Archive for February 2008
Personal Injury Law Round-Up #51
I’m not a math genius, but I am smart enough to figure out that next week will be Personal Injury Law Round-Up #52, which probably means the one year anniversary of the Personal Injury Law Round-Up. I wanted to thank and congratulate Eric Turkewitz for starting the round-up. In his honor, I’ll learn how to insert…
Read MoreTexas Supreme Court: Justice Delayed
Texas Watch, a bi-partisan advocacy group working to improve consumer and insurance laws for Texas families, has issued a new report about the increasing backlog of cases at the Texas Supreme Court. The report, entitled Snail’s Pace: An Analysis of the Texas Supreme Court’s Growing Backlog, made the following findings: The Court took an average…
Read MoreLegal Malpractice In The Criminal Context
To win a legal malpractice claim, a plaintiff must prove that the attorney’s negligence was a proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injuries. For over 15 years, it has been the law in Texas that legal malpractice plaintiffs who have been convicted of a criminal offense cannot establish the proximate cause element unless the plaintiff is…
Read MorePersonal Injury Law Round-Up #50
It is a great time to be in Austin. We have the Democratic primary, last night’s debate, and local appearances by the candidates. We don’t often get to participate in the process this late in the game, and certainly the Democratic party hasn’t had this much input or excitement in a long time. Add in…
Read MoreAustin Trucking Accident Dangers
Austin news station KXAN ran a story last night about truck drivers “dodging the scales” to avoid weigh stations and inspections. Texas has several permanent weigh stations operated by the Department of Public Safety. Unfortunately, truckers are becoming resourceful about ways to get around the inspection stations. The thing that really struck me in the…
Read MoreFlorida stops Allstate from writing new auto policies
This is not really personal injury news, but the Florida insurance commissioner issued a ruling this morning that Allstate was not allowed to write any more auto policies in Florida. The action comes after Allstate chose not to produce subpoened records and instead wrote a 51 page letter from one of its attorneys with an…
Read MorePersonal Injury Law Round-Up #49
I’ve had a chance to catch my breath, and we have some very interesting links this week. First, to the tort “reform” news… I’ll start with the best post of the week, Eric Turkewitz’s How to Fool A Jury (Is It Insurance Fraud?). If you don’t click on any more of the links, click on…
Read MoreFight Over Constitutionality of Medical Malpractice Limits
Tort reform lobbying groups took an unusual step this week by filing a declaratory action suit here in Austin trying to establish that the 2003 medical malpractice caps on liability are constitutional. The suit stems from a lawsuit against Corpus Christi doctor John McKeever. In that suit, patient Adrian Cerny sued Dr. McKeever after Cerny developed…
Read MoreJustice Medina's Saga Continues
As we’ve previously written, Republican Supreme Court Justice Medina and his wife were indicted last month by a Harris County grand jury for conduct relating to a fire at their home. Shortly thereafter, the Republican district attorney had the indictments dismissed. Now the case takes another twist. Six members of the grand jury have sued…
Read MoreClosing Arguments Heat Up In Legal Malpractice Trial
In Philadelphia, mega-law firm Duane Morris has found itself as the defendant in a legal malpractice case. In the case, the plaintiff has alleged that Duane Morris negotiated a settlement agreement on the plaintiff’s behalf, but failed to make sure that the payments were secured. According to the plaintiff, he received approximately $200,000 of a…
Read More