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Texas Trial Lawyers Association


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  December 16, 2014

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Upcoming Online CLE

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Depositions and Your Discovery Plan

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Top 10 Things Attorneys Need to Know About E-Discovery

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Mass Action Options for Class Action Lawyers

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Handling Your Client’s Social Security Disability Claim

Announcements


 

 

Texas Watch: Safe Texas Agenda

As our state’s economy thrives and our population booms, Texas families and communities face new threats to their physical and financial safety. We call on lawmakers to take steps during the 84th Legislature to help Texans thrive in our Texas economy by adopting a Safe Texas Agenda. Click on the headline to learn more.  

 

Texas Tribune Daily Brief


 

 

The Brief for Dec 16

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Compilation of Texas news by the Texas Tribune.
John Reynolds, Texas Tribune 12/16/2014   Facebook iconTwitter iconLinkedIn Icon

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Issues


 

 

Is Fracking Polluting the Air?

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Toxic air pollution from fracking causes a wide spectrum of health problems for Americans across the country, an environmental group charged in a report by the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), released Tuesday. The report said Americans who live near oil and gas drilling wells are exposed to fracking-related air pollution in the form of chemicals such as benzene and formaldehyde. The NRDC said the pollution causes at least five serious types of health problems, including respiratory problems, birth defects, blood disorders, cancer and nervous system impacts. About one in four Americans live within a mile of an oil or gas well.
Doyle Rice, USA Today 12/16/2014   Facebook iconTwitter iconLinkedIn Icon

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TX Regulators Pan Study on Methane Gas in Wells

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Texas regulators say they put little stock in recent research suggesting that poorly drilled gas wells are allowing methane to seep into a North Texas aquifer, and will not re-examine the high-profile contamination case. A peer-reviewed study published in September in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science concluded that drilling was partially responsible for methane contamination that has tainted drinking water wells in Parker County. The wells, which sit near Barnett Shale drilling sites, are at the center of a years-long saga that thrust a Parker County neighborhood, and mortgage-broker-turned-activist Steve Lipsky, into the national discussion about the impacts of oil and gas drilling.
Jim Malewitz, Texas Tribune 12/16/2014   Facebook iconTwitter iconLinkedIn Icon

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Laws/Cases


 

 

Family of Man Shot by Police in Wal-Mart Plan to File Suit

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The family of a black man who was shot and killed by police at a Wal-Mart store in Dayton, Ohio is planning to file a lawsuit against local police and the retail store, according to news reports. At a news conference on Tuesday, the family will discuss its intent to file the lawsuit over the 22-year-old's death. The young man was shot and killed after reports that he was waving around what appeared to be a rifle in the store. The weapon turned out to be an air rifle the victim had gotten from the store's shelves. Police shot the man when he failed to obey commands to put down the gun. A grand jury cleared the officer involved of any charges in the shooting, but the incident is being investigated by federal officials.
Cliff Pinckard, Cleveland.com 12/16/2014   Facebook iconTwitter iconLinkedIn Icon

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Jury Awards $7M in Boy Scout Sexual Abuse Case

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On Friday, a Connecticut Superior Court jury awarded $7 million to a man who alleged he was sexually abused by the Boy Scout leader back in the 1970s. The lawsuit alleged that the plaintiff was sexually abused by the New Fairfield Boy Scout troop leader when he was a boy. According to the plaintiff's attorney, this is the largest compensatory damages verdict ever against the Boy Scouts of America. During the two-week trial, the plaintiff testified that he was sexually abused three times by the former troop leader when he was 11 and 12 years old. Another boy in the troop also claimed he had been molested by the leader about the same time. The man remained a troop leader until his conviction in 1999.
Daniel Tepfer, The Connecticut Post 12/15/2014   Facebook iconTwitter iconLinkedIn Icon

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Ohio Girl Hurt at Fair Challenges Indiana Damages Cap

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Attorneys for a 13-year-old Ohio girl hurt when a stage collapsed at the Indiana State Fair argued Monday that the state's cap on liability damages is unconstitutional and should be thrown out by the Indiana Court of Appeals. Jordyn Polet of Cincinnati rejected Indiana's offer of $1,690 to challenge the $5 million cap on total damages paid to victims of the 2011 collapse, which occurred when high winds blew down rigging before a concert by the country duo Sugarland. Seven people were killed and more than 100 were injured. The teen's attorney argued the cap on total damages from a single incident means people are unconstitutionally denied equal treatment, WIBC and WISH reported. He said that if she had suffered the same injury but had been the only casualty, she could have sought up to the $700,000 in individual damages.
Associated Press, Minneapolis Star Tribune 12/16/2014   Facebook iconTwitter iconLinkedIn Icon

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Products


 

 

Dallas-Based Maker of Supplements Linked to Deaths is Facing Federal Mail Fraud Investigation

 

A Dallas company (USPlabs)that made and sold dietary supplements that officials say are linked to several deaths, hospitalizations and cases of liver failure is under a federal criminal investigation, court records show.The Food and Drug Administration’s criminal division is conducting a mail fraud investigation of USPlabs over misleading statements about its sports supplements, which are popular among fitness buffs and body builders, according to federal search warrants.
KEVIN KRAUSE, The Dallas Morning News  12/16/2014  Facebook iconTwitter iconLinkedIn icon

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