Part 1 - Know Your Clients and Their StoryThe Plaintiff's safety expert will be the witness that puts meat on the bones of the Plaintiff's attorney's argument that your trucking company client runs an unsafe operation and needs to very likely being punished. While...
Year: 2019
When Property Improvements Go Belly-Up: Negligent Hiring & Chapter 95
In Texas, independent contractors and their employees can hold property owners liable for premise liability and/or negligence if the property owner maintained some control over the manner in which work is performed on the property and failed to warn about dangers on...
“Qualified” Under 18.001 Is Not Limited to Medical Practitioners
Recently, the 12th Court of Appeals in Tyler determined that a trial court abused its discretion in granting a motion to strike a counter-affidavit prepared by a medical billing and coding expert who relied on databases to challenge the reasonableness of the medical...
Congress Kicked the Can (Down the Road): The Looming Problem of Hours of Service Regulations and Livestock Haulers: An Update
Late last year we discussed a short-term fix of a long-term problem as Congress considered legislation to exempt Livestock haulers from the Electronic Logging Device (ELD) provisions of the US Department of Transportation's Hours of Service (HOS) regulations...
Have a Fun and Safe Labor Day Weekend
Since Labor Day Weekend will be here before you know it, we would like to take the opportunity to remind everyone of a few tips for staying safe and out of trouble during this long holiday weekend.Labor Day Weekend is a great time to get together with friends and...
Welcome To Our Blog
We established this blog to share stories and information about topics relevant to our practice. Our intent is to regularly provide posts highlighting legal issues of local, state and national interest that we think you will find interesting. Check back later for...
The New 18.001 Affidavit Rules and What They Mean for Your Lawsuit
The Texas legislature recently passed (and governor Abbot signed) House Bill number 1693, which amended chapter 18.001 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code ("CPRC")-the portion of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code that governs affidavits and counter-affidavits...
Post Accident Drug Testing and Documentation
Under federal regulation 49 C.F.R. §382.303, drivers of commercial motor vehicles are required to undergo drug ("controlled substance") and alcohol testing following an accident if certain circumstances are involved. Importantly, §382.303 also imposes strict time...
The Effect and Limits of Corporate Representative Testimony
In a variety of litigation contexts, including personal injury litigation, where there is a corporate defendant depositions of a corporate representative have become commonplace. Frequently, these depositions are used to underline the liability of the corporation that...
Collisions & Intoxicants: Admissibility of Evidence Concerning Mental Health and Drug Use
In JBS Carriers, Inc v. Washington, et al., the Texas Supreme Court addressed and clarified two important evidentiary issues in the context of a pedestrian-truck collision: (1) the standard for admissibility of evidence concerning mental health and drug or alcohol use...