Run-off Election for State Bar of Texas President-Elect | There will be a run-off election for State Bar of Texas President-elect held from May 9 through May 23 between Trey Apffel and Steve Fischer. The run-off election will cease at 5 p.m. on May 23. Click on headline for election results. | TTLA 2013 Annual Conference - Reinventing The Rules With Rick Freidman | June 12 - 14, Sheraton Downtown Hotel - Austin Register Now! The TTLA CLE Committee is proud to have Rick Friedman present Reinventing the Rules during the Annual Conference. You will want to reserve the date and book early as we expect that this will be the most heavily attended seminar in TTLA history and space will be limited. Click on the headline to learn more! | Suit: Whole Foods, Others Selling Candies with Lead | | The state of California has filed suit against Whole Foods, Trader Joe's and other retailers, claiming the companies are selling ginger and plum candies that are contaminated with lead. The state says the companies are in violation of Proposition 65, which requires businesses to warn consumers of "even minute amounts of chemicals deemed harmful." Lab tests have allegedly confirmed lead in the named products, the state attorney general's office said. Jason Dearen, San Jose Mercury News 05/02/2013 | Read Article: San Jose Mercury News | Hospital Sued over Death from Bacteria Exposure | | The family of a California man has filed a $20 million lawsuit after he died from a bacteria exposure at the San Francisco Veterans Memorial Hospital. The victim contracted a rare disease while doing research at the hospital. In an investigation, OSHA discovered the hospital had not provided its employees with proper safety measures and secure work spaces for working with diseases. Andrea Koskey, San Francisco Examiner 05/02/2013 | Read Article: San Francisco Examiner | Mentally Disabled Men Awardwd $240M in Suit | | A jury on Wednesday awarded $240 million to 32 mentally disabled men for what government lawyers say was years of abuse by a Texas company that arranged for them to work at an Iowa turkey processing plant and oversaw their care, work and lodging. The award handed out by a federal jury in Davenport was the largest in the 48-year history of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which filed the lawsuit against Henry’s Turkey Service. The jury determined that the now-defunct Goldthwaite, Tex., company had violated the Americans With Disabilities Act by creating a hostile environment and imposing discriminatory conditions of employment on the men. It awarded each man $7.5 million in damages. Associated Press, The Washington Post 05/02/2013 | Read Article: The Washington Post | FDA Appeals Court Order on Plan B Drug | | The Food and Drug Administration has appealed a court order commanding the agency to make the "morning after" pill available without prescription to all females of reproductive age. In the original lawsuit, activists argued there was no scientific data supporting that girls of "reproductive age" could not use the drug safely. Before filing the appeal, the FDA announced it will lower the age limit from 17 to 15 for women wishing to purchase the pill over the counter. Terry Baynes, Reuters 05/01/2013 | Read Article: Reuters | Suit over Suicide Bomb at Marriott Hotel Revived | | An appeals court in Virginia has revived a lawsuit against Marriott International over a suicide bomb attack that killed 50 people in a Pakistan hotel. The suit, filed by the family of a Virginia man who was killed in the blast, accuses the hotel of "failing to adequately protect guests" from the attack. A lower court had tossed the suit, saying it should have been filed in Pakistan, but the appeals court disagreed, ruling that the widow and her children should not be forced to "place themselves in the same risk-laden situation that led to the death of a family member." Wire Report, The Washington Post 05/01/2013 | Read Article: The Washington Post | | |