Waco Personal Injury Lawyer - Miscellaneous

Survey of Texas State Court Judges Confirms "Tort Reform" Unnecessary

Craig Cherry — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 21:26:50 GMT

A new law review article recently published by the Baylor Law Review (Vol 59, Summer 2007) provides emperical data suggesting "tort reform" is unnecessary.

In "Straight From the Horse's Mouth: Judicial Observations of Jury Behavior and The Need for Tort Reform", the authors surveyed state court judges in Texas and found very interesting results, some of which are summarized below.

Regarding actual and exemplary damages, the survey found:

Over 83% of the Texas district court judges had observed not a single instance of a
"runaway jury" verdict on either actual or exemplary damages during the preceding
48 months before the survey.

Over 85% of judges had not at all or in only one instance granted relief during the
past four years due to an excessive award of actual damages. No judge in the entire
sampling had granted such relief during the prior four years in more than three cases.

Over 83% of Texas judges had not witnessed a single jury award too high
(compensatory damages).

15% of Texas trial judges observed juries refuse to make any award of punitive
damages when the judge believed such an award was warranted by the evidence.

Regarding "frivilous lawsuits", the survey found:

44% of the judges had not personally observed a single frivolous lawsuit in their
courtroom during the prior four years.

99% had observed no more than between 1-25% of the cases filed before them as being
frivolous.

85% of the responding judges had at most sanctioned a lawyer
only one time or less during the prior four years.

Over 86% of the responding judges believed that there was no need for further legislation
addressing frivolous lawsuits.

Out of 389 state court judges in Texas, 303 returned the survey to the authors.

The survey results confirm that most Texas trial judges do not see significant numbers of
frivolous filings by people who have no business suing, and plaintiffs with legitimate
suits are much more likely to be under compensated than to receive any windfall. Two
primary goals for tort jurisprudence are for the victim to receive full compensation and to
deter the tortfeasor, and when victims are not fully compensated and tortfeasors are not
deterred, neither goal is met.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Craig Cherry

Chinese Toy Company Boss Kills Himself

Courtney Mills — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 14:06:26 GMT

The head of a Chinese toy company, responsible for overseeing millions of dollars worth of lead-painted toys, hanged himself in his factory this weekend, just after the Chinese government banned exports from the company. Zhang Shuhong, who ran the Lee Der Industrial Co., Ltd., killed himself in a warehouse of the company. In China, hanging oneself is often seen as a sign of shame.

Lee Der was the factory responsible for the causing the recall of nearly a million toys by Mattel, under the Fisher-Price brand name among others.

The recalled toys were all painted with lead. Lead is a heavy metal and neurotoxin that accumulates in the brain, and is particularly dangerous to children.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Courtney Mills

Brave Log Splitters Recalled After Injury Reports

Craig Cherry — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 07:58:34 GMT

The Consumer Product Safety Commission, in conjunction with Brave Products, Inc., has recalled approximately 8,000 log splitters after the company received addtional reports of injury from users.

The log splitters hydraulic cylinders may have a defective rod retention which can lead to seals leaking and rods to detach. If the rod detaches, it can lead to serious injury to the operator of the log splitter because the rod can rapidly and unexpectedly extend the splitting wedge.

Brave Products, Inc. has received an additional 59 reports of injury as a result of this defect. These additional injury reports come after a prior recall in February 2005 of the log splitters. One consumer reported a hand amputation that may have been caused by the cylinder defect.

The log splitters being recalled were sold between January, 2002 and October, 2004, and then from May, 2006 through April, 2007.

Consumers are advised to discontinue use of the log splitters immediately and contact Brave Products, Inc. to receive a free replacement cylinder.

For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Defective and Dangerous Products.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Craig Cherry

Easy-Bake Ovens Recalled After Children Injury Reports

Craig Cherry — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 15:08:51 GMT

Hasbro, Inc. has recalled approximately 1 million Easy-Bake Ovens after receiving numerous reports of injuries to children. According to the notice issued by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Hasbro, Inc. has received reports of approximately 249 injuries to children as a result of kids getting their hands or fingers caught in the oven's opening.

Out of the 249 reports, 77 including burn injuries, 16 of which were reported as second or third-degree burns. One serious burn injury required the partial amputation of a 5-year old girl's finger.

Ovens sold before May, 2006 are not included in the recall. The Consumer Product Safety Commission advises that caregivers should immediately take this toy away from children and call Hasbro, Inc. for information on how to return the Easy-Bake Ovens and receive a voucher towards the purchase of another Hasbro, Inc. product.

For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Defective and Dangerous Products.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Craig Cherry

Black & Decker Recalls Grasshog Trimmer/Edgers

Craig Cherry — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 14:55:56 GMT

On July 20, 2007, Black & Decker recalled approximately 202,000 GH1000 Grasshog XP String Trimmer/Edgers. According to a notice by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the trimmer/edgers spool, spool cap and other parts can come loose during use and become airborne projectiles.

The airborne projectiles pose an obvious laceration hazard to users of the product, as well as, bystanders. The trimmer/edgers can also overheat, posing a burn hazard to users.

Black & Decker has received approximately 707 incident reports from consumers regarding these products, including 58 reports of injuries. Both serious and minor injuries, as well as, property damage resulted from use of the defective products according to incident reports received by the company.

Trimmer/edgers with date codes 200546 through 200645 (representing manufacture dates of November 14, 2005 through November 6, 2006) are included in this recall.

Consumers are advised to discontinue use of the product and contact Black & Decker for a free repair kit.

For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Defective and Dangerous Products.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Craig Cherry

CPSC Discusses Changing Policies

Jenny Albano — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 09:46:52 GMT

Nancy Nord, the Consumer Product Safety Commission's acting chairman, thinks the agencies policies need to be updated, the law is 35 years old and needs to be changed. Earlier this week, her staff had a meeting with a group representing manufacturers and a meeting with several consumer groups to discuss her ideas and proposals.

Nord wants to make it illegal to sell a product that has been recalled after the date of public notice. As of now this practice is still legal. The CPSC also wants to make manufacturers and importers certify that their products meet mandatory and voluntary standards that the commission relies on as effective safety standards. Since there is already a requirement for certification now, this new provision will make the certification more public.

The CPSC wants to make companies that violate relied upon voluntary standards pay a fine. Also, they want to be able to seize goods from companies that don't follow voluntary standards. As of now, products found that do not meet these standards cannot be removed.

Currently, companies have 30 days to respond to commission inquiries before the agency can begin working on a unilateral public recall or safety announcement. To speed up the process, the commission wants to trim that to 10 days.

The commission is also reviewing the cap on civil penalties for companies who do not report safety defects to the CPSC in a timely manner. Today, the cap is $1.825 million, which Congress thinks is much too low; the House proposed a penalty of $20 million. The commission stated they think that fine is unreasonable, and any increase should be slowly phased in.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Jenny Albano

Texas House Passes Bus Seat Belt Legislation

Craig Cherry — Thu, 17 May 2007 06:04:01 GMT

The Texas House of Representatives passed HB 323 which requires Texas schools to purchase buses with three-point lap-shoulder belts for passengers after 2010. The legislation also requires Texas schools to use only chartered motorcoach buses with three-point lap-shoulder belts after 2014.

After being passed in the House, HB 323 was then sent to the Senate for consideration. The bill has been voted favorably out of the Senate Transportation and Homeland Security Committee without any opposition and is expected to receive a vote on the floor of the Senate in the coming days before the end of this legislation session.

HB 323 is a great piece of legislation that will help protect our children in the future as they travel on our roads to/from school and to other events. I urge everyone to contact their State Senator in support of this legislation, also known as "Ashley and Alicia's Bill".

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Craig Cherry

U.S. CPSC: Ventilators Are Fire Hazard

Craig Cherry — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 11:27:10 GMT

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a volutary recall of Heat Recovery Ventilators manfactured by Venmar Ventilation Inc., a Canadian company.

Heat Recovery Ventilators are designed to transfer air between the inside and outside of a home. Through the transfer process, fresh air is provided.

According the the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the recall involves approximately 75,000 units that were made between 1991-2001. The recall has resulted due to motors in the units that can overheat and cause a fire. Thus far, Venmar Ventilation Inc. has stated it has received four reports of ventilator motors overheating and resulting in fires causing extensive property damage. One fire incident in Michigan resulted in approximately $1 million in damages.

The brand names involved in the recall include Venmar, Venmar AVS, Flair, Conformax, Nu Tone, Carrier/Bryant, Payne Day & Night, Heil, York, Sears Brand, Guardian by Broan and Rheem/Ruud. Only certain model numbers are within the recall, so if you have a heat recovery ventilator with one of the brand names listed above, you should write down the model number that and contact Venmar Ventilation Inc. customer service line immediately, as well as, contact the company that installed the unit in your home. You should also immediately turn off the unit and unplug it from the electrical outlet. Venmar Ventilation, Inc. has said it will provide a free safety device that will shut off the ventilator if the motor overheats. The units should not be used until the device is provided and properly installed.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Craig Cherry

Allstate Ordered to Refund $56 Million

Craig Cherry — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 12:00:48 GMT

A Travis County, Texas District Judge ordered Allstate Insurance to refund approximately $56,000,000.00 in overcharges to policyholders. The order is, in part, the result of ongoing litigation that began in December 2004 after the Texas Department of Insurance disapproved Allstate's proposed rate increase of five percent. The order requires Allstate to also pay interest to policyholders at an annual rate of 11.25 percent.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Craig Cherry

Business Litigation Lawyers At Cherry & Jordan, LLP

Craig Cherry — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 12:35:10 GMT

The attorneys at our firm have handled a wide variety of business litigation matters including breach of contract, misrepresentation, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, conversion and misappropriation of trade secrets.

Just last year, my partner Dudley Jordan defended the president of a local insurance company after he was sued by his former business partner. Dudley not only got a jury finding in his client's favor on each of his affirmative defenses, and avoided damages in excess of $450,000.00, but also won on his counterclaim allowing our client to seek recovery of his attorneys fees.

We handle commercial and business litigation cases on an hourly basis and, in certain cases, we take all the risk and agree to handle the case on a pure contingency basis where we do not get paid unless a recovery is made for our clients. We are also willing to consider hybrid arrangements involving diminished hourly rates and a partial contingent fee. This entrepreneurial sharing of the risks of litigation with the client may be entirely consonant with the client's own goals and resources.

THE RESULTS OF SPECIFIC CASES ARE NOT MEANT TO BE PREDICTIVE OF THE OUTCOME OF ANY OTHER CASE

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Craig Cherry