AUSTIN – Trial courts need to be balanced when it comes to their rulings in electronic discovery disputes, as the Texas Supreme Court recently found judges must recognize “proportionality is the polestar.”
First, we get hit with high-intensity storms that pummeled parts of our state in previous weeks with large hail. Next, we get soaked by storm-chasing personal injury lawyers looking to line their pockets.
Texas is taking a pounding, and it’s time for the Texas Legislature to do their part to stop it. Since we can’t control the weather, let’s tackle abusive hail storm lawsuits and enact smart reforms.
DALLAS – Mostyn Law’s bid to force an appraisal in a client’s hail lawsuit was recently shut down by a district judge – a so called “trump card” that supposedly only insurers use “when they want to get out of cases,” according to a firm attorney.
McALLEN – A final judgment of more than $665,000 has been entered in a Hidalgo County hail lawsuit – a far cry from the $1.8 million in damages originally awarded by the jury.
BEAUMONT – On March 28, the Texas House Insurance Committee heard testimony on what has been dubbed the hailstorm lawsuit abuse bill – a piece of legislation, depending on who you talk to, aimed at either ending a civil crisis or giving insurers immunity from civil suits.
AUSTIN – On March 8 Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse groups voiced their support for Senate Bill 10 and House Bill 1774, legislation aimed at reining in hail storm lawsuit abuse, while ensuring consumers are protected.
AUSTIN – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office filed a lawsuit against a Texas construction company that allegedly cost consumers thousands of dollars in a home-building scam.
AUSTIN - Despite a half million hail claims resulting in a record $4 billion in insured losses last year, homeowner complaints to the Texas Department of Insurance were the lowest number ever recorded.
HIDALGO COUNTY – In November, The Mostyn Law Firm, located in Houston, was hit with a summary judgment loss in a hail lawsuit against State Farm Lloyds.
HIDALGO COUNTY – A Mission physician recently hit an area lawyer with a barratry lawsuit, accusing the hail attorney of obtaining a contingency fee agreement through soliciting contractors – contractors who allegedly left the doctor’s commercial property in shambles once the money ran dry.
McALLEN – A jury in Hidalgo County, crowned a “Judicial Hellhole” the past two years because of mass hailstorm litigation, recently awarded a hail claimant nearly $1.8 million in damages, saddling an insurance company with $800,000 in exemplary damages alone for allegedly acting with malice.
McALLEN – Since 2012, the Mostyn Law Firm has brought hundreds of hailstorm lawsuits on behalf of Hidalgo County residents, many of which were removed to federal court.
HIDALGO COUNTY – In mid December, the Record reported that The Mostyn Law Firm ditched its hailstorm client only a month before the hearing of a State Farm Lloyds motion for summary judgment.
Mother Nature can be tempestuous. Florida faces the risk of hurricanes; Oklahoma bears the brunt of tornadoes; states bordering the Mississippi River endure flooding; California is prone to earthquakes. In Texas, the most common peril is hail, sometimes the size of golf balls (or even larger). Hail storms are rarely deadly, but they can inflict substantial property damage, especially to roofs and other exposed surfaces. Increasingly, hail storms in Texas are accompanied by another form of disast
