Dallas Personal Injury Lawyer

The Chamber - Denying Access to the Courthouse for Citizens, but Not Corporations

Mary Alice McLarty — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 14:46:58 GMT

Last month. the U.S. Chamber's Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) held its annual summit - a strategy session on eliminating Americans' access to the civil justice system. In its typical self-serving fashion, ILR seized on the hardships of millions of unemployed Americans, claiming that this country needs "jobs, not lawsuits," despite no actual evidence to bolster its nonsensical claims.

ILR's board members run the gamut of industries - from chemical makers and drug companies to Wall Street banks. And they have more in common than just their commitment to closing the courthouse door on injured Americans. The corporations that finance ILR have long, storied histories of using the courts for their own agendas - to gain the upper hand against their competitors, customers and even each other. The Chamber is totally hypocritical trying to deny consumers access to the courthouse - robbing them of their 7th Amendment rights, but using those same rights for their own "frivolous lawssuits".

To coincide with the event, the American Association for Justice (AAJ) also released a report, "Do As I Say, Not As I Sue", which exposes the hypocrisy of 10 ILR board members that regularly use the civil justice system to advance their own agendas, while at the same time advocating legislation that would close the courthouse doors to anyone who would hold them accountable for their own wrongdoing. This report has an astounding number of "frivolous" lawsuits brought by corporate America.

One ILR board member highlighted in the report is Honeywell International, which has regularly taken competitors to court, but would prefer not to be held accountable for distributing defective body armor to law enforcement personnel across the country, or downplaying the dangers of asbestos exposure.

In return for its financial contributions to ILR, Honeywell has received policy and public relations help when its negligence has been uncovered. Four days after an Illinois jury delivered a multi-million dollar verdict against Honeywell for conspiring to hide the dangers of asbestos, ILR issued a press release stating that the decision "confirms a troubling trend in the State of Illinois where there is a hostile ligation environment." Additionally, the Madison County Record, an Illinois-based propaganda-as-news outlet fully owned by ILR, featured an article headlined, "McLean County Continues Inching Closer to Becoming a 'Judicial Hellhole.'"

The irony does not stop with Honeywell - AAJ's report also highlights the litigation hypocrisy of ILR board members FedEx, Dow Chemical Company, General Motors Corporation, Caterpillar, State Farm, Koch Industries, Abbott Laboratories, Prudential and Johnson & Johnson.

Learn more about the U.S. Chamber, ILR and AAJ's report here: www.justice.org/USChamber .

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Mary Alice McLarty

Worker Killed in Industrial Workplace Incident at Texas Instruments in Dallas

Bryan Pope — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 17:23:47 GMT

A worker at a Texas Instruments plant in Dallas, Texas was killed Monday in a major incident. Apparently, there was an explosion at a water purifier which resulted in the worker being impaled by the flying glass. OSHA investigators were on the scene to determine the cause of this industrial fatality accident.

Industrial workplace incidents resulting in serious injuries or fatalities are all too common as companies routinely disregard basic safety procedures with catastrophic results. This is actually the second major industrial workplace incident in the Dallas area in the last few weeks as an explosion and resulting fire at a chemical plant in Waxahachie, Texas created concern for toxic exposure in the area around the plant. The investigation of that incident revealed that the Magnablend plant was mixing combustible chemicals to be used in hydraulic fracturing (or commonly known as "fracking") fluids that is used to extract natural gas and oil from below ground. Recently, a former worker at the Magnablend facility has come forward to confirm that Magnablend was routinely failing to follow basic safety procedures and that the explosion was an accident waiting to happen.

Lately, we have heard Republican politicians claiming that the reason that the economy is in the tank and companies are not hiring workers is due to the burdensome and restrictive regulations which are choking the "job creators." This would be laughable if it were not so serious because safety regulations are absolutely necessary to prevent even more workplace incidents which could kill or maim even more workers. If anything, there need to be more safety regulations that would protect workers in the industrial and construction workplace from the type of incidents which cause far too many severe injuries and deaths.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Bryan Pope

Massive Explosion and Fire at Texas Chemical Plant Causes Public Safety Concerns

Bryan Pope — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 19:19:35 GMT

A huge explosion this morning at the Magnablend chemical plant in Waxahachie, Texas caused a massive fire which created a potentially dangerous situation for the area around the plant. According to preliminary reports from the Waxahachie fire chief, the explosion was caused by a bad reaction to the mixing of chemicals. The plant is a custom chemical manufacturing and blending plant that also packages chemicals.

Toxic fumes from the clouds of billowing black smoke contained contaminates which were potentially dangerous to inhale or to be exposed to the skin. A nearby elementary school and other buildings and homes were evacuated due to the safety concerns.

There were at least 85 employees working at the plant at the time of the explosion and it is still unknown if there are any injuries, although initial reports indicate that all of the workers may have made it miraculously out of the plant just in time to avoid serious injury or death. OSHA inspectors were on their way to the scene this afternoon.

Big fires and explosions at chemical plants usually do not happen without a violation of some type of workplace safety rule. There have been other similar type explosions in chemical facilities in Texas and all over the country which have resulted in serious injuries and loss of life due to major safety violations.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Bryan Pope

4th of July Special - Thanks to the Founding Lawyers

Mary Alice McLarty — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 13:40:43 GMT

Happy 4th of July and thank God for our Founding Fathers and their vision which has kept America vital for over 235 years. I read an interesting book recently, The Founding Lawyers and America's Quest for Justice by Stuart M. Speiser, published by the Pound Civil Justice Institute.

The second chapter of Speiser's book takes a fascinating look at the writing and ratifying of the United States Constitution. The delegates met in the late Spring of 1787 in Philadelphia for the Constiutional Convention, although Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, among others, quickly moved to rename it the "Foederal [federal] convention because the federal mandate had been to allow them to "amend" Articles of Confederation. George Washington was name president of the convention by acclamation. James Madison and Governor Edmund Randolph whipped together the "Viriginia Plan."

"So it was that when the Convention began to address its main business on May 29, 1787, the delegates were presented with the Virginia Plan, which in broad outline called for a new national government with three independent branches: a national executive, a national judiciary, and a national legislature of two houses -- the representatives, to be elected by the people, and the senators to be elected by the representatives."

A vigorous debate ensured and the outcome of the Convention was in doubt on July 11, 1787 when Washington wrote to Alexander Hamilton "that he despaired of seeing a favorable outcome." A Committee of Detail was appointed to work out the problems and this committee came up with a reformulation of the "23 articles which roughly expressed the sense of the Convention thus far." But they decided to refer "the most vexing problems to a Committee on Postponed matters." This became known as the Committee of Eleven, or the Brearly Committee. This committee included, James Madison, Gouverneur Morris of Pennsylvania, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, among others. The committee was dominated by lawyers who had done most of the work of creating the Constitution.

Finally the Constitution was ready to be written and this task was entrusted to the "Committee of Style and Arrangement." The five members of this committee were chosen by ballot and they were all lawyers: "Judge William Johnson of Connecticut (the chairman), Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, Rufus King and Gouverneur Morris."

Although all five contributed, it was Gouverneur Morris who did most of the drafting and editing. His artistry appears in the preamble, in which with a stroke of him pen, he wrote:

"We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, to establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

Morris and the committee boiled the 23 Articles down to just seven. Each article was meant to provide a framework of a workable government with enough "vagueness, generality and flexibility" to allow the Constitution to develop with the country.

As the author Speiser says:

"Its vitality today as the world's oldest functioning constitution confirms the prescience of the lawyers who created it. For reasons explained in the next chapter, we shall call them the Founding Lawyers."

I hope to be blogging more about Stuart Speiser's book, the Founding Lawyers, which can be purchased through the Pound Institute which is a non-profit organization or you can find it on Amazon. Happy 4th of July and please pray for our men and women overseas who help preserve our freedom.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Mary Alice McLarty

Another Texas Bus Crash Shows Urgent Need for Seat Belts on Tour Buses

Bryan Pope — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 12:09:05 GMT

In yet another potentially tragic reminder that Congress needs to act NOW to mandate seat belts on motorcoach and school buses, an early morning rollover tour bus crash in San Marcos, Texas, has resulted in at least 21 people being injured, some with head injuries and broken bones. According to preliminary reports from the scene, at 4 am, the bus had started to veer off the interstate and the bus driver overcorrected causing the bus to rollover in a ditch on Northbound I-35. The bus was headed to Dallas and then on to Des Moines. The bus is owned by Mares Tours, a Dallas-based bus line.

The nature of the injuries (head injuries, broken bones, severe lacerations) is consistent with the types of injuries that are seen when these buses roll on their side and the passengers who are unrestrained bounce all over the bus and slam their bodies into the metal interior, the glass and even on top of other bodies. There is no question that if properly restrained with lap/shoulder belts, that lives could be saved and broken bodies could be prevented.

Currently, there is a bill proposed by Ohio US Senator Sherrod Brown (D) and co-sponsored by Texas US Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R) and six other US Senators to mandate restraint systems on motorcoach buses in addition to many other safety improvements involving driver training, qualifications, fatigue, etc.

The Motorcoach Enhanced Safety Act would reduce the number of motorcoach crashes and related fatalities. Brown and Hutchison first introduced the legislation following a 2007 crash of a tour bus carrying 33 Bluffton University baseball players that claimed seven lives. Brown and Hutchison have introduced the bill in the previous two Congresses. U.S. Congressman John Lewis (GA-5) is introducing a companion bill in the House of Representatives.

In March 2011, Brown testified before the Senate Commerce Committee at a hearing entitled: ‘Ensuring the Safety of Our Nation's Motorcoach Passengers." Brown was joined at the hearing by John and Joy Betts, who lost their son David in the Bluffton University crash. The bill was adopted unanimously by the Commerce Committee on May 5.

The Motorcoach Enhanced Safety Act is based on National Transportation Safety Board recommendations-some of which were first proposed in 1968. The bill would require:

• Safety belts and stronger seating systems to ensure occupants stay in their seats in a crash.

• Improved commercial driver training. Currently, minimal training is required by federal regulation.

• Anti-ejection glazing windows to prevent passengers from being easily thrown outside the motorcoach.

• Strong, crush-resistant roofs that can withstand rollovers.

• Improved protection against fires by reducing flammability of the motorcoach interior, and better training for operators in the case of fire.

• A National Commercial Motor Vehicle Medical Registry to ensure that only medically qualified examiners conduct physical examinations of drivers and a medical certificate process to ensure that all certificates are valid and no unqualified operator is allowed to drive.

• Strengthened motorcoach vehicle safety inspections including roadside inspections, safety audits, and state and motor carrier programs for identifying vehicle defects.

• Electronic On-Board Recorders (EOBRs) with real-time capabilities to track precise vehicle location that cannot be tampered with by the driver.

Sen. Brown recently wrote a letter which was published in the USA Today regarding the critical need to pass this piece of legislation immediately. Since the bill was voted unanimously out of the Commerce Committee, it just awaits action in the full Senate before moving over to the House and ultimately, hopefully, onto President Obama's desk for signature. With the Senate in session over the long holiday weekend to try to get a budget deal, why not take action on this legislation and get the ball rolling on making these safety measures into law?

Now is the time to let your US House Representative and Senators hear from you that there can be no more delay on passing these desparately needed safety measures!

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Bryan Pope

Hot Coffee Spills The Secrets of Tort Deform

Bryan Pope — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 18:00:14 GMT

Tonight on HBO, the documentary movie Hot Coffee by Susan Saladoff, the former president of Public Justice will premier at 9 pm EST. This movie will finally provide a strong and persuasive response to the multi-billion dollar 30 year campaign of misinformation and distortion of the facts against those people who dare to attempt to hold corporate and individual wrongdoers accountable at the Courthouse. If you think you know what "tort reform" really means, then watch this movie tonight for an eye opening experience into the real life impact "tort deform" has had on real people.

The movie contains 3 stories about people or families who have either been the target of misinformation (Stella Liebeck and her McDonald's hot coffee spill injury case) or have been subjected to the tremendous toll that tort deform has taken on individuals in this country. The documentary tells the story of a young woman said she was raped by co-employees while working for KBR in Iraq yet was unable to gain access to the Courtroom due to a mandatory aribtration clause in her employment contract with KBR. Finally, Saladoff tells the story of a Nebraska couple whose infant is born with Cerebral Palsy due to medical malpractice. A jury awards enough money to take care of the impaired child's life care plan, but a state law putting arbitrary caps on medical malpractice caps on damages results in the verdict being slashed and leaving insufficient funds to cover the child's medical needs.

Saladoff makes a persuasive argument that the constant drumbeat of "frivolous" lawsuits are destroying this country's economy and holding back corporations from creating jobs has been carefully manufactured by special interests (big business, petrochemical companies, etc.) to create momentum for federal and state legislation aimed at providing immunity to corporate interests and confusing the public into thinking that the trial lawyer and the victims we represent are the enemies for daring to attempt to hold corporations and individual wrongdoers accountable at the Courthouse.

Tonight...the myth of the runaway McDonald's jury is finally debunked for good and the public is given a lesson on the devastating effects of Tort Deform!

Don't miss Hot Coffee!!

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Bryan Pope

Lawyer held accountable for his bad conduct

Mary Alice McLarty — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 15:50:02 GMT

Dr. Andrew Gross, who is a physician/lawyer, and I filed a podiatrist malpractice case on behalf of Brandy Cannon in Dallas in 2007. The case was turned into an acrimonious fight by a junkyard dog lawyer, Gary Werley from Ft. Worth. Justice finally came yesterday in an opinon issued by the El Paso Court of Appeals confirming the decision of trial court Judge Marty Lowy to sanction Werley for his bad conduct. See the opinion at the Court of Appeals site.

Brandy Cannon was injured by a podiatrist who did excessive bone removal during her bunionectomies. Due to this condition, her feet did not support her weight and continued to fracture. She has not been pain free or been able walk normally since. When she finally sought a specialist, she was told of the "overaggressive bone removal." She hired my firm to represent her in an action against the podiatrist, Dr. Scott Ashton. After the suit was filed, the doctor called her treating physicians. He complained to one podiatrist about the note he had in his file:

that his X-rays showed “severe over-aggressive bone removal during the bunion surgery.”

Dr. Ashton was quite aggitated when he spoke with his colleagues. The Texas podiatrist community is very close knit and discourages anyone from testifying against a fellow podiatrist. This is known as the "conspiracy of silence" in the legal community. Every podiatrist I questioned under oath said that testifying in a malpractice case was strongly discouraged by their fellow podiatrists. Under the intense peer pressure, this podiatrist changed his opinion about a month after the suit was filed. When we saw the change in the medical records we brought it to the court's attention. We filed a motion for protective order and set it for a hearing. Judge Lowy was disturbed by the conduct and

...granted the motion and prohibited the defendants “from any ex parte contacts with non-party treating physicians of Brandy Cannon.”

The term "Ex parte" contacts means without having us, Brandy's lawyers, present. Mr. Werley ignored the court's order and contacted four of Brandy's subsequent physicians in an attempt to influence their testimoney, without notifying us. We brought a motion for sanctions against Werley and the judge fined him $12,600. He appealed this judgment and the Court of Appeals found in our favor. All of this took four years. In the meantime Dr. Ashton's new lawyers settled his case with Brandy.

You often hear about "frivolous" lawsuits but the general public has no idea the waste of time and money these "Rambo" tactics cost the courts and therefore the taxpayers. The 8th Court of Appeals and Judge Marty Lowy certainly understand the problem. Judge Lowy said in his sanctions order, that he was:

“seriously bothered by [the defense’s] flagrant . . . disobedience” of its order.

We are too.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Mary Alice McLarty

Special Interest Money Flows Into Texas To Buy Corporate Immunity

Bryan Pope — Fri, 20 May 2011 14:56:26 GMT

I know it appears that all I want to talk about these days is the Tort Reform movement in Texas this Legislative Session. But people need to understand that decisions that will be made in the next few weeks have real consequences which could prove to be devastating to victims, consumers, and yes, small businesses in Texas. As if the massive campaign contributions of Texas pro-business and insurance industry groups such as Texans for Lawsuit Reform isn’t enough, a National special interest group that purports to be a "pro-business issue advocacy organization" has decided to dump big money to fund an effort to saturate the state’s radio markets with misleading radio advertisements to sway public opinion and pressure the State’s lawmakers to pass Tort Reform.

Americans for Job Security (AJS) is organized as a 501(c)6 "business league" and does not disclose its donors. It says only that its members are "businesses, business leaders and entrepreneurs." The group is affiliated with Dave Carney, a close political advisor to Texas Governor Rick Perry, who has made Tort Reform in Texas an "emergency" item in this Legislative Session and is pushing to bolster his national conservative credentials by passing even more Tort Reform in Texas. Of course, the multi-national corporations, insurance companies, petrochemical companies, and other companies seeking corporate immunity can remain anonymous and hide behind the pretense that they are for "job growth." In fact, the AJS ad calls the "Loser Pays" legislation in Texas the "Creighton-Huffman Jobs and Small Business Magnet Plan."

The advertisement gives examples of obviously frivolous lawsuits which would be summarily dismissed by any Court in Texas and the attorney who filed them would be subject to potential sanctions for lawsuit abuse...vehicles available to the litigants and the courts which already exist in Texas. The absurdity of these examples shows how far this group is willing to go to push their agenda on the citizens of Texas. The Dallas Morning News has been out front reporting on this group's activities in Texas.

Here is the advertisement that is running on radio stations across the State right now:

- TRANSCRIPT -

ANNOUNCER: A man sued a beer company because beautiful women didn't appear when he drank lots of their beer.

A woman sued an amusement park because the haunted house was too scary.

Lawsuits like these happen all the time. Why? Because the people who file them have nothing to lose.

Frivolous lawsuits are tying up our legal system, hurting our economy and costing Texas jobs.

But that can change thanks to HB 274 the Creighton-Huffman Jobs and Small Business Magnet Plan.

The Texas Legislature can put a stop to frivolous lawsuits, help small business and attract and create new jobs.

It's time to stand up to the trial lawyers and serial litigants who are hurting our economy. It's time to put an end to their free ride.

The Texas legislature needs to pass HB 274 -- support small businesses and help attract and create new jobs in Texas.

To join the fight or to learn more visit www.SaveJobs.Org.

Paid for by Americans for Job Security.

I have blogged previously on how bad the "Loser Pays" proposed legislation is for the citizens of Texas. Texas Watch, a consumer watchdog group, continues to expose the Special Interests behind this piece of legislation and the nature of the harm it will cause Texans if it becomes the law. It is time to fight back and tell these Special Interests to get out of our State and let Texans take care of their own issues. This is a bad bill that will cause serious harm to Texas victims, consumers and small businesses and it needs to be stopped now.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Bryan Pope

Texas Legislators Attempting to Slam Courthouse Doors for Victims and Consumers

Bryan Pope — Wed, 18 May 2011 17:28:41 GMT

Although the State of Texas faces a multimillion dollar budgetary shortfall, the public schools are threatened by massive cuts in teachers and resources, and the elderly, handicapped and the poor are threatened with losing their access to medical care and nursing homes, the Governor of our great State incredibly has decided to make House Bill 274 (HB 274) an anti-consumer piece of legislation commonly called "Loser Pays" an Emergency item in this Legislative Session.

While the bill purports to level the playing field for litigants by allowing the losing party to collect costs and attorney fees for filing frivolous lawsuits, in reality, this legislation is aimed at providing immunity for big business and insurance companies. The notion that there is a lawsuit crisis or a problem with too many frivolous lawsuits is just patently false. The "tort deform" over the last 20 years in Texas has already served to create vehicles for litigants to move the courts to dismiss allegedly frivolous cases and to sanction those attorneys who file those cases. Now, the special interests are back in Austin with their big donors attempting to finish the job and permanently close the Courthouse doors in Texas to victims, consumers, and small businesses.

First, the "Loser Pays" label on this bill is a complete sham. This option can only be initiated by a Defendant. Anytime the Defendant thinks it has a good chance to win on liability, or made even a partial settlement offer, the insurance company can make the ‘loser pay’ election to put pressure on an injured victim or small business (car wreck victim making a claim for medical bills, or business owner making a flood, or storm claim). However, if the insurance company wants to delay, raise frivolous defenses, or give low ball offers on serious cases, the injured person or small business is denied the same basic right to make a "Loser Pays" election. It is fundamentally unfair to give one side this weapon and deny the same rights to the other. HB 274 gives this powerful weapon to multi-billion dollar insurance companies like AIG, Allstate, and State Farm but denies these same rights to working families, children, and victims of drunk drivers. This is indefensible.

Second, this bill is a One Way Street. If the injured person or small business making a claim wins at trial but does not win more than 80% of the insurance company’s pre-trial settlement offer, the victim can be ordered to pay the insurance company’s high priced lawyers, expert witness fees, and court costs. This means that if a person with a valid claim fails to win enough at trial, they can actually end up with a judgment against them to pay for the insurance companies’ lawyers and experts. In addition, the Plaintiff will never be able to recover attorney fees from the insurance company if he/she prevails at trial and beats the settlement offer because the only provision allowing for attorney fees in this bill is if attorney fees are allowed by statute. It explicitly excludes contingency fee contract attorney fees from consideration of recovery.

Texas Watch, a consumer watchdog group in Texas has been all over this scam being perpetrated against Texas citizens. Alex Winslow, the Executive Director at Texas Watch penned a scathing editorial in the San Marcos Daily Record today slamming the attempted power grab by the special interest corporations and insurance companies that seek to trample on Texas citizens rights.

This bill has already passed the Texas House as a result of the Republican supermajority suspending the rules of the House and ramming the legislation through without allowing for either amendments OR debate. The bill is now pending before the Texas Senate after hearings on Monday where there were far more speakers and groups testifying in opposition to the bill than for it.

The ultimate irony is that the "Loser Pays" legal theory is also known as the "British Rule." When our Founding Fathers crafted the Constitution, the decision was made to move away from the fee-shifting scheme in favor of the "American Rule" that provided that each party would be responsible for their own attorney costs.

I thought we won the Revolutionary War...but now it appears that the Governor of Texas and his special interest money backers want to embrace the ways of a vanquished King and his legal system. What would George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and the other Founding Fathers think of our State now??

If you live in Texas and think this attempted power grab by the special interests is unfair and bad for the citizens of this State, please call your Senator now and tell them to not support this bill.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Bryan Pope

Texas Legislature Recklessly Proposes 85 MPH Speed Limit

Bryan Pope — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 17:19:51 GMT

So I'm recently reading the Dallas Morning News and saw where our State Legislature, in its infinite wisdom, has proposed raising the speed limit on some highways to 85 mph. Ironically, this proposal comes after statistics were just released that 2009 was the safest on national highways since 1954 according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

It is well known that speed kills and that drivers don't drive the speed limit anyway on open roads such as the long interstates in Texas. The end result of raising the speed limit will be that drivers will frequently hurl down the highway at speeds close to or in excess of 100 mph. At such high speeds, a driver's reaction time to avoid accidents will be much less when faced with situations requring evasive manuevering.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety strongly opposes raising the speed limit in Texas as it argues that there is a link between raising the speed limit on rural highways and an increase in fatalities.

This is my take on the proposal...if the speed limits are raised, then you will have a dramatic increase in serious injuries and fatalities on Texas highways. Maybe I'm just crazy, but does anyone else think this is a horrible idea? Let me know or better yet, if you are from Texas, let your State legislator know.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Bryan Pope