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NBC5i reported that a gas rig worker was injured Monday morning at a gas rig in Krum. It happened just before 11 a.m. at Barnett Oil Lease on Burns Ranch Road. The worker was injured after something malfunctioned on the rig, according to Tom Reedy, spokesman for the Denton County Sheriff’s Office. The worker was taken by helicopter to…
Judy Kostura, an Austin lawyer with a wealth of expertise in insurance subrogation matters, has a good op/ed in today’s Austin American-Statesman: Why you should always read the fine print Judy Kostura, LOCAL CONTRIBUTOR, Thursday, April 17, 2008 Wal-Mart’s recent efforts to deprive an employee of her injury settlement highlight an unfair advantage insurance companies enjoy in the legal…
A study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association accuses pharaceutical giant Merck of deception in promoting Vioxx. According to the researchers, who had access to thousands of documents gathered in lawsuits involving Vioxx, Merck “waged a campaign of deception to promote its drug, moving slowly to warn of possible hazards while at the same time…
State Farm boosting home rates again, especially on coast, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports today. “State Farm blamed the increase along the coast on the increased cost of reinsurance, which insurance companies buy to guard against the huge losses associated with hurricanes. Galveston County residents who have both home and auto insurance through State Farm will see their rates go…
Many Texas residents living in oil-and-gas-rich areas of the state, including the Eagle Ford Shale, Permian Basin, Barnett Shale and others, have been content to play a waiting game in terms of contending with the influx of drilling rigs and heavy trucks that clogged many state roads for the past couple years. Their presumption is that, once the wells…
The wife of a long-time BNSF employee alleged that her stomach cancer was caused by years of cleaning chemicals off her husband’s work clothes. He and other workers used creosote in making railroad ties and they testified that they often went home caked in the chemical. The plaintiffs apparently presented evidence linking creosote to the wife’s cancer but it…
Excellent piece in yesterday’s Los Angeles Times describing how arbitration is supplanting jury trials. Here’s an excerpt: “Tort reform is a game of bait-and-switch in which ordinary citizens have been snookered by carefully orchestrated and relentless propaganda into seeing a phantom boogeyman in the much-reviled “trial lawyer” who brings “frivolous lawsuits” to “runaway juries” that render “out of control…
Some smart professors at Baylor Law School were skeptical of all the anecdotal “evidence” used by the business and insurance lobbies to push for more restrictions on the rights of injured plaintiffs, so they decided to poll Texas trial judges about “frivolous lawsuits” and “runaway juries.” Here is their conclusion, based on over 300 responses from judges across the…
Jury service in the United States is unique among justice systems worldwide, so much so that American juries have been called the “bulwark of democracy.” In fact, our Founding Fathers believed trial by a jury of one’s peers to be of equal importance with representative government, and both concepts were integral in drafting the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson…
Wonders never cease. CNN is reporting that a former Wal-Mart employee who suffered severe brain damage in a traffic accident won’t have to pay back the company for the cost of her medical care, Wal-Mart told the family Tuesday. Eight years ago, Debbie Shank was stocking shelves for the retail giant and signed up for Wal-Mart’s health and benefits…
