Nip It In the Bottle: Better to Prevent DWI Crashes Than to Litigate Them After It’s Too Late.
We spend a lot of time writing about dram shop law, which provides an avenue to remedy for people injured due to an establishment's unlawful alcohol service. When someone is over-served at a bar or restaurant it often has dire consequences, especially if they choose to drive in their intoxicated state. While dram shop law...
New Data Shows Houston Leads the Nation in Distracted Driving
All the major Lone Star cities see their share of DWI injuries and fatalities every year, but as I've noted, Houston is the undisputed state champ in that department--not that the crown is anything to covet. Not content with that infamy, Houston apparently grew even more ambitious. Thanks to information recently put out by a...
Is There Any Way a Truck Driver Isn’t Responsible for a Detached Trailer?
One of the most dangerous categories of truck accidents is when the trailer becomes detached from the truck. When this happens, it instantly places the equivalent of a multi-ton boulder in the path of every other vehicle on the road. Even drivers in the largest trucks on our highways have little chance of escaping serious...
Florida Casino Boat Fire Presents A Tricky Legal Situation
It was all over the news recently when a casino boat in Florida caught fire, resulting in the death of Carrie Dempsey, 42, and leading to at least 8 other injuries. At first, I had no intention of writing about the accident, which seemed likely to be a straight-forward case of a negligent boat operator...
Some Dangerous Drivers are Following Unsafe Orders.
There are times when we should weigh the morality of a decision against its profitability. Occasionally in the name of progress people in charge make decisions that, while not necessarily illegal, are certainly questionable. This kind of "me first" thinking is often most obvious when looking at certain businesses' expectations of their workers. Trucking companies...
“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...
Retire the Fire: The Hazards of Flaming Food and Drinks
Sometimes ordinary folks with a thirst for adventure order flaming drinks, in which the alcohol in the cocktail is set ablaze as part of the presentation. It's quite a sight, but is it worth the risk that comes from adding fire to the situation? A recent incident in a Denton suburb made me wonder. Here's...
There’s a Lesson in Potential Jurors’ Hate-Filled Interviews About Martin Shkreli
"The Internet is written in ink," as they say. Many people observe these guidelines without trouble, but others seem to thrive on riling people. Martin Shkreli, the infamous "Pharma Bro," seems to be one of the latter type, but he found out recently the same lesson we've tried to impart to clients for years: Watch...
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--they reach out to us to learn about their rights and what might come next if they sought compensation. We welcome their calls, of course, but when we talk to them one...
The Real Takeaway From the Matal v. Tam Decision
The Supreme Court of the U.S. recently ruled that individuals have the right to trademark offensive words and phrases for the sake of using them as company or product names. This unanimous decision is absolutely a victory for proponents of free speech (even if it seems like the mean-spirited kind), but it actually has a...
