Myth: The Rear Driver is Always at Fault in a Texas Rear-End Crash
Of all the legal myths I've encountered over the years, the one that seems to gain the most public traction may be "The rearmost driver is always at fault in a rear-end collision." You may have heard that a few times yourself over the course of your life, and in most cases people say it...
Scam Alert: Don’t Give Money to Naomi Llanes
One of the downsides of being a well-known business that is respected in the community is that scammers like to glom on to our good name and cheat people out of money. Recently, we learned that someone using a social media platform (LinkedIn) is impersonating a Grossman Law Offices employee in an attempt to scam...
The Media Is Missing Serious Accidents: What Is to Be Done?
In the course of litigating cases over the last few years, my staff and I have incidentally come across more and more crashes that the news media isn't reporting on. These aren't just minor fender benders, but major crashes where people died or suffered serious injuries due to commercial vehicles or drunk drivers. That's not...
Client Stories: 2 Restaurants Pay a Very Steep Price for a Drunk Driving Accident that Injured a Child
In Spring 2020, a drunk driver changed one north Texas family's lives forever. A mother, father, and their 2-year-old son were driving home on a Monday evening, when at a non-descript intersection, a speeding drunk driver ran through a stop sign and t-boned their vehicle. As a result of the crash, the mother lost one...
Texas Texting Ban May Help Victims, But Not the Way You Think It Will
In September 2017, the Lone Star State implemented a new law that bans texting while driving. The number of people I've seen glancing down at their laps on the tollway suggests these new rules haven't soaked in just yet. Even if the fines don't persuade drivers to put down their phones, though, our lawyers argue...
Do All Family Members Get Equal Compensation in a Texas Wrongful Death Case?
One question we're asked quite often is whether Texas law says that all family members get the same amount of compensation in a wrongful death case. The answer is no. The way wrongful death cases work under Texas law is that each of a decedent's close family members are seen as having their own individual...
Another Way to Think About Stowers Doctrine – The Bodyguard Analogy
We recently got an email from a law student named Mary R. who wanted to know more about Stowers Doctrine. She asked: My Bar Program did not mention the Stower's doctrine, but I remember my professor mentioning it a couple of semesters ago. I would like to know if this is only for third party...
Are Authorities Jumping the Gun in the Fort Worth 18-Wheeler Crash that Killed 4 People?
By now most people in the Dallas-Fort Worth area have heard about the I-35W crash that occurred Monday, September 11, which claimed the lives of Susana Longoria, Kiara Barker, Jasmine Jones, and Chase Mapes. The crash also left two people hospitalized. If you missed the story, here's what officials say happened: At around 9:00 p.m....
What is Outlaw Trucking?
Over the years we've dealt with hundreds of 18-wheeler accidents where truck drivers were operating negligently—sometimes illegally—when they hurt innocent people. While we researched those cases we encountered the term outlaw trucking, used in commercial driver forums to describe "glory days" of looser regulations and an easier time breaking the rules for greater personal profit....
5 Ways to Ruin Your Truck Accident Case
When people are hurt in a truck accident, they know that the law empowers them to seek compensation even if they don't know the nuts and bolts of how that's done. What they may not realize is that there are many ways that an accident victim can damage their case before they ever begin the...
How to Use the Texas Workers’ Compensation Database to Find Out if Your Employer Has Workers’ Comp Coverage
If you're hurt on the job in Texas, one of the first things you need to do is figure out if your employer has workers' comp coverage. The reason for this is because Texas does not force companies to participate in the workers' compensation program. What that means, practically speaking, is that your employer could...
Hurt in a Crash with a Faulty Underride Guard? Let’s Sue.
A semi-trailer's underride guard (also called a Mansfield bar or a Rear Underrun Protection System) is a crucial piece of safety equipment. Its purpose is simple: When a smaller vehicle crashes into the back of an 18-wheeler, the bar keeps it from traveling underneath the trailer—at least that's what should happen. Unfortunately the guards fail...
The Legislative and Regulatory History of Underride Guards
Underride guards have been a mandatory piece of safety equipment on commercial trucks since the 1950's, but simple as they may seem the rules behind their use and design have had some odd twists and turns over the years. In this article we'll look at that history, what the future may hold, and what that...
We’re Relieved Someone is Trying to Hold Fuzzy’s Taco Accountable
Late last week, when we heard the news that the family of Alex Cervantes filed a lawsuit against Fuzzy's Taco for their alleged role in the officer's death, we were all relieved. I thought I'd take a moment to discuss why we're relieved and how this lawsuit is a win for the community. Before getting...
Why Don’t Authorities Arrest More Bad Bartenders?
Friday, February 3, 2023, Lake Worth police arrested bartender Cala Richardson, charging her criminally for allegedly overserving the drunk driver who killed Euless police officer Detective Alex Cervantes. While every major media outlet in the DFW area ran with the story, none noticed how rare it is for a bartender to be arrested and charged...
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...
How Can New Crash Tests Make Automakers Increase Backseat Safety?
Automobiles used to be literal metal death traps, so crash data scientists and automotive engineers naturally spent decades examining crash patterns and innovating safer vehicles. By necessity, auto manufacturers focused on the most deadly aspects of cars, so front seat safety was a higher priority over the relatively safer back seats. "Relatively" is the key...
Violations Found During the Roadside Inspection Blitzes Are Nothing to Brag About
Admittedly, truck safety inspections are one of those topics (like tax law, insurance coverage, and federal regulation) that doesn't stir up a lot of excitement. Enforcing truck safety regulations is something that largely takes place outside of the general public's consciousness, but that doesn't make it unimportant. The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) is a...
How Concerned Should I Be about News Reports of Electric Bicycles Catching on Fire?
I first heard about electric bicycles (aka e-bikes) catching fire when a writer for the United Kingdom-based newspaper The Guardian wrote a piece stating that in 2022 there were "about 200 fires and six deaths" in New York alone due to e-bike fires and that, in November 2022, an e-bike fire in an apartment "became...
Is This The Worst Truck Company in Texas?
Last week, I told my boss, attorney Michael Grossman, "I think I may have found the worst trucking company in Texas." It's a bold claim to make to a man who has litigated truck accident cases longer than I've been alive. However, when he looked through what I found, he couldn't help but agree that...
