DALLAS - Best Lawyers, in a peer-driven selection process, has named Kathryn Murphy, a GoransonBain attorney, as 2017 "Lawyer of the Year" for family law in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
This July, thousands of trial lawyers packed their briefcases, said goodbye to family and friends, and attended the American Association for Justice’s annual convention. Much like summer camp, these trial lawyers were fully immersed in courses and activities that taught them new skills. Unlike summer camp, they weren’t there to learn camping or sporting skills; they were learning how to generate more lawsuits.
BEAUMONT – The Provost Umphrey Law Firm in Beaumont has been retained to represent two victims of the Aug. 12 flash fire at the Sunoco Logistics crude oil terminal in Nederland.
DALLAS – In May, the Record reported on a barratry class action alleging Texas hail lawyers, public adjusters and roofers are currently involved in an “elaborate web of fraud” to “line their pockets” by taking advantage of storm victims. Plaintiff Juan Guerra, who originally filed his petition of intervention in an already ongoing RICO lawsuit, specifically named the Texas law firm Speights & Worrich, which claims to specialize in insurance disputes.
BEAUMONT – Funded by some of the most influential trial lawyers in Southeast Texas, the progeny of one current and one former district judge will seek to fill their respective father’s seats on the bench this election cycle.
A new video produced by Sick of Lawsuits, a tort reform group, suggests trial lawyers are abusing consumer protection laws to reap huge fees while their clients only receive coupons worth a few bucks.
AUSTIN – On July 20 the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals found Texas’s photo ID law, seen as one of the strictest in the nation, in violation of federal laws prohibiting discrimination.
NEW BOSTON, Texas – Republic Lloyds is the latest insurer to come out on top after taking a civil suit all the way to trial, recently defeating a claim for underpayment – a string of industry victories that leave Texas policyholders paying the price, says one expert.
Groupthink dictates different treatment of “judicial independence.” Judges usually manage to stay out of the news, but two of them in California have been getting lots of national attention lately: U.S.
BEAUMONT – A Status conference was held May 23 in a suit against a former district judge who had a process server arrested for allegedly disrupting his court.
DALLAS – Lawyers for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently filed a brief in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals arguing that because of the national implications of Texas and Oklahoma's regional haze plans, including coal-fired power plant emissions drifting into neighboring areas and states, any challenges to its rulemaking in the matter should be heard in the D.C. Circuit.
DALLAS - A piece of barratry litigation out of Dallas County alleges Texas hail lawyers, public adjusters and roofers are currently involved in an “elaborate web of fraud” to “line their pockets” by taking advantage of storm victims. Last March, Ambrocia Ortega filed a RICO suit against several business and individuals, alleging an “Insurance Claim Contract” had been executed with defendant Lambcorp in 2013 to repair the plaintiff’s roof.
More than 18 months after a hospital operator agreed to pay $98 million to settle False Claim Act allegations with the federal government, an appeals court reduced the attorneys fees that should be awarded to one of the whistleblowers.
Everything is bigger in Texas, including the litigation following every hailstorm strike in the state – a “rush to riches” that may soon provoke insurers into limiting coverage, says one attorney.
Almost two years ago I wrote an article for Claims Journal entitled “The Emerging Hail Risk: What the Hail is Going on?” The response was overwhelming.
