A Supreme Court hearing that began Monday regarding personalized Texas license plates will likely reignite the debate over protected speech and could potentially redefine the ways that governments collect revenue. Like many states, Texas offers drivers the opportunity to purchase specialty plates advertising causes or non-profit groups. Many groups pay the state to produce the
The Federal Highway Administration recently gave passing grades to the ET-Plus guardrail in four recent crash tests; however, both the agency and embattled manufacturer, Trinity Industries, are now facing an even higher degree of scrutiny. The ET-Plus passed despite the final test causing a sizeable gash in the driver’s side door, causing extensive damage to
A bill introduced by Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), coinciding with a massive national awareness campaign by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) Action Fund may soon put asbestos exposure near the forefront of American consciousness. The goal of the Reducing Exposure to Asbestos Database (READ) Act is to modernize the 1988 Asbestos Information Act, signed by
Today, the Chicago Tribune reported that two additional deaths have been attributed to faulty General Motors ignition switches. So far, the total lies at 35 dead and many more injuries have been legally tied to the defective ignition switch problem that sparked a recall of millions of GM cars and trucks this year. Sadly, it
This week, the United States National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) widened the scope of a dangerous airbag system recall, now including 7.8 million BMW, Chrysler, Ford, Honda, GM, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Subaru, Nissan, and Toyota cars and trucks, model years 2000 to 2008. Manufactured by the Japanese multinational Takata Corporation, these airbags use a defective
Since the late 1800’s, medical professionals and commercial manufacturers have known that asbestos is dangerous, linked to a variety of pulmonary ailments. Since the middle of the 20th century, these groups have known that exposure to asbestos is linked to mesothelioma, a cancer of organ lining that is almost always fatal. Most often, mesothelioma results
Last month, the UK newspaper The Telegraph reported on asbestos, “the killer that still surrounds us”. It is incredibly sad that though asbestos has been know to be deadly for well over a hundred years, people are still exposed to and harmed by asbestos today. A naturally-occurring fiber with amazing heat-resistant capacity and the ability
Though most car accident claims are settled before a trial, some cannot be. Sometimes, it isn’t clear who caused the accident. Other times, it is clear who caused the accident but there is disagreement over a fair settlement. Every state’s court system is different, but the general process is fairly similar. The case will most
The first thing any industry faced with negative scientific evidence does is form a trade group. And the first thing that trade group does is gin up “scientific” evidence that claims the industry is being falsely maligned. The asbestos industry did (and does) it, and of course so did the tobacco industry. Now, it’s the
In my day job, I’m an asbestos and mesothelioma lawyer. As part of that job, I have to keep track of the various significant events related to asbestos and mesothelioma. I have a database of hundreds of scientific articles, corporate studies, etc. that track the development of the knowledge that asbestos is harmful. I’ve decided not