Law Practice Fundamentals: It's as Simple as PI CLE Seminar | May 14, 2015, UNT School of Law, 1901 Main Street, Dallas, TX. Law Practice Fundamentals: It's as Simple as PI CLE Seminar is the ideal introduction for new entrants to the field or a refresher for seasoned practitioners. The TTLA Advocates Board of Directors has designed a program to get and keep your practice on track and successful. Learn essential how-to's and must-haves, practical tips, concepts and procedures from experienced practitioners who figured it out the hard way! An excellent program with exceptional speakers and invaluable networking opportunities make this a program you won't want to miss. Click on the headline to learn more. | 2015 Midyear Conference and CLE Seminar | Be Inspiredâ??Litigation with Compassion, Competence, and Confidence, June 3-5, The Omni Austin Hotel Downtown 700 San Jacinto at 8th Street, Austin, TX. Earn up to 12.25 hours MCLE credit. Click on the headline to register. | Texas Tribune Daily Brief | | Marcellus Shale Extraction Fluids Discovered in 3 Water Samples | | Chemical compounds used to extract natural gas were found in three water samples from Pennsylvaniaâ??s Marcellus Shale region, according to a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The contamination occurred at three Bradford County households whose owners settled a lawsuit with Chesapeake Energy Corp. in 2012 after natural gas polluted their well water. The additional chemicals may have mixed with groundwater after a pit leak from a conventional well or when nearby drilling drove them toward the aquifer, according to the study. Justin Doom, Bloomberg 05/05/2015 | Read Article: Bloomberg | Report: â?˜Legal Firewallâ?? Shields Chinese Firms from Lawsuits | | Chinese companies are shielding themselves from lawsuits in America, denying U.S. businesses and investors their day in court, a report from a federal watchdog says. The report published Tuesday by the U.S.-China Economic Security Commission says that Chinese companies operating in the U.S. have built a legal firewall that keeps them largely immune from the jurisdiction of U.S. courts and regulatory agencies. They use complicated corporate structures that protect their China-based parent companies from U.S. lawsuits. And they often claim that Chinese secrecy and banking laws exempt them from turning over evidence and responding to U.S. court documents. Associated Press, The Washington Post 05/05/2015 | Read Article: The Washington Post | FedEx Faces Lawsuit Over Georgia Facility Shooting | | A man who was injured in a shooting last year at a FedEx facility in Cobb County, Georgia has filed a lawsuit. The lawusit was filed Monday in Gwinnett County Superior Court and contends that FedEx is guilty of negligence and gross negligence in connection with the shooting. FedEx is accused in the lawsuit of knowing that the shooter was mentally unstable, but failing to intervene. The shooter shot six employees before he shot and killed himself. The lawsuit seeks lost wages, medical expenses, compensation for pain and suffering and more. Jennifer Brett, Atlanta Journal-Constitution 05/04/2015 | Read Article: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | Plaintiffs Bar Gives Rare Thumbs-Up for SCOTX Med-Mal Ruling | | The Texas Supreme Court ruled on May 1 in Ross v. St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital that the claims asserted in a slip-and-fall in a hospital lobby by a nonpatient visitor had no connection to TMLAâ??a statute intended for health care claims. Therefore, the plaintiff was not required to file an expert report from a medical provider, as required under the TMLA. The court ruled that the record in Ross failed to establish a relationship between the safety standards that the plaintiff alleged the hospital had breachedâ??standards for maintaining the floor inside the lobby exit doorsâ??and the hospital's health care products and services. In a strongly worded concurring opinion, Justice Debra Lehrmann, who was joined by Justice John Phillip Devine, emphasized her concerns that TMLA has become "a nebulous barrier" to negligence suits that alleged no breach of any duty of care by health care providers. Miriam Rozen, Texas Lawyer 05/05/2015 | Read Article: Texas Lawyer | | |