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June 16, 2011

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Crash Tests Suggest Jeep Fire Risk, Safety Group Says

Episcopal School Accused of Ignoring Bullying of Ex-Student

Attorney: Sexual Harassment Was Longtime Problem for KBR

Winkler Sheriff Found Guilty on all Counts

Adoption Agency Defrauded Families, Suit Says

International Company Settles Antitrust Lawsuit

Former Police Officer Awarded $1.9 Million

Courts May Reshape Mortgage Industry

Austin Court of Appeals: Health Law

 

 

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Announcements

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Share with your FB friends: Used car buyers may not be told of auto recalls

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Government watchdog: Used car buyers may not be told of auto recalls, jeopardizing safety, Washington Post (AP) 6-16-11. Used car dealers may be selling cars and trucks that have been recalled but not repaired because manufacturers don’t send them the same recall notifications that are sent to franchised dealers, said a study by a government watchdog.  

 

Products

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Crash Tests Suggest Jeep Fire Risk, Safety Group Says

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Millions of Jeep Grand Cherokees from the 1993 through 2004 model years are particularly susceptible to fires when struck from behind and should be recalled, an auto safety group says, based on its review of three independently conducted crash tests, including one performed last month. The Center for Auto Safety says the Grand Cherokee’s fuel system is clearly more dangerous in a rear-impact collision than those of competing vehicles, like the Ford Explorer, produced in the same era.  CHRISTOPHER JENSEN, The New York Times  06/16/2011

Read Article: The New York Times    

 

Laws/Cases

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Episcopal School Accused of Ignoring Bullying of Ex-Student

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A former boarding student at a private North Side Episcopal school says a bully threatened to sexually assault him with a lit blowtorch, one of a string of hazing incidents last fall, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by the boy and his family in Bexar County District Court. The family — who lives in California — enrolled the boy last summer at TMI — The Episcopal School of Texas, where he was in its cadet program. The suit describes a night when a group of students burst into his room and pinned him down in his bed while one waved a lit blowtorch in his face and “made repeated threats to rape him.” The suit names TMI and the San Antonio-based Episcopal Diocese of West Texas.  Abe Levy, San Antonio Express News  06/16/2011

Read Article: San Antonio Express News    

 

Attorney: Sexual Harassment Was Longtime Problem for KBR

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A hostile work environment has been a longtime problem for military contractor KBR Inc., which failed to protect workers who were sexually assaulted or harassed, an attorney for a woman who claims she was raped by co-workers in Iraq told jurors Tuesday. Jamie Leigh Jones, 26, is one of several female contract workers for KBR and former parent Halliburton Co. who claim they were sexually assaulted or harassed while working for the companies in Iraq. Jones says she was raped in 2005 while working for KBR at Camp Hope, Baghdad. She has sued KBR, Halliburton and a former KBR firefighter she says was one of her rapists.  Associated Press, The Washington Post  06/16/2011

Read Article: The Washington Post    

 

Winkler Sheriff Found Guilty on all Counts

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It took a Midland County jury two hours to find Winkler County Sheriff Robert L. Roberts Jr. guilty of four felonies and two misdemeanors for his retaliation against whistle-blowing nurses. Roberts, 56, was sentenced to four years probation on each of the felonies and also was ordered to serve 100 days in the Winkler County Jail. The third-degree felonies include two charges of retaliation and two charges of misuse of official information. For the two class A misdemeanors of official oppression, Roberts will serve 100 days in the same jail concurrently with the time for the felonies. He also was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine for each of the charges, for a total of $6,000. Last month, Roberts had elected to have the jury set his punishment if he was found guilty, but after jurors returned with a guilty verdict, he withdrew his decision. Instead he opted to be sentenced by visiting Judge Robert Moore, of Big Spring.  Audrie Palmer, Midland Reporter  06/16/2011

Read Article: Midland Reporter    

 

Adoption Agency Defrauded Families, Suit Says

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Five American couples have filed a lawsuit against an adoption agency in Pennsylvania that accuses the company of fraudulent adoptions. The lawsuit alleges the company orchestrated a "bait-and-switch scheme," collecting $25,000 from each of the families for adoptions the suit says may never happen. The couples suffered "humiliation, outrage, indignation, sleepless nights, and severe emotional distress," court documents said.  Dave Warner, Reuters  06/15/2011

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International Company Settles Antitrust Lawsuit

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Huntsman International, LLC, has agreed to a $33 million settlement in an antitrust lawsuit filed against the company over alleged price-fixing. The suit claimed the company and others conspired to fix urethane prices from 1999 through 2004. Soon-to-be presidential candidate Jon Huntsman, Jr. served as vice chairman of the board of Huntsman Corp. from 1993 through 2001, but his company and campaign officials said he had no direct involvement with Huntsman International or the case.  Thomas Burr and Steven Oberbeck, The Salt Lake Tribune  06/15/2011

Read Article: The Salt Lake Tribune    

 

Former Police Officer Awarded $1.9 Million

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An Ohio jury has awarded $1.9 million to a Mason County police officer who was hit by a local woman while directing traffic. The accident left the plaintiff with permanent injuries to his leg, requiring him to walk with a cane at times and prohibiting him from ever being a police officer again. Doctors testified in the case that, because of his injuries, the plaintiff will only be able to work in "one percent of available job categories in this economy."  Denise G. Callahan, Dayton Daily News  06/14/2011

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Issues

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Courts May Reshape Mortgage Industry

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A New York appellate court ruled last week that a Reston-based company that electronically tracks and transfers millions of mortgages did not have the right to foreclosure on a property or assign a mortgage it doesn’t actually own. The decision came only days after an appeals court in California took a different view, ruling that the firm indeed has the power to act on behalf of lenders. The two cases, like dozens of others already decided or playing out in courtrooms across the country, highlight a protracted legal wrestling match that could determine the validity of foreclosures already in the pipeline and shape the mortgage market for years to come.  Brady Dennis & Renae Merle, The Washington Post  06/16/2011

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TEXAS LAWYER CASE SUMMARIES

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Austin Court of Appeals: Health Law

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Appellee filed suit against appellants Central Texas Spine Institute LLP and William Peyton Taylor, M.D., alleging direct and vicarious health care liability claims. Brinkley timely filed and served an expert report implicating only Taylor, to which the defendants raised no objections. Thereafter, Brinkley filed an amended petition specifying that the vicarious-liability claims against both defendants were based on the conduct of their employees or agents, "including, but not limited to," Randall Dryer, M.D. CTSI and Taylor moved to dismiss the vicarious-liability claims arising from Dryer's alleged conduct on the basis that Brinkley had failed to file and serve an expert report as to Dryer. The trial court denied CTSI and Taylor's motion to dismiss by order dated April 8, 2010. In the same order, however, the trial court granted Brinkley a 30-day extension to cure any deficiencies in the expert report. CTSI and Taylor did not appeal the April 8 order. Instead, on Sept. 3, 2010, CTSI and Taylor filed a "Second Motion to Dismiss." The trial court determined that the defendants' second motion to dismiss was in fact a motion for reconsideration of the April 8 order and denied the motion, ruling that the April 8 order "remains in effect." CTSI and Taylor then filed this accelerated interlocutory appeal of the subsequent order. If the vicarious-liability claim arising from Dryer's alleged conduct is a separate claim in support of which no expert report was filed, then CTSI and Taylor were entitled to take an interlocutory appeal of the April 8 order denying their motion to dismiss. They failed to do so. Under either characterization of the vicarious-liability claims arising from Dryer's alleged conduct, the court of appeals lacks jurisdiction to review the merits of the motion to dismiss. The appeal is dismissed for want of jurisdiction. Central Texas Spine Institute LLP v. Brinkley, Austin Court of Appeals, No. 03-10-00753-CV, 06-08-2011.  , Texas Lawyer Opinions (TTLA Members Only)  06/16/2011

Read Article: Texas Lawyer Opinions (TTLA Members Only)    


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