Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Country singer Toby Keith's family awarded $2.8M in death of dad who died in truck wreck
A jury returned the verdict against Elias Rodriguez and Pedro Rodriguez, operators of Rodriguez Transportes of Tulsa, and the Republic Western Insurance Co.
According to evidence presented at trial, a charter bus owned by the Rodriguezes was "in urgent need" of brake repairs before H.K. Covel was killed in the March 2001 accident on Interstate 35, said attorney Greg Dixon, who represented Keith's family.
The Rodriguezes had been advised of the brake problem before Covel's truck crossed the center median and struck the bus, he said.
The family initially suspected Covel suffered a medical condition that caused the truck to veer out of control. It later learned another vehicle had bumped the truck and filed a wrongful death lawsuit to clear Covel's name, Dixon said.
The verdict was returned last week. "The jury found no fault on the part of Mr. Covel in the wreck that claimed his life," Dixon said.
The plaintiffs, wife Carolyn Covel, daughter Tonni Covel and sons Toby Keith Covel and Tracey Covel, alleged that H.K. Covel would not have died if the bus had been equipped with properly working air brakes.
Here.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Truck vs. Car Wreck in Parker County
BY BILL MILLER
wmiller@star-telegram.com
Two people died early Monday when a car collided with a tractor-trailer in rural northwest Parker County, according to reports. The Texas Department of Public Safety reported that the victims were Brandon Lee Edwards, 21, of Big Spring, and Laura Elizabeth Anderson, 27, of Whitt. According to a DPS report, the collision happened at 3:30 a.m. Monday about four miles south of Whitt at the intersection of Lamkin Road and Farm Road 1885. Edwards and Anderson were northbound on Lamkin Road in a 2001 Chrysler Concorde which collided with the trailer section of the tractor-trailer which was westbound on FM 1885, according to the report.
Edwards, who was driving the Concorde, and Anderson died at the scene, the DPS said. The driver of the tractor-trailer was not hurt, according to the report.
Truck vs. Car Wreck in Wise County
BY BILL MILLER
wmiller@star-telegram.com
Two people have died from injuries in a collision on Christmas Eve between a car and a tractor-trailer in Decatur, according to reports. Details were sketchy Tuesday, but Decatur Police records show that the collision happened at 8 p.m. on U.S. 287 in Decatur. A police dispatcher said one person died at the scene, but there was no information available Tuesday morning about the person's identity. The other person, however, died at about 2:30 a.m. at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, according to the Tarrant County medical examiner's office.
The agency's Web site said the man's name was William Bell, but it did not list his age or address. U.S. 287 was shut down for three hours Monday night, the dispatcher said.
Monday, December 24, 2007
Four-Car Wreck on I-35W
BY BILL MILLER
dboyd@star-telegram.com
FORT WORTH -- Two people were in critical condition today after being taken from the scene of a four-vehicle wreck on Interstate 35W in far north Fort Worth, according to reports.
The wreck was reported at 5:48 a.m. in the northbound lanes of I-35W at Westport Parkway, east of Fort Worth Alliance Airport, police dispatchers said.
Three people were taken by ambulance to Harris Methodist Fort Worth hospital and two were in critical condition, a dispatcher for MedStar Ambulance Service said.
All northbound lanes of I-35W remained closed at 8:30 a.m., police said.
No other details were immediately available.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Pickup driver killed in accident with big rig
Edit. Reminds me of a truck wreck case we tried a couple of years ago, in which a young man struck the rear of a stalled 18 wheeler on the freeway. Scary stuff.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Truck Accidents on the Rise
Let's hope we see continued investigative reporting from Dallas Morning News reporters Gregg Jones and Doug Swanson, who have written an excellent investigative series in the DMN.
Left alone, the trucking industry is not going to clean itself up, despite the many carriers and drivers who operate professionally and safely. Average citizens must demand more from our lawmakers: More meaningful oversight of the industry, more funds for enforcement, and more dangerous trucks taken off our roads.
Family sues insurer who denied teen transplant
The family of a 17-year-old girl who died hours after her health insurer reversed a decision and said it would pay for a liver transplant plans to sue the company, their attorney said Friday.
Nataline Sarkisyan died Thursday at about 6 p.m. at the University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center. Attorney Mark Geragos said he plans to ask the district attorney to press murder or manslaughter charges against Cigna HealthCare in the case. The insurer “maliciously killed her” because it did not want to bear the expense of her transplant and aftercare, Geragos said.
The family’s “loss is immeasurable, and our thoughts and prayers are with them,” Cigna said in a news release Friday. “We deeply hope that the outpouring of concern, care and love that are being expressed for Nataline’s family help them at this time,” the company said.
Edit. CIGNA's crocodile tears and solicitous statements of sympathy make me want to puke. Mark my words, though: CIGNA will skate one way or the other. They may pay some money in a settlement to try and contain the negative publicity, but they'll beat the rap through the courts or the politicians if the civil case ever goes to trial. Maybe the criminal courts are the way to get these bastards.
Teen Dies After Health Insurance Nixes Transplant
17-year-old girl needed new liver; company initially refused payment
GLENDALE, Calif. - A 17-year old died just hours after her health insurance company reversed its decision not to pay for a liver transplant that doctors said the girl needed.
Nataline Sarkisyan died at about 6 p.m. Thursday at University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center. She had been in a vegetative state for weeks, said her mother, Hilda.
"She passed away, and the insurance (company) is responsible for this," she said.
Nataline had been battling leukemia and received a bone marrow transplant from her brother. She developed a complication, however, that caused her liver to fail. Doctors at UCLA determined she needed a transplant and sent a letter to CIGNA Healthcare on Dec. 11. The Philadelphia-based health insurance company denied payment for the transplant.
On Thursday, about 150 teenagers and nurses protested outside CIGNA's office in Glendale. As the protesters rallied, the company reversed its decision and said it would approve the transplant.
Despite the reversal, CIGNA said in an e-mail statement before she died that there was a lack of medical evidence showing the procedure would work in Nataline's case.
"Our hearts go out to Nataline and her family, as they endure this terrible ordeal," the company said. " ... CIGNA HealthCare has decided to make an exception in this rare and unusual case and we will provide coverage should she proceed with the requested liver transplant."
Edit. Funny how some insurance claims manager decided the liver transplant wouldn't work for Nataline, when her UCLA doctors said it would. Once again the insurance company wins. Their insured is dead, they didn't have to pay for the expensive procedure, and the family probably can do nothing to hold CIGNA accountable in court. Perfect. Champagne corks are popping in CIGNA's boardroom.
Holiday Travel Safety Reminder
Families traveling north to celebrate the holidays with love ones this year should be particularly aware of weather-related dangers on the roads. Take precautions, and check the weather before you leave.
“The difference in road conditions can be very tricky for drivers who aren’t used to driving on icy roads or in severe weather,” says attorney John Cummings, partner in the Fort Worth personal injury law firm of Laird & Cummings, P.C. “When you combine bad driving conditions with the fact that tractor trailer drivers are trying to make it home for the holidays themselves, you can see the dangerous combination.”
Nearly 5,000 people were killed in crashes on U.S. roads involving large trucks in 2006, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
The National Transportation Safety Board and other respected highway safety research groups have found that nearly 40 percent of big truck crashes are due to fatigue. Studies show that extended periods without sleep can slow reaction times by as much as 50 percent, which is the same as having a .05 percent blood alcohol level.
Laird & Cummings, P.C., is a Fort Worth, Texas, personal injury law firm that represents individuals and families in cases involving personal injury, wrongful death, trucking accidents, medical malpractice, construction site accidents, products liability and business litigation.
Referral Fees in Texas
In a “proportion of services” situation, each lawyer performs substantial services on behalf of the client with respect to a particular legal matter. Each lawyer who participates in the division of the fee is required to perform services beyond simply being hired by the client and forwarding the case to another lawyer. There must be a “reasonable correlation” between services performed and the sharing of the fee between the referring lawyer and the handling lawyer.
In a “joint responsibility” situation, the referring lawyer assumes an ethical and perhaps financial responsibility for the representation. The referring lawyer must make a reasonable investigation into the client’s legal matter and refer the matter to a lawyer reasonably believed to be competent to handle it. The referring lawyer must monitor the matter throughout the representation, respond to client questions and keep the client informed of progress in the case, and assist the handling lawyer when necessary. “Joint responsibility” does not mean joint control, and the referring lawyer is not required to attend deposition or hearings or trial, or be copied on all pleadings and correspondence.
Importantly, attorneys must obtain the client’s written consent in advance regarding the basis for the referral and the division of fees. The complete rules pertaining to referral fees in Texas may be found in Rule 104 of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct.
In our practice handling personal injury and wrongful death cases on a contingent-fee basis, we find that referrals on a joint responsibility basis are most common and most akin to the traditional referral fee arrangements our referring attorneys have enjoyed over the years.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Bizarre Car Wreck in Dallas
Wal-Mart Gets the Money, Taxpayers Get to Bill
Wal-Mart employee suffers brain damage in a truck wreck, Wal-Mart's health plan pays for medical treatment (which it agreed to do when it took premiums from the employee), employee gets a $417,000 settlement from the trucking company (which is put into trust to pay for her on-going nursing home care) and now Wal-Mart sues the brain-damaged employee for the $470,000 the health plan paid plus its attorneys' fees (which, at least in Texas, the injured employee would not be able to recover from the trucking company). It's called subrogation, which is a fancy word for "insurance company screws the little guy."
The biggest corporation in the world is taking this lady's last dime, leaving her future medical care to be paid by Medicaid, which means you get to pay for it.
Watch this video and think about this the next time you decide to shop at Wal-Mart.
How to Fight Your Health Insurer
The keys seem to be persistence, documentation, and the patience of Job.
Toy Recall - Infantino "Lion" Teethers
Hazard: The plastic nose can detach, posing a choking hazard to young children.
Incidents/Injuries: Infantino® has received eight reports of the nose detaching, including one report of a child gagging on the bitten off nose.
Description: This recall involves Infantino® lion teethers. The yellow and orange plastic teethers have date codes 6116, 6129, 6158, 6137, 0606, 0806, 0906, and 1006. The date codes are located on the back of the lion’s head, above the Infantino® logo. Lion teethers with other date codes are not included in this recall.
Sold at: Babies “R” Us, Pottery Barn Kids and other specialty stores nationwide from June 2006 through December 2007 for about $5.
Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Infantino® toll-free at (888) 808-3111 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. PT Monday through Friday, or visit the firm’s Web site at www.service.infantino.com
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Allstate's Arrogance Is Gonna Get Expensive
The fine currently exceeds $2.4 million. Yet Allstate's lawyers say the company will not produce these records for public view no matter how much the court fines them.
This display of arrogance and contempt towards courts and the rule of law is just mind-boggling. But perhaps most disturbing is how Allsnake will stop at nothing to screw their own insureds.
Savor the Irony
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Amusement Park Ride Severs Girl's Legs
A Kentucky judge will decide next week which company will perform testing on the broken cable from the ride at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom that severed the feet of a 13-year-old Louisville girl in June. Kaitlyn Lasitter's attorneys are asking that a local company test the cable, while Six Flags "wants to award the contract" to a laboratory in Chicago.
"Award the contract" for testing the cables that cut this poor girl's feet off sounds so crass.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Mandatory Arbitration Hurts Consumers, Favors Businesses
Judge wants wrongful death lawsuit dropped
Keller contends that while she ordered the clerk's office closed promptly at 5 p.m., state law clearly gave attorneys for death row inmate Michael Wayne Richard the power to contact judges on the court directly.
In papers filed in U.S. district court in Austin, Keller said Richard's lawyers made no attempt to contact any judges on the court, even though three were available Sept. 25, the date of Richard's execution in 1986 rape and murder of Marguerite Dixon, a Houston-area mother of seven. Keller said the clerk's office was closed but the court's building remained open.
Keller has garnered national attention for refusing to extend the court's closing time prior to Richard's execution, despite calls from Richard's attorneys alerting her office they were experiencing computer problems and begging for extra time.
But in a motion to dismiss the suit, Keller said Texas law "provides a clear and unambiguous avenue for litigants to file documents with the (Court of Criminal Appeals) directly through any of its judges, so Richard did not need the CCA clerk's office to stay open after hours to file his motion." This is the first time Keller has claimed Richard's lawyers could have directly gone to other judges on the court. She previously has tried to shift blame to Richard's lawyers by saying they had all day to file.
Jim Harrington, director of the Texas Civil Rights Project, called Keller's argument "shameless" and said "The rules of procedure in the law are supposed to serve justice and here you have a case where a guy's life is at stake. It's literally a matter of life or death and to fall back on some off-the-wall assertion, 'go find a judge and file it that way' is absurd. It makes a farce of the law."
Story here.
Trucking company to pay $9 million to settle crash lawsuit
Seven-year-old Korren Radke and 2-year-old Chloe Baker of Coursegold died in June last year when a concrete pumper truck rear-ended the family car near the Rocky Cutout area on Highway 41.
The owner of the truck, Brundage-Bone Concrete Pumping, will pay the parents of the two victims to settle the wrongful death civil lawsuit in Fresno County Superior Court.
The California Highway Patrol says the truck driver was driving at an unsafe speed and was unable to stop when it hit the family car, which had stopped for a disabled vehicle on the highway.
Story here.
Med Mal "Crisis" Over-Hyped in Maryland?
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Family of Madison teen killed in crash settles for $18.3 million
Obviously, that jury must have seen some baaaaad evidence and the plaintiff's lawyers were ready to put on a whale of a closing argument. Wonder if it was the defendants or their insurance company who decided to refuse the earlier offer?
Halliburton Is Truly Above the Law
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Lawmakers ask court to reverse liability claims ruling
In an unusual move, four legislators have asked the Texas Supreme Court to reverse a recent decision that, critics say, gives refineries and other industrial plants a new shield against liability claims from contract workers injured on the job.
The ruling contradicted the law, said two Democrats — Rep. Craig Eiland of Galveston and Sen. Rodney Ellis of Houston — and two Republicans — Sen. Jeff Wentworth of San Antonio and Rep. Bryan Hughes of Mineola — in a brief filed with the all-Republican court.
"This Court, by disregarding the express terms of the Legislature's enactments, has violated the separation of powers clause of the Texas Constitution and impermissibly encroached on the powers and functions expressly reserved to the Legislature," the lawmakers argued.
Edit. This brings to mind the study by a University of Texas law professor who found that lawsuit defendants — often businesses like Entergy — won 87 percent of the time when they took their cases to the Texas Supreme Court during its 2004-05 term.
"Judicial Activism" in the Eye of the Beholder?
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Debunking the "Stella Awards"
Houston Chronicle columnist Rick Casey concludes with these statements:
Here's the lesson: The next time an Internet tale makes you think things are even worse than you thought, check it out. Especially when the tale suggests that the American system is stacked against wealthy corporations. One easy way: www.snopes.com, an excellent site that investigates urban myths. It took less than 30 seconds to ask for "Stella Awards" and receive the verdict: "False."
Well said.
Dennis Quaid and Wife Sue Drug Maker
Who Gets Hurt Most by "Tort Reform?"
"Tort reform may not affect all segments of society equally. Studies have shown that many tort reforms disproportionately reduce compensation to women, children, the elderly, disadvantaged minorities, and less affluent people. This study goes beyond tort reform's disproportionate effect on compensation, to explore whether tort reform also has a disproportionate effect on accidental death rates. We explain that, theoretically, tort reform's care-level effects and activity-level effects may disproportionately impact the accident rates of different groups. Using the most accurate, comprehensive data on medical malpractice tort reforms and state-level data from 1980-2000, we examine empirically whether tort reforms indeed have such a disproportionate effect. The results from our empirical analysis are consistent with our theoretical predictions. We find that the impact of tort reform varies substantially among demographic groups. When we consider the net effect of all the reforms in our study together, our results suggest that women, children, and the elderly do not enjoy tort reform's benefits as much as men and middle-aged people. In fact, they might even be harmed by reform."
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Rush Hour in Fort Worth (circa 1955)
On Thrill Rides, Safety Is Optional
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Changing Minds, One at a Time
What do you say to a fellow like this? I confess that I was at a loss. Once we plaintiff lawyers could at least offer some comfort, inadequate as it was, that the civil justice system might provide answers and maybe, just maybe, some attempt at compensation. Now I had to explain that politicians in Austin have already decided what his loss is worth. I had to tell him that because his beautiful wife and the son that was to bear his name were the victims of medical negligence, the courthouse doors had been closed by the very people who represent his family in the Capitol.
Do you know what was most frustrating about this scenario? This man had not voted on Proposition 12 and had no idea of the damage that it did to the Texas Constitution. Before this tragedy befell him, he was one of the thousands of uninformed, misinformed or indifferent Texans who did not understand what HB 4 and Proposition 12 really did to their rights. He knows the truth now, unfortunately.
So what can we trial lawyers do about this ? Speak up. Educate others. Make sure your families, friends and clients are registered to vote and that they do vote. Get involved with your elected representatives. Let them know that we will hold them accountable for the promises made when they stripped away our rights. When you turn down cases that are no longer economical due to "tort reform," make sure the potential clients know how to contact their senators and representatives in Austin, because odds are they voted in favor of HB 4.
And above all, keep fighting. Fight for victims. Fight for justice. Fight the negative stereotypes about trial lawyers and the "tort reform" propaganda. Fight for what is right and never, ever give up.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Arkansas Bus Wreck Injures 40, Kills 3
Terrible tragedy on I40 in Arkansas.
(CNN) -- A bus hopped a highway median and crashed into a pickup truck before being broadsided by an 18-wheeler, Arkansas police said, killing the pickup driver and two bus riders.
Forty people were hurt in Sunday night's crash, which shut down a 13-mile stretch of Interstate-40 east of Forrest City, Arkansas, said state police spokesman Bill Sadler.
The bus was westbound en route from Chicago, Illinois, to Dallas, Texas.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Gas Well Explosion in Alvarado
With all the wells around these parts, it's a wonder there haven't been more tragedies. Fortunately for these three workers, it sounds like they'll be okay.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Texas House District 97 Voters, Dan Barrett's Your Man
Professor Laird's Playbook - Using Video Depositions at Trial
More and more these days, witnesses are presented at trial through video deposition excerpts, either by necessity because they are unavailable at trial (out-of-state witnesses, treating physicians, etc.) or by choice (to streamline the case or in situations where an adverse witness’s testimony will never get better than it was at deposition).
Some tips:
• Keep the video edits as short as possible, 15 minutes or less if possible. Don’t just pop the entire video in and hit “play.”
• Hire a good video editor. Get the edits on VHS and DVD formats.
• Have a copy of the edits and a written page/line designation to give to the court reporter for the record. It will save him or her from having to record the testimony at trial.
• Ask the judge in pretrial to instruct the jury that they will see and hear video deposition testimony, which is meant to speed the trial and which is to be given the same weight as if the witness was live at trial.
• Ask the judge to point out that the lawyers have edited the videos with the judge’s approval (here in Tarrant County, at least, the parties have to exchange designate portions of the depos they wish to use at trial and the court rules on objections to those designations prior to trial). Often the editing causes the image on the screen to jump around a bit or cut off a word or two. I had one juror tell me after trial that this made her suspicious that the attorneys were trying to pull a fast one on the jury by splicing the testimony. Get the judge to explain this before your jurors draw that conclusion in their minds!
• Think about the timing of showing your video depos. Consider interspersing them in between live witnesses. Be careful about showing them right after lunch or at the end of the day.
• As much as possible, coordinate your video edits with those to be shown by the other side. Jurors don’t like hearing the same testimony again when the defense offers their tender right after the plaintiff shows his.
• When taking the deposition, keep in mind that the jury may later see the video and they may compare your dress and demeanor during deposition with that at trial. For example, if you tone down your usual jewelry when you’re in trial, don’t forget to take off that flashy watch during the depo. Don’t be a jerk in deposition and then a choirboy in trial.
• In a lengthy trial, take a still shot of the witness’s face from the video depo and blow it up or show it on an ELMO during closing argument to remind the jurors of the witness.
Clearly, there is no substitute for a live witness. However, when done right, video depos can be effective and time-saving, so long as they are not too long and are not overused.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer Revisited
"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I'm just a caveman. I fell on some ice and was later thawed by some of your scientists. Your world frightens and confuses me! . . . When I see my image on the security camera at the country club, I wonder, are they stealing my soul? I get so upset, I hop out of my Range Rover, and run across the fairway to the clubhouse, where I get Carlos to make me one of those martinis he's so famous for, to soothe my primitive caveman brain. But whatever world you're from, I do know one thing--in the 20 years from March 22, 1972, when he first ordered that extra nicotine be put into his product, until February 25, 1992, when he issued an interoffice memorandum stopping the addition of that nicotine, my client was legally insane."
Friday, November 16, 2007
Heard Gets Life in Prison
I don't practice criminal law and I don't weigh in with opinions on most criminal trials because their courtrooms are not mine. But I've followed this murder trial pretty closely because I have friends on all sides of that case, including the police officer who eulogized Nava at his funeral and the lead defense attorney. Talk about being at opposite ends of the spectrum.
Regardless of one's views on criminal defense lawyers, or the death penalty, or the justice system, or the police, or whatever, this was a fascinating, hard-fought trial. My hat goes off to the attorneys, the judge, and especially the jurors.
Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer
"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I'm just a caveman. I fell on some ice and later got thawed out by some of your scientists. Your world frightens and confuses me! Sometimes the honking horns of your traffic make me want to get out of my BMW.. and run off into the hills, or wherever.. Sometimes when I get a message on my fax machine, I wonder: 'Did little demons get inside and type it?' I don't know! My primitive mind can't grasp these concepts. But there is one thing I do know - when a man like my client slips and falls on a sidewalk in front of a public library, then he is entitled to no less than two million in compensatory damages, and two million in punitive damages. Thank you."
Another child disembowled by a pool drain
MINNEAPOLIS — The family of a 6-year-old girl who lost part of her intestinal tract after sitting on an open drain in a wading pool is suing the pool manufacturer and the country club where the accident happened.
Abigail Taylor faces a small intestine transplant that will keep her hospitalized for six months, said family attorney Robert Bennett. Her lifetime medical expenses could total $30 million and the country club carries only $6 million in liability insurance, he said.
Edit. This poor child's intestines were sucked out of her rectum by an uncovered pool drain, a danger known within the industry for years (Sen. John Edwards, in his previous life as a trial lawyer, handled a similar case in North Carolina some time ago). To the "tort deformers" out there, I say look that little girl and her parents in their eyes and tell them her case is frivolous.
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Each Year, 30,000 Truckers Test Positive for Drugs/Alcohol
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Good truck drivers are among the safest, most-professional, most-skilled drivers on the roads today, and my hat is off to them for doing a tough job well. But the bad apples among them are getting away with murder, thanks to lax oversight, over-burdened enforcement personnel, carrier indifference, and economic pressure.
DFW is one of the largest inland ports of commerce in America, with thousands of trucks plying our roads every hour. A meth-head driving a 40-ton tractor/trailer can really ruin your day, my friends.
Friday, October 26, 2007
HOW ARBITRATION STEALS YOUR DAY IN COURT
If I told you there was a courtroom in America where consumers lose lawsuits to businesses 94 percent of the time, and there is no chance to appeal, you'd probably never want to go there.
But here's the problem: You don't have a choice, thanks to small print.
While you may have never heard of binding mandatory arbitration, it is part of nearly every significant transaction you engage in now. It's also become a controversial battleground over consumer protection in America, and on Thursday Congress held hearings debating legislation that would largely nullify many arbitration agreements. The hearing came on the heels of a new report that claims to offer a first-ever glimpse into a world that some say has turned Americans’ Constitutional rights on their head.
Story here.
Ed. The really crazy thing is that the banks and other institutions who enforce arbitration clauses when consumers sue them are the same banks and other institutions who are clogging our courts with creditors' collection suits. That ain't right. See my previous blog on 8/31/07, "Debt Collection Suits on The Rise."
Friday, October 19, 2007
Tort reform not working? Gosh, who knew?
Quote: "Proposition 12, and the far-reaching changes in Texas civil law that it dragged behind it, was built on a foundation of mistruths and sketchy assumptions. The number of doctors in the state was not falling, it was steadily rising, according to Texas Medical Board data. There was little statistical evidence showing that frivolous lawsuits were a significant force driving increases in malpractice premiums. Perhaps the most insidious sleight of hand employed by Proposition 12 backers was their repeated insistence that medical malpractice insurance rates were somehow responsible for doctor shortages in rural Texas...The campaign’s promise, that tort reform would cause doctors to begin returning to the state’s sparsely populated regions, has now been tested for four years. It has not proven to be true."
Thursday, October 04, 2007
In Texas, this is worth $250,000
Thanks to insurance industry "tort deform" that swept through Texas in 2003, non-economic damages in a medical malpractice suit like Ms. Eason's would be capped at $250,000. That's right: All the pain and suffering, all the disfigurement, all the impairment, all the damage to her marriage, everything, is worth $250,000 tops, thanks to the 2003 Texas Legislature.
Think this is a frivolous lawsuit?
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
'Dead' Man Wakes Up Under Autopsy Knife
Carlos Camejo, 33, was declared dead after a highway accident and taken to the morgue, where examiners began an autopsy only to realize something was amiss when he started bleeding. They quickly sought to stitch up the incision on his face.
"I woke up because the pain was unbearable," Camejo said, according to a report on Friday in leading local newspaper El Universal.
His grieving wife turned up at the morgue to identify her husband's body only to find him moved into a corridor -- and alive.
Story here.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
OU fan accused of gruesome injury to man clad in UT shirt
"I've actually heard callers on talk radio say that this guy deserved what he got for wearing a Texas T-shirt into a bar in the middle of Sooner country," said Irven Box, an attorney in this city 20 miles from OU's campus in Norman.
C'mon, people.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Good Hunt Last Saturday
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons granulated onion
2 teaspoons garlic powder
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Makes enough for at least a dozen doves. Rub both sides of each dove with the mixture and refrigerate doves for one hour before grilling.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Note to Self: Don't Fly Nepal Airlines
Cheaper than paying a mechanic, I guess.
How do you stand out in a land with a billion people?
Why I Hunt Birds
Fair warning, Bubba.
Monday, September 03, 2007
Great Book on Trial Strategy
Sunday, September 02, 2007
Dove Report
Friday, August 31, 2007
Banner Year for Dove and Teal
Debt Collection Suits on Rise
On a similar note, write your elected officials (state and federal) about the abuses heaped upon average consumers by the banking and lending institutions. Grandma's utility bills go up and she falls a couple of months behind on paying off that new dishwasher from Sears, and suddenly she finds herself a defendant in a collection suit. That ain't right.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Getting Ready for Bird Season
I need one of these...think of all the birds I could shoot at and miss.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
I Don't Watch Oprah, I Swear
Dove Season Opens Saturday
This...is not my plane
Long Time, No Blog
Monday, March 12, 2007
Gas Well Explosion in Parker County, Texas
North Texas is booming from gas production in the Barnett Shale, sometimes quite literally. We all applaud the increased business and tax revenue generated by this industry, but in the haste to punch holes in the ground, we can't forget that working men and women and their families are often the ones who live with the consequences when mistakes are made. Find out how you can get involved in your community to help ensure that drilling operations are done safely.
Hats off to the Parker County emergency crews who responded to this explosion.