Are Plaintiffs’ Lawyers and Prosecutors Best Friends?
You would think that plaintiffs' lawyers (read: the attorneys for victims) and prosecutors (read: the government attorneys who punish bad guys) would always be on the same side. After all, both seek to hold wrongdoers accountable for actions that harm people in the community. In an ideal world, when a drunk driver hits someone, the...
Kia Recalls 420,000+ Telluride SUVs for Potential Driveshaft Defect
If anything about a vehicle should be predictable, it's that a stopped one will stay put. In other words, when you shift your car into Park you might reasonably expect that's the last the car will move until you shift back out. As some Kia drivers are learning, though, sometimes things aren't that simple—which is...
GM Recalls 130,000+ Silverado, Sierra Pickups for Tailgate Problem
In late November, General Motors announced a recall of thousands of Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks. According to the recall details, the trucks' tailgates might randomly open while they are parked. Below we'll talk more about the possible risks of that defect, why the recall is important, and what people affected by it...
Hyundai Recalls 42,000+ Vehicles for Possible Wiring Defect
In late November, Hyundai Motor America issued a recall of more than 42,000 Tucson SUVs and Santa Cruz truck/SUV hybrids for a possible wiring defect that could make them roll away unexpectedly. Today we'll talk about what the recall says, what it means, and what Hyundai owners with those vehicles can do. How Big is...
Electronic Data is Vital Evidence in a Commercial Truck Accident Case
Perhaps you've heard that your phone, smartwatch, or home personal assistant are spying on you. I can't really speak to what degree any of that is true or just paranoia, but it obviously reflects the fact that we're all constantly surrounded by technology that in one way or another leaves a record of what we...
Why Would a Commercial Truck Ever Make a Blind Left Turn?
Sometimes, truck accidents result from mistakes so mind-bogglingly obvious that most people throw up their hands in disgust and assume that "those things just happen." My 30+ years of truck accident litigation give me a different perspective. In my experience, when a truck driver makes a decision that's so bone-headed and dangerous (like making a...
Volkswagen Recalls 100k+ Vehicles for Possible Takata Airbag Inflator Defect
For many people, Takata airbags are old hat. Their dangerous defects and subsequent recall —the largest in automotive history—were all over the news cycle in the mid-2010's, but a lot has happened since then. Besides, people generally don't think much about airbags except in those crucial moments when they need one. Fresh topic or not,...
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...
