Deaths among those working the nation’s oil and gas fields have risen at an alarming rate, the Associated Press has found. At least 598 workers died on the job between 2002 and 2007, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. During that period, the number of deaths per year rose by around 70 percent, from 72 victims in…

Exxon, the most profitable company in the history of the world (earning $40.61 billion last year), recently enjoyed a U.S. Supreme Court ruling which slashed roughly $2 billion of punitive damages awarded against it in 1994 over the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. The plaintiffs – over 32,000 Alaskans – have now asked the court to award $488 million…

There’s a good op-ed online in today’s Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Mississippi by insurance-defense lawyer Alex Alston (certainly no bomb-throwing liberal trial lawyer) about how that state’s high court has shifted to protecting businesses and insurers over injured consumers. Switch the states and names and he could as well be describing the Texas Supreme Court. Notable among Alston’s comments are…

Allegations of corruption and shaky oversight are plaguing the construction industry following two fatal crane collapses in New York City earlier this year. Critics point to failures at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in explaining the deaths of at least 72 workers in crane-related accidents since 2006. For its part, the construction industry maintains that it has a…

Texas A&M has settled claims against it arising out of the 1999 bonfire collapse that killed 12 people and injured dozens more. A&M agreed to pay $2.1 million to several of the victims and their families to resolve the suit, which will continue against some of the contractors involved. Hats off to Darrell Keith and Geno Borchardt for fighting…

A man rented a U-Haul truck to help his daughter move. While getting out of the rear of the truck, the 6-ton truck rolled over the man and left him a paraplegic. 14 surgeries later, he still requires around-the-clock care. He filed a lawsuit against U-Haul, alleging negligence for renting out a truck that was not roadworthy with faulty…