More Regulation Isn’t Going to Shut Down Trucking School Scams
August 11th, 2015, federal and California State officials said that at least 100 commercial truck drivers paid up to $5,000 each in bribes to state Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) employees for fake California commercial drivers licenses (CDLs). Immediately following the news and after further investigation, the DMV revoked over 600 CDLs that they found...
Some Commercial Drivers Still Hit the Road Despite Being Unfit to Drive.
Some think of the law as a "gotcha" instrument that deals justice indiscriminately, punishing many who don't truly deserve it and ruining lives in the process. On the contrary, it's entirely capable of recognizing different circumstances. For instance, it deals with genuine accidents differently than it does foreseeable events, and it treats each accordingly. The...
Can’t Take the Heat: Climate Scientist Sues Publication Over Hurt Feelings
Like many people, I don't have a lot of respect for anyone who smugly insists he's right and then gets deeply, viscerally offended if anyone disagrees. The minute some pundit reproaches someone for citing data that pokes holes in his argument, I just see red. I don't think it's asking too much to have one's...
Astronaut Mark Kelly Doesn’t Seem to Understand How The Law Works
In a recent interview, astronaut turned political activist Mark Kelly sat down with a reporter from Politico to talk about gun regulations. Specifically, Mr. Kelly spoke of the need for tighter restrictions on guns in order to prevent gun violence. When the conversation eventually arrived at the topic of those pesky Republicans in Congress, who...
“Drinking then Driving” Isn’t the Same as Drunk Driving.
Time and again, I've talked about how dangerous drivers can be when they've had too much to drink. To make matters worse, some bars and restaurants are willing to help them reach that perilous state, ignoring dram shop laws. It's an insidious problem and it seems to get worse every year. Of course we'd never...
Give Them an Inch: Subway Class Action and Tort Reform
Though I strongly believe in the workings of the legal system, I won't try to deny that frivolous litigation exists; I just try to emphasize that the system handles it appropriately. For instance, in 2013 a class action was filed against the Subway sandwich chain when the dimensions of their "foot long" subs were called...
The Worst DUI Week of the Year Is Why We Need Dram Shop Laws.
Independence Day is statistically the most DUI-accident prone day of the year. People don't drink hard just on the day itself, though--it has become a week-long celebration for some. All that alcohol creates far more serious risks than the occasional finger-flaying lesson about fireworks, and yet some unscrupulous bars are comfortable with over-serving it to...
When Open-and-Shut is Anything But: The Detailed Defenses in Trucking Accidents
Sometimes we at the firm read about cases that seem fairly open-and-shut. Having worked on thousands of personal injury cases, we know they often get a lot more complicated than they seem at first blush. Attorneys are trained to examine those complications--intentionally seeing the trees instead of the forest. Sometimes an accident's details aren't obvious...
The Cliché “Lawsuit Type” Is a Bad and Harmful Misconception.
When people are injured by negligence--by an auto accident or a malfunctioning product, or while on a dangerous property, to name but a few possibilities--they reach out to us to learn about their rights and what they should do next. We welcome their calls, of course, but when we talk to them one puzzling refrain...
Adios Amoebas: Water Parks and Premises Liability
If you run a business, you'd better know what it takes to make sure your customers have a safe and satisfactory experience there. There are genuine accidents--things nobody could possibly have seen coming--and then there are incidents that likely could have been avoided with appropriate levels of pre-emptive caution. For example: If you run a...
Dallas Police’s 911 Problems and Their Legal Implications
Ordinarily we at the firm wait for news releases about problems or events in the Lone Star State, but because we can't count on them to get their facts about the law straight, we've elected to be proactive with some recent troubles in Dallas. Over the weekend, two police departments in Dallas suburbs--Plano and Rowlett,...
How Might New Safety Equipment Affect Texas Work-Injury Law?
Industries with a lot of manual labor have heavily invested in developing safety equipment for their employees. Goggles and hard hats may not look like much, but they're carefully designed and rigorously tested to protect as many eyes and noggins as possible. Harnesses, gloves, reflectors, and other pieces of safety gear follow the same idea:...
A Fatal Caffeine Overdose and the Dishonest Press Blitz About It
When people or companies hurt others intentionally or accidentally, they are accountable per the law's decree. One could say that "blaming people" as a broad definition of the law is part of how America works, in that wrongdoers should be held responsible for their actions. As a law firm we understand that; after all, we're...
When All Else Fails, Trucking Companies Bluff Their Way to Victory
People often see a truck accident where it appears that the truck driver was obviously at fault. This leads them to believe that the victims are certain to get justice for the damages they've sustained. However, truck accidents are never open-and-shut cases. Our legal system affords everyone the opportunity to defend themselves, even if the...
Do I Need An Accident Reconstructionist for My Truck Accident?
It's a common misconception that a driver who rear-ends another vehicle is always at fault. The popular belief is that the driver in the back is expected to exercise greater caution, given that they can more easily monitor the activity of the car ahead of them. This idea suggests that a collision shows the rear...
Cherchez La Trucker: Sometimes, It Really Is That Obvious.
Grossman Law has worked hundreds of truck-accident cases, and seen reports of thousands more. While they're not the only kind of case the firm handles, it's still a category in which far too many collisions occur. A runaway truck is a 40-ton, 60-foot projectile, and the laws of physics are very unkind to just about...
Do Southlake and Grapevine, TX Have a Drunk Driving Problem?
A law-abiding bar won't serve a patron past a certain point, but it doesn't require stumbling and blackouts to reach the legal point of impairment. After reaching .08 blood-alcohol content (BAC), Texans can't get behind the wheel without breaking the law, and yet the statistics gathered by the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA)...
The 1st-Rate Intelligence of Truck Accident Defense Attorneys
"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function." -F. Scott Fitzgerald In this line, the renowned author makes a point that modern life requires us to keep contradictory ideas straight in our heads while at the...
Whodunnit: Evaluating An Accident With Several Possible Causes
There's a common misconception that accident attorneys will often sue anyone even tangentially related to a wreck--especially if those distantly-involved parties have deep pockets. The idea of course is that profit, not prudence, guides the attorneys' decision-making. It's a deeply cynical stance that is perpetuated by pop culture's insistence on portraying attorneys as vultures and...
Brawl in the Mall: An Outbreak of Holiday Violence
I want to look at at an interesting phenomenon that happened on the day after Christmas: On December 26, over a dozen shopping malls suffered large-scale melee brawls on their premises. Boxing Day Mall Brawls December 26th is often a crowded day at the mall; shoppers have an extra day off and no specific plans,...
