Recent Blog Posts
Ridesharing Service Looks to Decrease Drunk Driving
A large ridesharing service is focusing on the San Antonio military community in its push to recruit 10,000 drivers by the end of 2016; the company’s general manager predicts that more ridesharing will mean fewer drunk driving crashes.
The ridesharing service Uber temporarily ceased operations in the Alamo City but returned last October with 2,000 drivers, after reaching a marketing agreement with the city. Now, the service hopes to equal the number of drivers that are in nearby Austin. The company’s general manager said that military personnel and their families made excellent ridesharing drivers, because of the consistently high ratings they earn from passengers and the ability to “find work in the somewhat transient lifestyle that they have.” He predicted that the service would be successful, because of the difficulty in traveling through the area and the high number of drunk driving incidents.
There are currently three ridesharing services operating in San Antonio, in addition to a number of “standard” taxi cab companies.
RIP Joe Jamail
The “King of Torts” recently passed away quietly at age 90.
Mr. Joe Jamail, who was born in Houston in 1925, obtained his law degree from the University of Texas in 1953, and built a career that included over 100 verdicts which exceeded $1 million. One of the most noted verdicts, a $10.5 billion breach of contract action that involved two giant oil companies, came in 1985. A number of years later, the consummate Texan admitted that he had a difficulties during closing arguments in that case, following a night of drinking with a country music singing star and a legendary local college football coach.
In an ironic twist, Mr. Jamail flunked a torts class while a student at the University of Texas Law School.
Success in a Personal Injury Case
Joe Jamail was one of the most successful personal injury attorneys of his generation not because of the depths of his legal knowledge, but rather due to his ability to connect with juries and deliver arguments in a persuasive and easy-to-understand manner.
A Matter of Art and Science
Over 95 percent of civil cases are settled out of court. In a personal injury settlment, the victim receives money in exchange for a waiver of all claims related to the incident. While the outcome is fairly certain, the process is anything but. In fact, a successful settlement in a personal injury case, which is defined as the most possible compensation, is a delicate combination of science and art.
The Science: Preliminary Steps
Before a demand can even be made, the amount of damages must be determined. In most cases that involve a serious injury, all immediate medical needs must be taken care of: broken bones should be mostly healed and other immediate injuries must be addressed. Additionally, most doctors need to evaluate their patients over the course of several visits, to determine an appropriate course of long-term treatment.
Once the amount of current economic damages is established, the amount of future economic damages can be fairly ascertained. Because of the permanent waiver, future expenses must be accounted for, to the greatest extent possible.
Fatal Hill Country Wreck
One person is dead after two trucks collided near the intersection of Borgfeld Road and U.S. 281 in northern Bexar County.
Sherriff’s deputies reported that one vehicle was pulling out of a subdivision and onto the highway, directly into the path of a speeding truck. The force of the impact propelled both vehicles down the highway, leaving a trail of debris on the roadway before they eventually came to rest not far from each other. One victim was airlifted to a local hospital, but he was pronounced dead en route.
Authorities have yet to determine fault in the crash.
Comparative Fault
In the above incident, it seems that both drivers may have been partially at fault: one apparently failed to yield the right-of-way to oncoming traffic and the other one may have been exceeding the speed limit. If taken independently, either act constitutes negligence per se as a violation of a traffic law.
Chocolate Milk to Help Concussions?
A Maryland school official intends to order $25,000 worth of chocolate milk to help student athletes recover from concussions.
The Washington County superintendent acknowledged that scientists may believe he is “[expletive deleted] nuts” to think that chocolate milk can limit brain damage, but he says the move is supported by an unpublished study from the University of Maryland. That study concluded that athletes who drank a specific brand of chocolate milk after games and practices had higher scores on post-concussion cognitive tests that athletes who did not drink it. The product manufacturer stated that the milk has enhanced levels of protein, electrolytes, and other brain-friendly ingredients.
When asked to comment, a neuropsychologist at the Sports Concussion Center of New Jersey speculated that the correlation is simply due to the fact that “regular hydration and nutrition for athletes is important for brain health and neuroprotection.”
Near-Fatal Car Crash in San Antonio
A high speed collision on the South Side between a speeding car and a large SUV raises interesting questions regarding fault and liability.
The wreck took place near the intersection of Southwest Military Drive and Somerset Road. A Chevrolet Caprice and SUV were traveling in the same direction, when the Caprice apparently cut in front of the SUV while traveling at a high rate of speed. The Caprice driver lost control of the vehicle, which then careened into a utility pole before being partially rear-ended by the SUV.
Three people were rushed to a local hospital with serious injuries, but all of them are expected to survive.
Common Defenses in a Negligence Case
As a preliminary note, insurance companies will do almost anything to deny fair compensation to victims, or at least reduce the amount of damages they receive, and there are a number of recognized defenses that defendants use to accomplish this objective.
A Deadly End to 2015
A head-on crash on Loop 1604 in southwestern Bexar County left one person dead and two people in the hospital.
The wreck took place in the early morning hours close to Benton City Road. According to police, a 19-year-old driver of a large SUV crossed the center line into the northbound lane, where the vehicle slammed head-on at full speed into a smaller car. The 49-year-old driver was declared dead at the scene. Her teenage daughter, who was in the passenger seat, was rushed to a local hospital along with the SUV driver. Both of them are expected to survive.
Loop 1604 was closed for several hours while police searched for clues.
Evidence Collection and Preservation
In cases like these which have no witnesses, it can be difficult to establish liability. After all, the plaintiff does have the burden of proof, and although the victim’s testimony alone is often sufficient, sometimes the jury wants more.
Jury Awards $23 Million in Birth Defects Case
One of the largest verdicts in the history of defective drug cases came last year, when a Missouri jury awarded $23 million to a family whose daughter was born with birth defects related to the mother’s Depakote use.
Drug manufacturer Abbot Laboratories currently faces about 800 lawsuits stemming from the popular anti-seizure medication and its link to birth defects. The drug’s popularity peaked in 2007 with over $1.5 billion in sales. But at roughly the same time, the federal government insisted that the manufacturer include additional warnings on the label; in 2010, the New England Journal of Medicine published a major study on the subject. Two years later, Abbot Laboratories paid $1.6 billion to settle state and federal government claims regarding deceptive marketing practices.
With regard to the St. Louis lawsuit and verdict, a company spokesperson insisted that the plaintiff “made an informed decision” to take Depakote during her pregnancy.
Are You a Guy Who Likes to Party?
In one of his many songs about alcoholism, Austin singer Junior Brown once lamented that “when I see those party lights come on, the party’s over for me.” And, during this time of year, the “man in that patrol car who don’t wanna party with me” is out in force, seeking to avoid alcohol-related car crashes before they start.
Despite a seemingly-endless police crackdown, the number of fatal alcohol-related vehicle wrecks remains alarmingly high. In 2013, over 10,000 Americans died in such collisions, resulting in an annual cost of $59 billion. Texas tort law allows victims to attack the problem at one of its sources, which is the people who negligently overserve guests at holiday parties and everyday gatherings. While the Texas Supreme Court has consistently refused to hold social hosts liable for the damages that their intoxicated guests inflict, two back doors are wide open.
Dram Shop Law
Although this provision normally applies only to commercial alcohol sales, the Legislature made some important amendments in 2005. Section 2.02 explicitly makes social hosts liable for the actions of their intoxicated guests if the tortfeasor (negligent person) was under 18.
The Next Big Thing?
A Dallas man wants the Texas opt-out system to become the norm in workers’ compensation plans across the United States.
With a client list that includes some of the country’s largest retailers, his plan is to get opt-out laws passed in a dozen states over the next ten years. Generally, employer-sponsored plans are much more limited than state-mandated workers’ compensation; for example, one large fast-food retailer does not cover carpal tunnel syndrome, which is rather common in cashiers, and a senior living center does not cover most bacterial infections. Moreover, in Texas, most employer-sponsored plans only expenses for two years, even if the victim suffered a lifelong disability.
Advocates claim that opt-out plans, although they may not provide as much coverage, remove the uncertainty that comes from lawmakers continually chipping away at workers’ compensation benefits.
Workers’ Compensation
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