Smoker's Son Recovers $12.8M for Loss of Consortium | | The son of a smoker who won a $3 billion jury verdict against Philip Morris USA Inc. in 2001 is entitled to an additional $12.8 million for the loss of his father’s relationship, an intermediate California appeals court has ruled. Richard Boeken died of lung cancer in 2002 while Philip Morris was appealing a Los Angeles jury’s award granting him $3 billion in punitive damages and $5.5 million in compensatory damages—at the time the largest verdict to date in million a smoker case. Amanda Bronstad , The National Law Journal - $$ Subscription Required 07/15/2013 | Read Article: The National Law Journal - $$ Subscription Required($) | Hyundai Recalls 5,200 Vehicles | | Automaker Hyundai has issued a recall of more than 5,000 Azera sedans, model years 2012-2013, due to the potential accidental activation of passenger-side airbags. The company said sensors in the front seat may fail to distinguish between small, light passengers - children - and larger passengers. This may mean that the airbag will not deactivate and thus inflate in certain situations, which could cause injury or death to a small child. James R Healey, USA Today 07/10/2013 | Read Article: USA Today | Courts Will Treat Asiana Passengers Differently | | When the courts have to figure compensation for people aboard Asiana Airlines Flight 214, the potential payouts will probably be vastly different for Americans and passengers from other countries, even if they were seated side by side as the jetliner crash-landed. An international treaty governs compensation to passengers harmed by international air travel — from damaged luggage to crippling injuries and death. The pact is likely to close U.S. courts to many foreigners and force them to pursue their claims in Asia and elsewhere, where lawsuits are rarer, harder to win and offer smaller payouts. Associated Press, The Washington Post 07/15/2013 | Read Article: The Washington Post | County Workers' Data File Found in Vietnam | | At least one of the two stolen files containing the sensitive personal information of 21,000 current and former Harris County employees was found in Vietnam by the FBI as part of an ongoing identity theft investigation, according to county sources who were briefed on the matter this week. The files, created in 2005 and 2007, contained the names, Social Security numbers, birth dates and hire dates of everyone employed by the county at those times, according to the Harris County Attorney's Office. Kiah Collier, Houston Chronicle 07/15/2013 | Read Article: Houston Chronicle | Those Wordy Contracts We All So Quickly Accept | | Boilerplate contracts — which mean they contain standardized language, often in fine print — can apply in many different circumstances. But consumers typically come across some more than others, like the terms and agreements we click on when buying or using something online, and waivers, like the one used for a the white-water rafting adventure. ALINA TUGEND, The New York Times 07/15/2013 | Read Article: The New York Times | Editorials/Columns/Letters | | Patricia Kilday Hart: TX Court Ruling Benefits Insurers in Workers' Comp Cases | | Since the 2011 Texas Mutual vs. Ruttiger ruling, the number of medical claims denied or contested by insurance carriers in the state's workers' compensation program has skyrocketed, according to an analysis by the State's Office of Injured Employee Counsel. Meanwhile, workers who protest rulings against them are losing in record numbers to insurance companies at "contested case" hearings held by the Texas Department of Insurance's Workers' Compensation Division. This year, injured workers are prevailing only 29 percent of the time. Advocates for injured workers say the Ruttiger decision means the $2 billion in premiums paid each year by Texas employers for workers' comp coverage goes largely to maintain an elaborate system of adjusters, investigators and lawyers that denies far too many legitimate claims of workers injured on the job. Patricia Kilday Hart, Houston Chronicle 07/15/2013 | Read Article: Houston Chronicle | $6.4M Awarded in Medical Malpractice Suit | | A St. Louis couple have been awarded $6.4 million in a medical malpractice lawsuit filed against a physician of SSM DePaul Medical Group over a stroke the man suffered in 2007. The suit claimed that in 1996, the doctor diagnosed the man with a mitral valve prolapse, and that a 2001 echocardiogram confirmed that diagnosis; however, the doctor never ordered any followup exams and the condition "disappeared" from the victim's medical history over the next year. In 2007, the man suffered a stroke from an infection in his heart valve, which could have been prevented had the doctor ordered more tests or referred the man to a cardiology. Walker Moskop, St. Louis Post Dispatch 07/09/2013 | Read Article: St. Louis Post Dispatch | Judge Awards $9.6 Million in Murder-for-Hire Suit | | A North Dakota judge has awarded $9.6 million to the family of a man who was killed in a murder-for-hire scheme by the victim's father-in-law. The victim's father-in-law was allegedly unhappy that his son-in-law was raising his granddaughter, and paid $3,000 for him to be killed in hopes of gaining custody of the little girl. The defendant was found guilty of hiring someone to commit murder in July 2011. Wire Report, NewsOK.com 07/11/2013 | Read Article: NewsOK.com | | |