Category Archives: Political and/or Judicial

Texas Insurance Commissioner Eleanor Kitzman Stepping Down?

Written On May 21, 2013 By Bob Kraft

I’ve written at least eight blog posts complaining, in one way or the other, about Texas Insurance Commissioner Eleanor Kitzman. I am especially unhappy with her refusal to question the continual rate increases instituted by Texas homeowner insurance companies. I know this should not be surprising coming from a Republican former insurance executive, but Ms. Kitzman [...]

Posted in Insurance Company or Government Misconduct, Insurance Information, Political and/or Judicial

American Bar Association Warns Judges About Social Media Use

Written On May 9, 2013 By Bob Kraft

The National Law Journal reports, “Judges had best be careful with the tweeting and the friending, the American Bar Association has warned in issuing guidelines for jurists’ use of social media.” The Journal continues, “The ABA released its ethics opinion on February 21, following moves by a variety of states to address judges’ use of sites like [...]

Posted in Political and/or Judicial

Texas Insurance Official Urges Judges to Roll Back State Farm Homeowner Rates

Written On May 1, 2013 By Bob Kraft

I’ve written repeatedly about the ridiculous system we have in Texas for homeowners insurance. The insurance companies raise their rates and the Department of Insurance may or may not comment on the raise. If the State objects to the raise, the raise still goes into effect, but the State can argue about it. Usually though [...]

Posted in Insurance Company or Government Misconduct, Political and/or Judicial

An Open Letter From Former Commissioners of SSA, Rebutting National Public Radio

Written On April 10, 2013 By Bob Kraft

There was an uncharacteristically incorrect story recently on National Public Radio. The subject was Social Security disability claims, and the conclusion was that money was being paid to undeserving claimants. Anyone who represents Social Security disability claimants can tell you this is an absolute joke. Ten times as many valid claims are rejected than invalid [...]

Posted in Political and/or Judicial, Social Security, Social Security Disability

Supreme Court Hears Arguments on Generic Drug Deals

Written On March 27, 2013 By Bob Kraft

The AP reports Supreme Court justices “appeared troubled Monday over whether to stop deals between pharmaceutical corporations and their generic drug competitors that the government says could keep cheaper forms of medicine from American consumers for longer periods of time.” The Justices heard arguments from the DOJ “against what the government calls ‘pay-for-delay’ deals or ‘reverse settlements.’” [...]

Posted in Political and/or Judicial, Premises Liability Claims

Shocking News from the U.S. Supreme Court

Written On March 11, 2013 By Bob Kraft

Thomas breaks his silence during oral arguments. The New York Times reports, “Around 11:45 on Monday morning, Justice Clarence Thomas broke almost seven years of silence during Supreme Court arguments,” although his exact words could not be heard clearly. According to the Times’ account, “the justices were considering the qualifications of a death penalty defense lawyer in [...]

Posted in Political and/or Judicial

How Low Has Our Political System Fallen?

Written On February 19, 2013 By Bob Kraft

Has our political system come down totally to a matter of who can pay the most money to get favorable laws passed? It often seems that way. We have fallen so far from men such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams — a few of the signers of the Declaration of Independence — [...]

Posted in Insurance Company or Government Misconduct, Political and/or Judicial

Dallas County Cracks Down On Jury Duty No-Shows

Written On May 29, 2012 By Bob Kraft

I’ve been practicing law in Dallas for more than 40 years now. And for every bit of that time Dallas County has had a problem with people who are called for jury duty not showing up to serve. One reason it’s been a problem for so long is that there has essentially been no enforcement [...]

Posted in Government, Political and/or Judicial

Texas Appellate Courts Often Reverse Civil Jury Verdicts That Favor Plaintiffs

Written On May 3, 2012 By Bob Kraft

Personal injury lawyers have known for many years now that the Texas appellate courts are generally stacked in favor of corporations and insurance companies. Gradually, other people are becoming aware of that fact also — including journalists. There was a revealing article on this topic recently in the Dallas Morning News. Here are excerpts: Appeals [...]

Posted in Political and/or Judicial

Super PACs and Wealthy Donors Targeting State Court Justices

Written On April 11, 2012 By Bob Kraft

The Washington Post reports, “While deep-pocketed super PACs and ultra-wealthy donors have attracted plenty of attention in the presidential contest this year, they are also making waves further down the political food chain. The mere possibility that a rich benefactor or interest group with endless amounts of money could swoop in, write massive checks and remake [...]

Posted in Political and/or Judicial

Medicare’s Billion-Dollar Headache, and a Possible Solution

Written On April 9, 2012 By Bob Kraft

It may be unlikely that any piece of legislation, no matter how popular, can pass both houses of Congress in an election year. But when the Chamber of Commerce and the trial lawyers associations both agree on a proposed law it’s hard to think of an excuse not to pass it. The law involved is [...]

Posted in Government, Medicare, Political and/or Judicial

Obama Could Alter Stance of Federal Appeals Courts

Written On February 15, 2012 By Bob Kraft

It has often been said the greatest power of the presidency, and the longest-lasting legacy of some presidents, is the ability to appoint federal court judges — especially the justices on the Supreme Court. The next president may have the chance to appoint more than one Supreme Court justice, as three of them will turn [...]

Posted in Political and/or Judicial

Farmers Given OK To Raise Texas Homeowners Insurance Rates (Again)

Written On February 7, 2012 By Bob Kraft

I just wrote last week about the ridiculous situation in Texas regarding homeowners insurance policies and rates. And now, in a relentless effort to make Texas more “business-friendly” by ensuring that Texans continue to pay the highest premiums in the country, our Insurance Commissioner has approved another rate increase by Farmers. This increase is 10%. [...]

Posted in Insurance Information, Political and/or Judicial

Report: Decade-Long Review Shows Texas Supreme Court Is Activist, Ideological

Written On February 6, 2012 By Bob Kraft

I wrote last month about the Texas Supreme Court, and the fact that studies have revealed it to be business-friendly. Now the consumer group Texas Watch has issued a lengthy report detailing this bias by the Court in favor of businesses over consumers. Here are the details from Texas Watch: The Texas Supreme Court has [...]

Posted in Political and/or Judicial

AAJ Assails Supreme Court Ruling That Credit Repair Firms Can Require Binding Arbitration

Written On January 25, 2012 By Bob Kraft

The ABA Journal reported that the Supreme Court “has ruled that consumers who received the Aspire Visa credit card are bound by a mandatory arbitration provision in their applications.” Justice Antonin Scalia wrote the majority opinion in the case, CompuCredit Corp. v. Greenwood, with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the only dissenter. The class-action lawsuit under [...]

Posted in Political and/or Judicial

Texas’ New Insurance Chief Being Watched by Consumers, Lawmakers, and Industry

Written On January 24, 2012 By Bob Kraft

Texas has long had one of the weakest insurance departments in the nation — a department controlled by the insurance industry, and not at all helpful to consumers who have complaints. But now there is a new head of the department, and we can at least hope for improvement. However, so far there does not [...]

Posted in Insurance Company or Government Misconduct, Political and/or Judicial

The “I Have A Dream” Speech

Written On January 16, 2012 By Bob Kraft

It is difficult to comprehend the profound impact on millions of people that a 16-minute speech delivered almost 50 years ago has had. We need to listen to this speech more often than once per year. Here are links to the text and to the audio. Please take a few minutes on Martin Luther King, [...]

Posted in Miscellaneous, Political and/or Judicial

Governor Perry’s Texas Supreme Court Picks Criticized as Too Business-Friendly

Written On January 4, 2012 By Bob Kraft

Anyone in Texas who is involved in consumer rights or plaintiff law has had concerns for years about the makeup and the big-business proclivities of the Texas Supreme Court. So it came as no surprise to us to read a recent article in the Dallas Morning News regarding Governor Rick Perry’s appointments to the Court. [...]

Posted in Political and/or Judicial

PolitiFact Calls Governor Perry’s Tort Reform Claims False

Written On August 30, 2011 By Bob Kraft

The Hill “Healthwatch” blog reported, “The website PolitiFact.com on Friday threw some cold water on Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s (R) claims about tort reform in his state — claims tort-reform supporters often tout as a model for other states.” While campaigning, the governor has said that “Texas gained 21,000 new doctors because of malpractice reforms [...]

Posted in Political and/or Judicial, Tort Reform

Businesses’ Fear of U.S. Jury System is Irrational

Written On August 9, 2011 By Bob Kraft

Why does the business community seem to be so afraid of jury trials? The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has spent many millions of dollars in the past few years lobbying Congress to loosen regulations on business and to restrict the use of jury trials in disputes between consumers and businesses. The Houston Chronicle ran an [...]

Posted in Political and/or Judicial, Tort Reform