| Androvett Newswire: September 2, 2010: Bankruptcy Costs / Cowboys Settlement / Hip Replacement |
| Consumers Paying More to File Bankruptcies As a result of federal reforms passed in 2005, consumers are paying steep increases in bankruptcy fees and related expenses. Those findings, the first to quantify the effect of changes that tightened bankruptcy eligibility standards, come from a new study by Lois R. Lupica of the New York office of Thompson & |
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| Androvett Newswire: August 19, 2010: Oil Spill Answers / Back-to-School / Warrantless GPS Tracking |
| Will Deepwater Horizon Hearings Provide New Answers? Hearings in Houston next week over the Deepwater Horizon explosion should prove enlightening, as managers from BP and Halliburton finally are expected to testify. “Earlier hearings focused on what Transocean employees on the rig knew and the mechanics of the systems being used, or neglected, at the time |
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| August 5, 2010: Androvett NewsWire: Nursing Moms / Maritime Law Scrutiny / Hotel Tax Battle |
| Corporate America Can’t Afford to be Lactating Intolerant It turns out that some of the more successful women in America aren’t covered by a new portion of the Fair Labor Standards Act mandating that companies provide time and space for nursing moms to express breast milk at work. And Audrey Mross, who heads the Labor and Employment practice at Dallas’ |
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| July 22, 2010: Androvett NewsWire: Debilitating Debt / Deepwater Negligence / FMLA Protections |
| 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 |
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| July 8, 2010: Androvett NewsWire: NBA Salary Oddity / Foreign Shale Rush / Mortgage Fraud Crackdown |
| Nowitzki’s Hard Court Sacrifice a Boardroom Rarity NBA star Dirk Nowitzki’s apparent willingness to agree to a new contract that’s roughly $16 million less than he could have received gives the Dallas Mavericks some salary flexibility to sign other top talent, but that type of a sacrifice rarely occurs in the corporate arena. “Most often, when executives |
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| June 24, 2010: Androvett NewsWire: Honest Services / iPhone Safety / Text Harassment |
| Skilling Decision Will Aid Defense, Prosecution in Future Trials Today's Supreme Court ruling on honest services fraud is a qualified win for former Enron executive Jeffrey Skilling, and will likely provide much needed guidance for attorneys on both sides of the aisle in other pending, high-profile prosecutions, according to Thompson & Knight's Richard |
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| June 10, 2010: Androvett NewsWire: Gulf Spill Fallout / Summer Tire Safety / Intern Attire |
| BP Shareholders File Lawsuit Over Gulf Oil Spill Citing the company's history of safety lapses, cost cutting and workplace disasters, shareholders who bought BP stock between Feb. 27, 2008, and May 12, 2010, have filed a class-action lawsuit claiming the company mislead investors prior to BP's Chief Executive Officer admission on May 12, that BP "did not |
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| May 27, 2010: Androvett NewsWire: Rangers Bankruptcy / Real Estate Recovery / UT Southwestern Verdict |
| Deadline to Close Rangers Deal Dropped The Texas Rangers' decision Wednesday to accept financing from Major League Baseball still provided creditors with a victory of sorts when MLB also dropped its demand that the sale close by Aug. 31. With that requirement off the table, says Dallas bankruptcy attorney Bill Siegel, a shareholder at Cowles & Thompson, |
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| May13, 2010: Androvett NewsWire: Rangers Standoff / Bad Faith Insurance / Facebook Privacy |
| Both Sides Stand to Lose in Rangers Showdown The fight for control of the sale of the Texas Rangers appears to be rapidly escalating toward a nasty showdown between Major League Baseball and the Hicks Sports Group's creditors; but Derek Rollins, a partner at Shackelford Melton & McKinley, LLP, warns that both sides should do everything in their power to |
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| April 29, 2010: Androvett NewsWire: Nonprofits in Peril / Helping Nursing Moms / Regulating Social Networks |
| Many Nonprofits May Lose Tax Exempt Status Hundreds of thousands of nonprofit organizations are facing a deadline that could threaten their tax exempt status - and many may be unaware of the requirement or the consequences of failing to comply. Congress changed the reporting requirements for most nonprofits beginning with 2007 tax years, requiring even |
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| April 15, 2010: Androvett NewsWire: Lexus Scrutiny / False Patent Marking / Medical Fraud |
| Do Toyota's Problems Go Beyond Sudden Acceleration? A recent decision by a federal panel to rename litigation against Toyota allows plaintiffs to address the automaker's alleged concealment of vehicle defects. The request to change the name to "Unintended Acceleration Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation" came from noted Houston |
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| April 1, 2010: Androvett Newswire: Toyota Conviction / Financial Scrutiny / Diversity Conference |
| Could New Toyota Evidence Help Free Jailed Man? Attorneys for the Minnesota man convicted for his part in a fatal 2006 crash involving his runaway Toyota Camry are hoping that new evidence will help get their client a new trial. Attorneys Bob Hilliard of Corpus Christi's Hilliard Muńoz Guerra LLP and Brent Schafer of Minneapolis last week filed a |
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| March 18, 2010: Androvett Newswire: Rangers Lessons / Shale Demand / Toyota Troubles |
| Lessons from Rangers' Handling of Washington Situation The way the Texas Rangers handled manager Ron Washington's positive drug test is something all companies can learn from, says Dallas employment attorney Mark Shank of Gruber Hurst Johansen & Hail. "Many organizations have the attitude that someone who is a leader simply should not engage in this |
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| March 4, 2010: Androvett NewsWire: Workplace Credit Checks / Bankruptcies Decline / FW Bar Sued |
| Credit Checks under Fire A growing number of companies are using pre-employment credit checks in hiring decisions, but some state lawmakers have introduced or passed legislation banning the practice. "Employers should weigh carefully the benefits and risks of requesting credit histories, although federal laws don't specifically prohibit their use," says |
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| February 18, 2010: Androvett NewsWire: Texas Sues EPA / Insurance Claims Blizzard / Toyota Mistrust |
| EPA's Failure to Follow Own Policies Led to Texas Lawsuit The genesis of Texas' lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency regarding findings that greenhouse gases endanger human health was in the EPA's failure to abide by its own policies, according to Houston-based attorney Richard O. Faulk. "Instead of following its own rules, which require an |
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| February 4, 2010: Androvett NewsWire: Super Bowl / Toyota Fiasco / County Records Battle |
| Save Yourself and Your Cash When Buying Big Game Tickets Fans looking to splurge on last-minute tickets for the Super Bowl or NBA All-Star Game need to exercise caution as they look for deals to these sold-out events. However, concerns about adding debt to your credit cards should not force you to pay cash, especially if you do not know the seller, says |
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| January 21, 2010: Androvett NewsWire: Commercial Foreclosures / Social Media Security / Wind Projects Proceeding |
| Commercial Foreclosures On the Rise If 2009 was the year of the residential foreclosure, 2010 may very well be that year for commercial properties. "As loans mature and lenders and borrowers fail to reach agreements on modifications, extensions or workouts, more large-scale, high-value retail and office developments are being faced with foreclosure, and we |
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| January 7, 2010: Androvett Newswire: Tax Preparations / Divorce after New Year / Unpaid Overtime Lawsuit |
| Paid Tax Preparers Facing New IRS Regulations Beginning next year, the Internal Revenue Service plans to regulate paid tax preparers by requiring them to register with the government, pass competency tests and commit to a code of ethics. The agency's stated goal is to reduce the chance of errors and fraud by tax preparers, and provide an increased assurance |
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| December 17, 2009: Androvett Newswire: Unfriending Judges / Toy Safety / Payroll Audits Ahead |
| Judicial Committee Issues Anti-Social Networking Ruling The Florida Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee has ruled that judges and lawyers should no longer "friend" each other on Facebook or other social networking sites. The committee found that such connections could create the impression of favoritism and special influence. "You could speculate that every |
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| December 3, 2009: Androvett NewsWire: Office Parties / Climate Change Conference / Business Survival |
| The Perils of Parties Holiday office parties are in full swing, but revelers should remember that these functions are rife with peril. "A work party is just that, an extension of work, and one false step can jeopardize your job," says Austin employment litigator Geoff Weisbart. "As a practical matter, you should never say or do anything at an office party |
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