Merced Co., Ca Bus Crash and Bus Accident Law
On August 2nd, an Autobuses Coordinados USA bus travelling from Mexico to Seattle crashed near Livingston, California, in Merced County. The accident resulted in the deaths of 4 people, with as many as 21 more suffering significant injuries including amputations. According to media reports, rescue workers were literally bagging up body parts of injured people...
Sweat the Small Stuff: A Talk About Talc
Almost regardless of what we're doing, we perspire. Running, working, even on an evening stroll--at least in Texas--our bodies work hard to cool us off. If that's a problem for us now, try to picture the madness of strolling down the boardwalk in the middle of the summer a century ago, casually wearing a suit...
Pliva, Inc. v Mensing: Bad News for Generic Drug Takers
It can cost upwards of a billion dollars, start to finish, to put a new drug on the market. First, there's all the research and testing, tweaking the chemistry until it is demonstrably able to treat one or more health problems. Once that's done, the finished product has to go through clinical trials. It then...
Employee or Independent Contractor? The Excel Direct Case
News broke the other day of a settlement in the case of Villalpando v. Excel Direct Inc. et al. The case involves a group of truck drivers and Excel Direct a trucking company that claims the truckers were independent contractors. The truckers saw things differently, given the many hoops they had to jump through at...
Zofran and Birth Defects: The Hidden Cost of Keeping Lunch Down
A common prescription for mothers-to-be is a powerful antiemetic (a nausea control agent) called Zofran. It has been putting corks in people's urges to vomit since 1991, and was hailed for many years as a "godsend." More recently, however, research has shown that Zofran use can have extremely harmful effects on a developing fetus. Too...
Examining The Validity of Pokémon Go Injury Claims
"It's all fun until someone loses an eye." Lately, I hear those words echo in my head whenever I contemplate the current Pokémon Go fad. Whattymon What? Pokémon Go is a downloadable smartphone-based app where the user plays the part of a "trainer," moving around the real world and attempting to catch cartoon animals (Pokémon)...
Abilify and Compulsive Behavior: Betting Against the House
What is Abilify? Abilify is the brand name of the drug aripiprazole. Created by the Japanese company Otsuka Pharmaceutical, it is marketed in North America by Otsuka America and their partner company Bristol Myers-Squibb, an enormous biopharmaceutical manufacturer/marketer. In 2015 alone Abilify pulled in six billion dollars' worth of revenue for these companies. The medication's...
The Routine Job Defense and Foreseeability: Analysis
Worker's Compensation is, on the surface, a helpful institution. It's guaranteed recompense if you're hurt in the line of duty, from dish washing to long-haul trucking. And why not? It's not unreasonable to think that an employer should try to keep employees from getting injured on the job. They are, in fact, obligated by law...
Balloon Crash: A Texan Tragedy
Saturday, July 30 marked the most fatal recorded hot-air balloon crash in U.S. history. Honestly that's not something I thought I'd write in 2016 (or ever ) but it has already been a year of maddening tragedy, so why not? A craft owned by Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides crashed mid-flight, killing the...
Can I Sue for Injuries Sustained from Taking “Enhancement” Supplements?
All the product names used in this article are real. Truth is stranger than fiction. You see them at gas stations all the time and scoff at their ridiculous names--"Rhino 7." "Super Samurai-X." "Mojo Risen." The products often feature a passionate couple or some "powerful" animal on the packaging, though sometimes they go a little...
Back the Blue by Getting a DUI
In the wake of the cowardly and deadly ambush on Dallas City and DART officers on July 7th, there has been a remarkable outpouring of support for the police in the Metroplex. The community has raised funds for the families of the 5 officers who were killed, as well as for the 9 wounded officers...
We Need to Stop Using The Word “Accident.”
Many commonly used words can mean different things based on not only their context, but also who says them, and who hears them. On one hand, it's interesting that language can be so flexible, but when so much hangs in the balance--such as in a legal case--it can be challenging to make one's self understood...
I Guess Dram Shop Law Isn’t For Everyone
When you're part of a team who makes winning dram shop cases seem simple, it's easy to take for granted how elusive this area of the law is to other firms. But a recent encounter with a man who initially hired an attorney who didn't know what he was doing reminded me just how unfamiliar...
Cell Phones, Traffic Fatalities, and How the Law Works
The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) made a startling announcement last week that, if trends for the first half of the year hold for the remainder of the year, the United States may experience an 8% spike in traffic fatalities. This comes on the heels of several years of flat or declining numbers of...
Chiming in on the Potential Ahmed Mohamed Lawsuit
UPDATE: In what came as a surprise to absolutely no one, this case was all but laughed out of court when it finally came before a judge. It didn't even survive a motion for summary judgement, in which the bar is so low that Mr. Mohamed's attorneys simply had to prove there was some evidence...
A Look at Exploding E-Cigarettes and the Law
Over the last three months, numerous exploding electronic cigarette (e-cigs) stories have made the news. These incidents occurred in places such as Flower Mound, TX (near Dallas), Colorado Springs, Betonville, AR, and Naples, FL. Unlike at least 25 other exploding e-cig stories that have been documented since 2009, this new rash of stories is notable...
The Season’s Hottest Gift: Flaming Hoverboards
UPDATE: On Monday, December 14, 2015, Amazon announced that it would stop selling hoverboards until manufacturers present more evidence that the toys are safe for consumers to use. In the spirit of every other news organization, we would like to credit our story, which Amazon probably never read, for being the reason that this product...
Why are Batteries Blowing Up?
If you have caught the news lately you may have noticed an increase in stories about fires being started by electronic devices. Everything from battery powered cars, toys, cell phones, laptops, to electronic cigarettes seem to be catching fire, exploding, or in some way injuring people. While it is easy to find these stories, most...
Recalled SharkNinja Blender Cutting People
Thursday, SharkNinja issued a recall for 1.1 million BL660 blenders. The blender has a stackable blade assembly, which apparently does not lock into place. So people take the lid off to pour out the contents of the blender and get razor sharp, samurai (or maybe shark's teeth) blender blades falling out with their smoothies. Just...
Another Month, Another Chipotle Food Poisoning Outbreak
Well that was close. Chipotle Mexican Grill almost made it through a month without another food poisoning outbreak, when news broke the Sunday before last that Chipotle was temporarily closing 43 locations in Oregon and Washington. For those of you who missed it, this is the fourth mass food poisoning attributed to Chipotle in the...
