In the News

“Frankly, this is the kind of thing that needs to happen — for appellate courts to strike down some of these crazy jury verdicts,” Rob Moseley, a longtime trucking defense attorney with the Moseley Marcinak Law Group, based in Greenville, S.C., told Transport Topics. “Otherwise, litigation just becomes extortion.”

Until now, lawyers accused of working with street-level “slammers” to orchestrate perhaps hundreds of staged crashes in the New Orleans area hadn’t been charged and weren’t identified by name in federal court records. The sprawling case has opened a window to a brazen racket that allegedly involved many New Orleans-area residents volunteering to risk injury, and in some cases surgery, for cash.

State lawmakers continue to search for ways to pave the path for their economies to reopen amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The latest trend in that effort: equipping businesses with a shield against legal liability for claims related to the contraction of COVID-19.

Despite the numerous challenges faced by the trucking industry during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the driver shortage is still considered the top issue facing the industry, according to the American Transportation Research Institute’s annual Top 10 Trucking Industry Issues survey.

Four more people have been indicted on charges of staging a $4.7 million vehicle accident in New Orleans, in a widening federal investigation of “slammers,” “spotters” and crooked lawyers accused of conspiring to bilk insurance companies for damages.

Rebeca Huddle is Gov. Greg Abbott’s pick to fill a vacancy on the Texas Supreme Court. “Rebeca Huddle brings remarkable experience to the Court,” Hecht said, “a litigator who has spent her career in the courtroom, seven years as an appellate justice and, most recently, managing the flagship office of one of Texas’s oldest and largest law firms. She will serve the people of Texas with distinction and the Court is proud to have her join us.”

Duty, breach, causation, damages — four words that no law student can forget from their first year torts course, but four words that will likely form the basis of COVID-19 civil negligence claims against employers.

Johnson & Johnson urged the Oklahoma Supreme Court to reverse a landmark $465 million verdict in the state’s opioid lawsuit, saying no company will be safe from public nuisance claims if the ruling stands. If allowed to stand, the verdict would allow government lawyers to sue virtually any company selling a legal product that is capable of causing harm, including alcohol, automobiles and food, J&J said.

Earlier this year, a conflicted appellate court ruled it does not have jurisdiction over California cities and counties pursuing climate change lawsuits against the energy sector. Now the Texas Supreme Court will ultimately decide if ExxonMobil has the authority to investigate those who allegedly orchestrated the litigation on its home turf.

U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez received $118,125 for the few weeks of work he put in on a construction defect lawsuit, not a bad payday when considering his yearly salary in Congress is $174,000.