Litigation-Personal
Houston Attorney Mark Lanier Earns National Lifetime Achievement Award
NEWS
The American Association for Justice will honor Houston trial lawyer Mark Lanier with its Lifetime Achievement Award in July.
Hospital, Doctor to Pay $18M Over Deadly Diagnostic Test
NEWS
A New York State hospital and doctor who treated a college student who went into a coma and died two years later have reached an $18.1 million settlement with the young woman’s parents.
Passenger Railroad Facility Safety Audit As Revenue Protection
White Paper
While there few fatalities or injuries per year for passengers on trains, there are several hundred fatalities and many thousand injuries per year associated with rail transportation in general, other than with passengers.
Federal Court Rules Racial Discrimination Lawsuit Against Frisco ISD Can Proceed
NEWS
The ruling overturned a 2014 summary judgment issued by the U.S. District Court in Sherman that dismissed the case in the school district’s favor.
Litigation Shows Buyout Clauses Don’t Always Provide Certainty as Designed
White Paper
Although the purpose of the “buyout” is to allow both coach and university to avoid future costs of litigating a breach of contract case, some recent lawsuits reveal that is sometimes easier said than done.
ERISA Ruling: Claimant Has ‘Duty to Investigate’ When Asserting Equitable Tolling of Contractual Limitations Provision
NEWS
A plaintiff is not reasonably diligent when she fails to investigate basic issues that are relevant to her claim or to proceed with it in a reasonably prompt fashion.
$663 Million in Penalties for Maker of Guardrail
NEWS
At least 14 lawsuits blame the Trinity Industries guardrails for causing injuries in crashes, including five deaths.
Boston Scientific Ordered to Pay $100 Million Over Mesh
NEWS
A Delaware jury has determined that Boston Scientific Corp. must pay $100 million to a Delaware woman who blamed the company’s vaginal-mesh inserts for leaving her in constant pain, reports Bloomberg.
Attorneys at Dallas’ Simon Greenstone Panatier Bartlett Win 2 of Texas’ Top Verdicts for 2014
NEWS
Attorneys from Dallas-based Simon Greenstone Panatier Bartlett, PC won two of the largest verdicts in Texas last year, according to the publishers of VerdictSearch.
Transportation Expert on Rail Safety
White Paper
A transportation and traffic engineering expert has posted the first part of an examination of a broad range of safety issues involving rail activity.
Dallas’ Standly Hamilton Wins Top Texas Premises Liability Verdict In Past 10 Years
NEWS
Plaintiffs claimed that lax security contributed to two teenagers’ deaths after the two were beaten in a McDonald’s parking lot in College Station.
$200 Million Settlement Approved for Fungal Meningitis Victims
NEWS
A judge has approved a $200 million settlement for victims of a deadly fungal meningitis outbreak in 2012, reports Michigan Radio.
Transocean Reaches $212 Million Settlement Over Oil Spill Claims
NEWS
Transocean owned the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, which sank after the April 20, 2010 blowout at BP’s Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico.
Kentucky Hospital to Pay $41 Million in Unnecessary Surgeries
NEWS
The government’s lawsuit claimed the hospital billed for numerous unnecessary coronary stents and diagnostic catheterizations performed by its doctors.
Rhode Island Firm Wins $25 Million Jury Verdict Against Rhode Island Hospital
NEWS
The state’s largest hospital admitted that seven doctors and two nurses were negligent in caring for a patient who sought treatment in for a head injury in 2009.
DaVita Will Pay $495 Million to Settle Atlanta Whistle-Blower Case
NEWS
Doctor and nurse said they noticed that DaVita was throwing out good medicine and then billing Medicare and Medicaid for it.
$21 Million Verdict in Wrong-Patient Brain Surgery
NEWS
The plaintiff’s lawyer says five holes were drilled into the patient’s head and the right side of her skull was sawed out.
Jury Awards Woman $13M for Asbestos Exposure From Talcum
NEWS
Jury found that the company’s Cashmere Bouquet talcum powder was responsible for causing the plaintiff to contract mesothelioma, an aggressive cancer caused by asbestos.
What is a Non-Disparagement Clause and Why You May Not Want to Sign One
White Paper
Non-disparagement clauses have been enforced by a vast majority of state and federal courts, and proving that you have disparaged someone is not as hard as you think.
Jury Awards $150 Million for Jeep Fuel-Tank Fire Death
NEWS
A jury in Georgia awarded $150 million to a family that sued Chrysler Group LLC for the 2012 death of their 4-year-old in a crash involving a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee with a rear fuel tank, reports Reuters.
