judge in the case says he will rule in two weeks whether the $40 million lawsuit, which claims malicious prosecution, conspiracy, false arrest and assault and battery, will be heard by a jury.
Larry O'Dell, Virginian Pilot 06/03/2014 | | Read Article: Virginian Pilot | | Ticketmaster Could Settle Lawsuit Over Ticket Fees | | | | Ticketmaster, a concert ticket retailer, has agreed to a tentative settlement of a decade-old lawsuit over allegedly "misleading" fees. The tentative settlement could force the company to credit customers for millions of dollars in past fees. The lawsuit alleges that the ticket retailer charged customers for "order processing fees" and "UPS delivery fees," and then also charged "convenience fees" and "facility fees." It further alleges that the company used the fees as "secret profit-generators" and not for their specified use. Ticketmaster has never admitted any wrongdoing.
Staff Report, WJLA TV - ABC 7 06/03/2014 | | Read Article: WJLA TV - ABC 7 | | Doctor Sues to Punish 2 Women Who Accused Him of Sexual Attacks | | | | Dr. Alireza Atef-Zafarmand has taken the unusual step of suing the women, alleging defamation, slander and other wrongdoing. He has also sought to have a third woman held in contempt of court for refusing to testify in one of the lawsuits. As part of that effort, one of his lawyers revealed her name and details of her medical records in a recent Dallas County state district court filing. That disclosure led the Texas Medical Board to intervene in the suit late last week. Its legal brief accused the lawyer of violating state and federal law protecting patient privacy. Atef-Zafarmand was suspended from practicing last year after a Dallas Morning News investigation documented several sexual abuse allegations against him. The board said it had identified 10 women who suffered “sexual assault, physical assault, inappropriate conduct or rape at the hands of Atef.”
BROOKS EGERTON, The Dallas Morning News 06/04/2014 | | Read Article: The Dallas Morning News | | Cancer Clinic Pays $3.7M for Prolonged Chemo | | | | The owners of Elizabethtown Hematology Oncology PLC have paid $3.7 million to settle claims that they extended the period of chemotherapy for their patients to pad their bills to the government. "To subject cancer patients to unnecessary treatments that are physically draining and emotionally stressful is utterly unconscionable," said Patrick McFarland, inspector general of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
Andrew Wolfson, Louisville Courier Journal 06/04/2014 | | Read Article: Louisville Courier Journal | | Families File Wrongful Death Suit Over Fatal Crash | | | | A wrongful death lawsuit was filed Monday in Lorain County Common Pleas Court in Ohio by three families whose children were killed in a graduation-day crash. Four students were killed in the accident after their vehicle, traveling at 69 mph, drove over a railroad crossing, became airborne, left the road, crashed into a culvert and flipped onto its roof. According to police, drivers have been known to use the steep grade of the crossing as a ramp to launch their vehicles. The families have filed the lawsuit against the CSX Corporation, Columbia and Liverpool township trustees and the commissioners and engineers of Lorain and Medina Counties.
Staff Report, WKYC 3 06/03/2014 | | Read Article: WKYC 3 | | |
