| | Advanced PI Seminar Agenda Released! This course has been approved by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization for 6.75 hrs. | | Check out the agenda for our innovative new Advanced PI CLE seminar. This year's program includes new topics, new speakers, and interactive break-out sessions. This course has been approved by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization for 6.75 hrs certification and recertification continuing legal education requirements for attorneys and legal assistants in the following specialty fields: civil appellate law, civil trial law and personal injury trial law.December 4 in Austin. Click on the headline to access the agenda. |
| EClips Takes a Holiday | | TTLA EClips is taking a holiday and the daily service will resume on Monday, December 1. Hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving. |
| Texas Tribune Daily Brief
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| DuPont Tragedy One of Many Toxic Gas Releases | | 
| | Dozens of times in the past two years, a Texas Tribune analysis shows, plants across Texas have reported accidentally releasing gases that can be deadly in relatively small amounts. While companies considered many of those events “close calls” that prompted evacuations at worst, some triggered deadly explosions that, in turn, caused even more gas to be released.
Neena Satija, Jim Malewitz and Marcos Vanetta, Texas Tribune 11/20/2014    | | Read Article: Texas Tribune |
| General Motors Is Sued by Arizona for $3 Billion Over Recalls | |
| | The attorney general of Arizona said on Wednesday that the state had filed suit against General Motors, claiming that the automaker had defrauded the state’s consumers of an estimated $3 billion. The suit is the first major legal action against G.M. over its record number of recalls this year, most notable among them one for a defective ignition switch in 2.6 million small cars that was delayed for a decade. The complaint was harsh and unsparing in its criticism of G.M., suggesting that the automaker intentionally misled consumers through its advertising, website and public statements, and that some of its top leaders were complicit in the alleged misdeeds.
REBECCA R. RUIZ, The New York Times 11/20/2014 | | Read Article: The New York Times |
| State Investigator Files Whistleblower Suit Over CPS Investigations | |
| | A former employee for the TX Office of Inspector General filed a whistleblower lawsuit, saying he was wrongly fired after raising complaints about the way the office investigated Child Protective Services’ role in child abuse deaths. Joe Carrizal, Jr. sued the state Health and Human Services Commission, saying the agency knew about problems with the Inspector General’s death investigations, but failed to act on them because to do so would implicate its own incompetence, the lawsuit states. “Plaintiff was exposing a known political ‘hot potato’ that endangered the lives of countless Texas children and threatened the careers of numerous political appointees,” the filing states.
Andrea Ball, Austin American Statesman 11/20/2014 | | Read Article: Austin American Statesman |
| Minivans Do Poorly in New Crash Tests | |
| | The Honda Odyssey was the only minivan to earn the highest safety rating in new crash tests by the insurance industry. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said Thursday that the Nissan Quest, Chrysler Town and Country, and Dodge Caravan all garnered the lowest rating on the small overlap front crash test, which replicates what happens when a vehicle’s front corner collides with another object at 40 miles per hour. In each of those cases, the minivans’ structure collapsed from the force of the crash. In the Quest, both of the dummy’s legs were trapped and the air bag was shoved up into its face, the institute said. In the Town and Country, the dummy’s head slid off the air bag and hit the instrument panel.
Associated Press , Columbus Dispatch 11/20/2014 | | Read Article: Columbus Dispatch |
| Govt Agency yet to Act on Controversial Insurance | |
| | The Federal Housing Finance Agency has yet to deliver on changes to a controversial type of homeowner's insurance even as its director told the Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday that it's making progress. So-called force-placed insurance, which banks buy to protect the properties of homeowners behind on their loan payments, costs far more than regular homeowners' insurance. State regulators and plaintiff's attorneys allege that banks inflate the price of premiums in exchange for insurer kickbacks in the form of cash or free services.
JEFF HORWITZ Associated Press, Yahoo News 11/20/2014 | | Read Article: Yahoo News |
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