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January 12, 2012

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Fatal Shooting Sparks Suit Against Gun Light Maker

Judge Awards $600,000 in Malpractice Suit

Software Uses Scare Tactics on Customers, Suit Says

Final Suits Over Fatal Mine Collapse Settled

Dr Pepper Deal Leaves Small-Town Dublin With a Bitter Taste

Suit over Death By Police Taser Allowed to Proceed

Industry Challenges Texas Pipeline Ruling

Trial over 2009 Bastrop Fire Begins; Utility Accused of Negligence

Fired Scientist Files Complaint Against Austin Police Crime Lab

Supreme Court Sides with Church in Teacher Firing

Mass. Court Strikes Down Immigrant Insurance Law

How Medical Malpractice Leads to Birth Injuries

Allstate Among Insurers Lifting Rates as Storms Defy Models

 

 

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Announcements

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Laws/Cases

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Fatal Shooting Sparks Suit Against Gun Light Maker

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A fatal police shooting in Plano, Texas, has sparked a lawsuit against the manufacturer of the flashlight mounted on the gun of the officer responsible for pulling the trigger. In a sworn affidavit, the officer said he was attempting to switch on the light when he accidentally pulled the trigger, shooting the victim. The switch to turn on the light is mounted below the pistol trigger guard. The lawsuit claims the location of the switch "creates a substantial risk that the user will accidentally pull the trigger."  Bill Conrad, Plano Star-Courier  01/10/2012

Read Article: Plano Star-Courier    

 

Judge Awards $600,000 in Malpractice Suit

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A Mississippi judge has awarded $600,435 to a Jackson couple in a medical malpractice lawsuit filed against a doctor and local abortion clinic. The woman claimed in the suit that she had an abortion in 2003, only the doctor stopped halfway through and sent her home without prescribing medication. The uncompleted abortion led to sepsis poisoning, the suit said, sending the woman into a coma for more than a week.  The Clarion-Ledger , The Jackson Clarion-Ledger  01/10/2012

Read Article: The Jackson Clarion-Ledger    

 

Software Uses Scare Tactics on Customers, Suit Says

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A Washington woman has filed a lawsuit against software company Symantec Corp., alleging the company uses "scare tactics" to convince customers to purchase its software products. According to the suit, the company distributes trial versions of its software to scan computers, "then invariably report that harmful errors, privacy risks and other problems exist on the PC, regardless of the real condition of the machine." The errors reported by the software are false, the suit claims, and are no indication of the actual health or privacy status of a computer.  Jim Finkle, Reuters  01/10/2012

Read Article: Reuters    

 

Final Suits Over Fatal Mine Collapse Settled

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The final lawsuits over the death of 29 miners in a mine collapse in West Virginia have been settled, the Charleston Gazette reports. The company deemed responsible for the disaster, Alpha Natural Resources, reached an undisclosed settlement with the remaining 13 families this week. Government officials who investigated the cause of the mine collapse say the company's "culture of deliberately evading safety standards" is to blame for the accident.  Ken Ward Jr., The Charleston Gazette  01/10/2012

Read Article: The Charleston Gazette    

 

Dr Pepper Deal Leaves Small-Town Dublin With a Bitter Taste

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Dr Pepper Snapple Group settled a trademark dispute by acquiring the rights to the Dublin Dr Pepper franchise from the local bottler, a family-owned, 121-year-old institution in the Central Texas town. On June 28, Plano-based Dr Pepper Snapple sued in federal court in Sherman, claiming that Dublin Dr Pepper -- its oldest and smallest bottler -- violated its licensing agreement by selling beyond its distribution territory and using an unauthorized logo, which carried the name of the town. A unit of Dr Pepper Snapple will continue to distribute a sugar-sweetened Dr Pepper for the six-county territory in Central Texas, but the bottles will carry no reference to Dublin. Such bottles are already used in the North Texas market served by the corporate-owned distribution unit. Neither side would disclose the purchase price.  Barry Shlachter, Fort Worth Star-Telegram  01/12/2012

Read Article: Fort Worth Star-Telegram    

 

Suit over Death By Police Taser Allowed to Proceed

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A federal judge has ruled that the family of a man who was killed after being shocked by a Taser by police in 2009 may proceed with a lawsuit. While the judge dismissed some of the suit's claims, the central one remained - officers should not have used the Taser on the man, who was naked and unarmed. The lawsuit alleges the actions of the officers on the day of the man's death amounted to "to willful misconduct, wrongful death, intentional infliction of emotional distress and the deprivation of constitutional rights."  Melinda Rogers, The Salt Lake Tribune  01/11/2012

Read Article: The Salt Lake Tribune    

 

Industry Challenges Texas Pipeline Ruling

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Pipeline companies are asking the Texas Supreme Court to overturn a ruling they say jeopardizes new projects, escalating the battle over the costs of transporting oil and natural gas produced by the energy boom in South Texas. The industry says its costs are soaring as landowners, bolstered by a recent appellate-court opinion, seek much higher payments for damage to their property values from pipelines and reject what they see as lowball offers from companies. Under Texas law, companies can build pipelines across private property over landowners' objections, but must pay for use of the land and any damage to the value of the rest of the property. The dispute in the South Texas case could have ramifications in other states where pipelines are proliferating along with new oil and gas fields, some legal experts say, as lawyers and appraisers build on arguments that have gained traction in court.  DANIEL GILBERT, Wall Street Journal - $$ Subscription Required  01/12/2012

Read Article: Wall Street Journal - $$ Subscription Required($)    

 

Trial over 2009 Bastrop Fire Begins; Utility Accused of Negligence

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Jurors in a Bastrop County courtroom are hearing testimony in a civil suit claiming that Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative was negligent and caused a wildfire in 2009 that damaged 26 homes and was the most destructive fire in Central Texas at the time. The jury must determine whether a falling tree knocked down sagging power lines that sparked the fire in the utility's right of way. Attorneys for the more than two dozen plaintiffs, who are homeowners seeking $6 million in damages, are saying that there was no tree and that the fire was caused by the utility's faulty wire connections, sagging lines and plenty of combustible material — wood chips — on the ground.  Ricardo Gándara, Austin American Statesman  01/12/2012

Read Article: Austin American Statesman    

 

Fired Scientist Files Complaint Against Austin Police Crime Lab

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A fired former Austin Police Department crime lab scientist has filed a complaint against the lab with the Travis County district attorney's office, alleging lab administrators do not have proper accreditation and that drug evidence was not analyzed before reports were submitted. The complaint, filed in December, has prompted District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg to ask the Texas Department of Public Safety to review the charges.  Patrick George, Austin American Statesman  01/12/2012

Read Article: Austin American Statesman    

 

Supreme Court Sides with Church in Teacher Firing

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The U.S. Supreme Court has sided with a church school in a lawsuit filed by a former teacher fired by the church. The lawsuit claimed the teacher had been fired after taking a leave of absence to deal with an illness. The Supreme Court, however, ruled that the First Amendment "guarantees" free exercise of religion, and that decisions about religious employees should be kept out of government hand. Opponents of the court's ruling say the church was using religion to thinly hide acts of discrimination protected in the Americans with Disabilities Act.  Lauren Markoe, The Washington Post  01/11/2012

Read Article: The Washington Post    

 

Mass. Court Strikes Down Immigrant Insurance Law

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The Massachusetts Supreme Court has ruled that a law excluding legal immigrants from a subsidized insurance program is unconstitutional. The program was created in 2006, but a subsequent 2009 law funneled legal, qualified immigrants into a different program, giving them less coverage at a higher price. The ruling could cost Massachusetts upwards of $150 million a month, the Boston Globe reports.  Debra Cassens Weiss, American Bar Association Journal  01/06/2012

Read Article: American Bar Association Journal    

 

Issues

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How Medical Malpractice Leads to Birth Injuries

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Statistics show that six out of every 1,000 babies born in the United States suffer some form of birth injury. Those injuries can be mild, such as a scratch or a bruise, or they can be severe. Some of these injuries can’t be prevented, but other birth injuries are the result of medical malpractice. These cases – the result of negligence on the part of a doctor, nurse, anesthesiologist or paramedic – happen more often than most health practitioners would like to admit.  KSAT, KSAT.com  01/12/2012

Read Article: KSAT.com    

 

Insurance

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Allstate Among Insurers Lifting Rates as Storms Defy Models

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Allstate Corp., Travelers Cos. and State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. are among insurers raising homeowners’ rates after damage from natural disasters defied industry projections. Allstate, the No. 2 U.S. home insurer, boosted prices for its namesake brand of home policies by 5.6 percent in the nine months through Sept. 30 and has said more increases are coming. Travelers is raising rates after re-evaluating U.S. storm risk. State Farm, the largest U.S. home insurer, has charged homeowners more nationwide for three straight years. Near-record-low interest rates cut insurers’ investment income, and tornadoes, wildfires and Hurricane Irene increased claims costs in the U.S. last year. The industry averaged annual underwriting losses on homeowners’ policies in the decade ended in 2010, according to data compiled by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.  Bloomberg, The Washington Post  01/12/2012

Read Article: The Washington Post    


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