| 2015 Midyear Conference and CLE Seminar | Be Inspired'Litigation with Compassion, Competence, and Confidence, June 3-5, The Omni Austin Hotel Downtown 700 San Jacinto at 8th Street, Austin, TX. Earn up to 12.25 hours MCLE credit. Click on the headline to register.
|
| Law Practice Fundamentals: It's as Simple as PI CLE Seminar | May 14, 2015, UNT School of Law, 1901 Main Street, Dallas, TX. Law Practice Fundamentals: It's as Simple as PI CLE Seminar is the ideal introduction for new entrants to the field or a refresher for seasoned practitioners. The TTLA Advocates Board of Directors has designed a program to get and keep your practice on track and successful. Learn essential how-to's and must-haves, practical tips, concepts and procedures from experienced practitioners who figured it out the hard way! An excellent program with exceptional speakers and invaluable networking opportunities make this a program you won't want to miss. Click on the headline to learn more.
|
Texas Tribune Daily Brief
| | |
| Patients Hospitalized on Weekends Risk More Falls and Infections |  | Patients admitted to the hospital on weekends are more likely to get a preventable illness or injury during their stay than people admitted during the week, a large U.S. study finds. Even after adjusting for patient characteristics, including the severity of the condition that brought them to the hospital, weekend admission was still linked with more than a 20 percent increased likelihood of hospital-acquired conditions when compared to weekday admissions, lead author Dr. Frank Attenello, a researcher at the University of Southern California, said by email.
LISA RAPAPORT, Reuters 04/22/2015    | | Read Article: Reuters |
| Study: Gas Activities "Most Likely" Caused Texas Quakes | | Gas industry activity 'most likely' triggered a series of earthquakes that shook two North Texas towns from late 2013 through early 2014, new peer-reviewed research shows. A combination of industry activities likely caused the phenomenon, according to a study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications. More specifically, according to the research, operators' withdrawal of brine ' naturally salty water removed during oil and gas drilling ' and the high-pressure injection of huge volumes of wastewater from gas wells were to blame.
Jim Malewitz, Texas Tribune 04/22/2015 | | Read Article: Texas Tribune |
| Why Did These Oil Workers Die? | | The deaths of Trent Vigus and at least nine other oil-field workers over the past five years had haunting similarities. Each worker was doing a job that involved climbing on top of a catwalk strung between rows of storage tanks and opening a hatch. There were no known witnesses to any of the men's deaths. Medical examiners generally attributed the workers' deaths primarily or entirely to natural causes, often heart failure. But in the past few months, there has been a shift. Though still unsure of the exact cause of the deaths, government agencies and some industry-safety executives are now acknowledging a pattern and are focusing on the possible role played in the deaths by hydrocarbon chemicals, which can lead to quick asphyxiation or heart failure when inhaled in large quantities. In the meantime, federal agencies and industry-safety groups are planning to send out a joint alert to the oil industry as early as this week, warning of the potential for imminent danger from inhaling hydrocarbons, according to several people involved in the effort. Much of the industry remains ignorant of the possible risks, they say.
ALEXANDRA BERZON, Wall Street Journal - $$ Subscription Required 04/22/2015 | | Read Article: Wall Street Journal - $$ Subscription Required($) |
| Oklahoma Recognizes Role of Drilling in Earthquakes | | Abandoning years of official skepticism, Oklahoma's government on Tuesday embraced a scientific consensus that earthquakes rocking the state are largely caused by the underground disposal of billions of barrels of wastewater from oil and gas wells. The state's energy and environment cabinet introduced a website detailing the evidence behind that conclusion Tuesday, including links to expert studies of Oklahoma's quakes. The site includes an interactive map that plots not only earthquake locations, but also the sites of more than 3,000 active wastewater-injection wells. The website coincided with a statement by the state-run Oklahoma Geological Survey that it 'considers it very likely' that wastewater wells are causing the majority of the state's earthquakes.
MICHAEL WINES, The New York Times 04/22/2015 | | Read Article: The New York Times |
| Tech Startup Faces Discrimination, Spying Lawsuit | | The former senior vice president of global marketing for Gravity4 has filed a lawsuit against the tech startup and one of its top executives alleging that she was harassed, discriminated against and spied on. According to the lawsuit, filed Tuesday in San Francisco Superior Court, during her time at the startup, the plaintiff faced discrimination because of her age and gender and was also harassed and spied on by the company. The lawsuit alleges gender discrimination, age discrimination, harassment, retaliation, failure to prevent discrimination, harassment and retaliation, and unlawful electronic eavesdropping and seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
Ellen Huet, Forbes 04/21/2015 | | Read Article: Forbes |
| Exxon Mobil to Pay $5.07M for 2013 Arkansas Oil Spill | | Exxon Mobil Corp has agreed to pay $5.07 million to resolve allegations it violated the federal Clean Water Act and state environmental laws in connection with a 2013 oil spill in Arkansas, the U.S. Department of Justice and Environmental Protection Agency said on Wednesday. The March 29, 2013 spill occurred after the rupture of Exxon's Pegasus pipeline, causing about 3,190 barrels, or 134,000 gallons, of oil to flow through a residential neighborhood in Mayflower, Arkansas and nearby waterways including Lake Conway, which flows into the Arkansas River.
Jonathan Stempel, Reuters 04/22/2015 | | Read Article: Reuters |
| U.S. Top Court Makes it Easier for People to Sue the Government | | he U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday made it easier for people to sue the federal government by ruling in favor of plaintiffs in two separate cases including one involving a Hong Kong woman who was strip-searched while in immigration detention in Oregon. On a 5-4 vote deciding both cases, the justices ruled that court deadlines for filing certain lawsuits can be extended if plaintiffs have good reasons for the delay. President Barack Obama's administration had asked the court to impose a strict deadline for such lawsuits under a law called the Federal Tort Claims Act.
LAWRENCE HURLEY, Reuters 04/22/2015 | | Read Article: Reuters |
| Family Sues After Funeral Home Provides Wrong Dead Man, Cremates Right One | | When Jerry Moon's relatives opened his casket in October 2013, they expected a last look at the 72-year-old railroad conductor before they laid him to rest at a southwest Washington state cemetery. Instead, they found a stranger -- Robert Petitclerc ' with plastic wrapped around his head. The family would later learn Moon had been cremated following a mix-up at a Kelso funeral home, which was supposed to hold his body until it could be shipped to Brown Mortuary in Chehalis, a small city located 90 miles south of Seattle. Moon's family has filed a lawsuit in Lewis County Superior Court claiming Brown Mortuary and the Kelso funeral home, Dahl McVicker Funeral Home, were negligent in their handling of Moon's remains. Brown Mortuary's owner ' Houston-based funeral home giant Service Corporation International ' is the lead defendant in the matter.
LEVI PULKKINEN, SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF, Houston Chronicle 04/22/2015 | | Read Article: Houston Chronicle |
| Mississippi AG Lawsuit: State Farm Enriched Itself Through Katrina Homeowner Program | | Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood is suing State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. over millions of dollars he claims the state lost because the insurance company "maliciously" denied Hurricane Katrina claims for wind losses while the federally funded Homeowners Assistance Program picked up the tab. The lawsuit says: "State Farm benefitted substantially and illicitly from HAP, because HAP grants ameliorated the financial pain to State Farm policyholders caused by State Farm's wrongful denial or underpayment of claims for wind damage under its homeowner policies. "State Farm in effect converted a program designed to help Mississippians who were devastated financially by Katrina into a subsidy for itself." Read more here: http://www.sunherald.com/2015/04/21/6187338_mississippi-ag-files-suit-against.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy
ANITA LEE, Biloxi Sun Herald 04/22/2015 | | Read Article: Biloxi Sun Herald |
| |
