NewsWire

Mayor’s Murder-Suicide Provides Grim Debt Lesson
Last week’s murder-suicide involving Coppell Mayor Jayne Peters is a grim reminder of how unpaid debts can cause larger problems. With foreclosure notices and a pending investigation into her use of a city-owned credit card, the mayor reportedly killed her daughter before taking her own life. Dallas collections attorney Darrell Cook says the Coppell tragedy provides important lessons for anyone with debt problems, including those who are relying on Congress to extend their unemployment benefits. “Stress levels can go sky high when collections calls start coming, and people need to prepare themselves beforehand,” says Cook of Dallas’ Darrell W. Cook & Associates. “Even though most creditors are willing to negotiate, I’ve seen everything from people leaving the country to threatening suicide simply because they couldn’t pay the bills.” For more information, contact Bruce Vincent at 800-559-4534 or bruce@androvett.com.

Hearings Reveal Workers’ Attempts to Save Deepwater Horizon
Numerous revelations have emerged this week about the Deepwater Horizon explosion. At a joint hearing by the U.S. Coast Guard and the federal agency overseeing deepwater drilling, witnesses testified that numerous mechanical and electrical problems plagued the rig. These problems meant crew members were unable to activate emergency systems that might have prevented the rig from burning and sinking to the ocean floor, says Houston attorney Mark Lanier, founder of The Lanier Law Firm. “The evidence is clear that BP and Transocean were grossly negligent and clearly responsible for the deaths, injuries and financial losses caused by the explosion and rush of oil that’s devastating the Gulf Coast,” says Lanier. “As more facts are revealed, the culpability of these companies and others will only grow." For more information, contact Alan Bentrup at 800-559-4534 or alan@androvett.com.

Family Leave Eligibility Expanded
A new federal ruling clarifying the definition of “son or daughter” under the Family and Medical Leave Act, is seen by some as a victory for the lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender community. “Some individuals may have had difficulty obtaining FMLA leave for the birth or adoption of a child with whom they didn’t have a biological or legal relationship,” says Elizabeth Schartz, an employment attorney with Thompson & Knight. “This ruling extends that relationship and FMLA eligibility to anyone with actual or expected day-to-day responsibilities to provide care for and financially support that child.” The FMLA entitles an eligible employee to take up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave for the birth, adoption or care of a child. “The interpretation notes a statement that a family relationship exists is all that is needed to claim eligibility.” For more information, contact Barry Pound at 800-559-4534 or barry@androvett.com.

Getting a Handle on FMLA Abuse
Despite claims by the Department of Labor touting the success of the Family and Medical Leave Act and the ease of administering associated leave, a high number of employers continue to struggle with issues including record-keeping, determining eligibility, and coordinating with other leave and attendance policies under state and federal law. Compounding those struggles is concern over how to deal with suspected FMLA abuse, says labor and employment attorney Carrie Hoffman of the Dallas office of Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP. “FMLA provides few rights to employers to curb potential abuse of this very important leave, and when employees abuse FMLA it can wreak havoc on workplace productivity, leaving not only the employer, but also coworkers to suffer,” says Hoffman, who will host a “Curbing FMLA Abuse” webinar on July 29. For more information, contact Rhonda Reddick at 800-559-4534 or rhonda@androvett.com.

Patent Infringement Lawsuit Filed Over Email Spam Patent
Attorneys with The Lanier Law Firm this week filed a patent infringement lawsuit over technology used to detect unwanted email. Attorney Christopher Banys represents Longview, Texas-based InNova Patent Licensing LLC against a group of 36 corporate defendants accused of infringing a patent that covers technology used to identify spam messages. “Email as we know it would essentially stop working if it weren’t for InNova’s invention,” says Banys, who leads The Lanier Law Firm’s national intellectual property practice. The patent was awarded to inventor, mathematician and InNova founder Robert Uomini nearly 15 years ago. The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Marshall includes some of the world’s most-recognizable companies as defendants, including Apple, Bank of America and Google. For more information, contact Alan Bentrup at 800-559-4534 or alan@androvett.com.

Bilski Clear-Cuts Swath Through Trolls’ Patent Thickets
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Bilski v. Kappos significantly curtails what patents may cover under the “machine-or-transformation” test. The decision changes the standard for determining what constitutes a patentable process, from merely requiring “a useful, concrete and tangible result,” to now requiring it to be “tied to a particular machine or bring about a particular transformation of a particular article.” However, the decision provided no guidance beyond that test, leaving the test likely to be applied as a de facto requirement, and hampering patent enforcement efforts by so-called patent trolls, predicts Dallas patent attorney Bill Munck of Munck Carter, LLP. “Businesses that practice what their patents protect can simply file narrowing reissue proceedings to correct possible defects in their patents, and still have valuable patent rights going forward,” says Munck. For more information, contact Rhonda Reddick at 800-559-4534 or rhonda@androvett.com.

Houston Attorney to be Featured at Smithsonian
When Washington, D.C., celebrates the centennial of the Boy Scouts of America this weekend, the Smithsonian Museum of American History will feature the work of Houston lawyer and Scout historian Nelson R. Block, a shareholder at Winstead PC. The Smithsonian will present the book, Scouting Frontiers: Youth and the Scout Movement’s First Century, co-edited by Block. Scouting Frontiers features 15 of the best papers from a 2008 symposium on Scouting history held at Johns Hopkins University, covering such diverse topics as Muslim Scouting in Wales, the growth of Scouting in Israel and Scouting in India and Australia. Block has been the pro bono attorney for the Sam Houston Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America for 20 years, and his work in Scouting history has been honored by Scout associations in the United States and Great Britain. For more information, contact Alan Bentrup at 800-559-4534 or alan@androvett.com.

Gardere Hosting Sons, Daughters
The Dallas and Houston offices of Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP will play host to a special group of visitors Friday as the firm holds its 14^th Annual “Take Your Child to Work Day.” Nearly 100 junior staffers – the school-aged children of attorneys and staff members – will visit both offices in order to learn more about the work their parents do on a daily basis. It won’t be all work however, with contests, crafts and games planned throughout the day. “We see this as more than a career day,” says Gardere’s Managing Partner Steve Good. “It also demonstrates the value of higher education, the countless career opportunities available to students, the importance of balancing work and family, and the need to support the local community.” For more information, contact Rhonda Reddick at 800-559-4534 or rhonda@androvett.com.