Category Archives: Political and/or Judicial

Need to Get Into the Texas Capitol Fast? Carry a Gun!

Written On June 7, 2010 By Bob Kraft

Only in Texas could this story be true.
Not long ago there was a scare at the State Capitol in Austin when a man fired several shots into the air outside the Capitol building after visiting his senator. The rather logical reaction to this was the installation last month of metal detectors at the Capitol — [...]

Posted in Political and/or Judicial

Featured Link – Money and Politics

Written On June 1, 2010 By Bob Kraft

MAPLight.org is all about the influence of money in politics today. That’s a connection I find frightening and disgusting. The site’s subhead is Connect the Dots Between Money and Votes. That pretty much says it all, and there’s a lot of good information here. Check it out if you wonder why politicians vote for or [...]

Posted in Government, Political and/or Judicial

Graduated Driver Licenses for Teenagers

Written On May 10, 2010 By Bob Kraft

Graduated driver licenses (GDL) are ones that confer greater freedoms on drivers as they age through their teen years. Texas has graduated drivers licenses now.
An act pending before Congress would compel all states to adopt fairly strict standards for graduated driver licenses, stricter than the current standards in Texas. The rest of this post is [...]

Posted in Government, Political and/or Judicial, Vehicle Law or News

Auto Safety Overhaul Introduced in Senate

Written On May 7, 2010 By Bob Kraft

The AP (5/5, Thomas) reports that the Senate Commerce Committee “proposed a major overhaul to the nation’s auto safety requirements” that “would force car companies to meet new safety standards and face stiff penalties for failing to report defects,” just a week after a similar bill was released by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, “underscoring [...]

Posted in Political and/or Judicial, Product Liability or Medical Devices, Vehicle Law or News

Proposed Bill Aims to Close ‘Revolving Door’ Between Automakers and NHTSA

Written On April 30, 2010 By Bob Kraft

For years there has been an unhealthy and, in my opinion, unethical “revolving door” between government agencies and the industries they supposedly regulate. The perception is that the regulators go easy on the industries, hoping to land fat contracts with the industries when the bureaucrats leave government service. It’s a great temptation, and surely hard [...]

Posted in Political and/or Judicial, Vehicle Law or News

Defective Medical Devices Are Costing Taxpayers Billions Because of Supreme Court Ruling

Written On April 15, 2010 By Bob Kraft

Here is an editorial opinion from Anthony Tarricone, president of the American Association for Justice:
Faulty medical devices are costing taxpayers billions of dollars that should be paid by the manufacturer, but because of the complete immunity status device manufacturers enjoy from a Supreme Court decision, taxpayers are left with the bill.
One such example is Medtronic’s [...]

Posted in Political and/or Judicial, Product Liability or Medical Devices

NHTSA Seeking Record Fine for Sticky Toyota Gas Pedals

Written On April 7, 2010 By Bob Kraft

Here’s a roundup of stories relating to the news that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is trying to fine Toyota a maximum $16.4 million for failing to report accelerator problems in a timely manner. This is from the American Association for Justice news release.
The announcement that NHTSA will seek the maximum possible penalty from [...]

Posted in Political and/or Judicial, Vehicle Law or News

The Tort Reform Crowd Thinks This Was A Frivolous Lawsuit

Written On March 26, 2010 By Bob Kraft

This was the headline of a recent post on the excellent Boston Personal Injury Blog, written by Massachusetts attorney Alan H. Crede. With Alan’s permission, I am reprinting his post here:

Reading the tort reform blog Pointoflaw.com, I came across a link captioned: “‘Ford failed to warn seating unsafe for obese persons’ suit fails.” Sounds pretty frivolous, [...]

Posted in Political and/or Judicial, Product Liability or Medical Devices, Tort Reform, Vehicle Law or News

Clay Jenkins Recommended for Dallas County Judge by Dallas Morning News

Written On March 24, 2010 By Bob Kraft

Attorney Clay Jenkins has again been recommended in an editorial by the Dallas Morning News for the position of Dallas County Judge. In the primary election Mr. Jenkins was also endorsed by the Dallas Morning News and he came within 85 votes of winning outright, without a runoff election. Now in the runoff, he has [...]

Posted in Political and/or Judicial

No Settlement in $58,000,000 Judgment Against Homebuilder Bob Perry

Written On March 23, 2010 By Bob Kraft

The seemingly endless lawsuit between two homeowners and their builder will continue, now that post-verdict mediation has failed. An article in the New York Times reports that settlement discussions have broken down between Robert and Jane Cull, and Perry Homes. This is a very long tale to tell, and I won’t repeat it here, but [...]

Posted in Miscellaneous, Political and/or Judicial

Featured Link – Consumers Guide to the Health Reform Bill

Written On March 22, 2010 By Bob Kraft

This summary of the health care reform bill passed by the House yesterday is very readable. I can’t vouch for the accuracy of all the information here, but I didn’t notice any glaring errors. It’s a good starting point for those who want more information about the effect on them of this historic legislation. The [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Featured Link, Government, Health Insurance, Insurance Information, Political and/or Judicial

Texas Homebuilder Bob Perry Ordered to Pay $51 Million for Defective House

Written On March 3, 2010 By Bob Kraft

A Tarrant County jury this week has delivered a devastating blow to homebuilder Bob Perry by awarding $51 million to a couple who sued Perry because of their defective house. The back-story to this case is quite lengthy, but the bottom line is that it has been drug out for a decade, and has already [...]

Posted in Political and/or Judicial

Dallas Judges Try to Keep Jurors Off Internet

Written On January 31, 2010 By Bob Kraft

The Dallas Morning News has a good article today about judges struggling to keep jurors from doing their own Internet research during trials. Here are the opening paragraphs:

In Florida, a mistrial was declared recently after a federal judge learned eight jurors had researched the drug case on the Internet.
In England, a juror was dismissed from [...]

Posted in Government, Political and/or Judicial

What if States Were Redrawn to Equalize Population?

Written On January 26, 2010 By Bob Kraft

This very interesting map has nothing directly to do with personal injury or Social Security disability except as to how the politics of those practice areas would be affected. I just thought it was a fascinating concept. Read about it on the Yglesias blog. The gist is that states could be redrawn occasionally to reflect [...]

Posted in Political and/or Judicial

Senator Seeks Financial Details From Medical Groups

Written On December 10, 2009 By Bob Kraft

As reported in the New York Times, Republican Senator Charles Grassley has sent letters to the American Medical Association, the American Cancer Society and 31 other disease and medical advocacy organizations asking them to provide details about the amount of money that they and their directors receive from drug and device makers. This inquiry may [...]

Posted in Medical Malpractice, Political and/or Judicial, Prescription Drug Claims, Product Liability or Medical Devices

Surgical Sponge Cases to Test Time Limits on Texas Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

Written On September 28, 2009 By Bob Kraft

An article in the Austin American-Statesman details two cases before the Texas Supreme Court. The cases will give the Court an opportunity to correct one glaring injustice in medical malpractice law. Many plaintiff lawyers are not too optimistic that our ultra-conservative, pro-insurance Supreme Court will even recognize that there is an injustice, much less take [...]

Posted in Medical Malpractice, Political and/or Judicial

Access to the Courts in Washington State Remains Safe

Written On September 21, 2009 By Bob Kraft

An editorial in the Seattle Times hits the nail on the head when it comes to laws requiring medical malpractice victims to get a medical certificate of merit before being allowed to file suit and conduct discovery. This is an unreasonable burden for the potential plaintiff. How can you prove medical malpractice before you’re allowed [...]

Posted in Medical Malpractice, Political and/or Judicial

Florida Court Cites Iqbal Ruling to Dismiss Coca-Cola Case

Written On August 19, 2009 By Bob Kraft

The Wall Street Journal reported, “Coca-Cola Co. won a key legal victory this week in Florida thanks to a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that gives businesses a new edge in plaintiff’s lawsuits. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Southern Florida dismissed a case against the soft drink giant, known as Sinaltrainal v. Coca-Cola [...]

Posted in Political and/or Judicial, Tort Reform

Judge Who Deflated Tire Quits Administrative Post

Written On August 14, 2009 By Bob Kraft

This has nothing to do with anything, but I thought it was funny, so I’m taking the liberty of reprinting an article from the Web site of WUSA9 in the Washington, D.C. area.
LA PLATA, Md. (AP) — A Charles County judge who acknowledged deflating a tire of a car parked in a restricted area near [...]

Posted in Political and/or Judicial

Editorials Praise Increased Food Safety Monitoring

Written On August 11, 2009 By Bob Kraft

In an editorial, the Oregonian opines, “No matter what your food preferences are, or your politics, and even if you never eat anything except protein bars and spinach (both of which have been subject to recalls in recent years), you are vulnerable” to food contamination. However, “this summer, the House of Representatives finally decided it [...]

Posted in Political and/or Judicial, Product Liability or Medical Devices