Y! Alert: Texas Lawyer

Yahoo! Alerts
My Alerts

The latest from Texas Lawyer

• Special Report: Law of the Land
• Commentary: Planting Trees and Climbing Ladders
• Commentary: Decision Limits Scope of Discovery After Special Appearance
• VerdictSearch
• Discipline
• Newsmakers
• Maximize the Benefits of Working Hours
• Pick Me! Persuading the Texas Supreme Court to Grant a Petition for Review
• I Like Being a Lawyer

---

Special Report: Law of the Land	Top
It's a bad day for the loan officer who forecloses on a loan and unwittingly assumes major environmental liability, write Elizabeth E. Mack and Susan M. Rainey. And the Texas Legislature enacted Texas Property Code §52.0012 to streamline the process for releasing a judgment lien on homestead property, but this amendment has not resolved much, writes Karen L. Hart. And the EPA is enforcing a rule that requires some contractors to be certified by the EPA and follow strict lead-safe work practices, writes Sally Longroy.
Commentary: Planting Trees and Climbing Ladders	Top
Lawyers have a duty to develop the next generation of the legal profession, writes Pauline E. Higgins. As they climb the ladder of success, they must pull others up behind them. They must plant trees underneath which they will never sit. Counsel should ask themselves how they are benefiting the profession and their workplaces by developing budding lawyers.
Commentary: Decision Limits Scope of Discovery After Special Appearance	Top
In a recent trip to Tinseltown, Houston's 1st Court of Appeals limited the scope of discovery available to a party when a nonresident defendant has entered a special appearance objecting to personal jurisdiction, writes Matthew W. Caligur. The ruling is good news for trial lawyers representing nonresident defendants. It will require attorneys for plaintiffs seeking to obtain personal jurisdiction over such defendants to craft jurisdictional allegations in a way designed to obtain meaningful discovery to fight the special appearance.
VerdictSearch	Top
Jury sides with plaintiff who claimed lower back injury. Bus driver not responsible for intersection collision. Jury awards $39,550 to men injured in Dallas Tollway crash. Judge sides with drill maker over plaintiff's defect claim.
Discipline	Top
A Webb County lawyer has been placed on probation for two years, and a Bexar County lawyer has been placed on probation for one year, the State Bar of Texas reported recently.
Newsmakers	Top
Maximize the Benefits of Working Hours	Top
Although firms increasingly are experimenting with flat fees and alternative billing arrangements, billing by the hour remains the norm for most legal work, says Valerie Fontaine. Furthermore, nearly all large firms use billable hours as a component in determining partner compensation, and the vast majority tie associate base compensation and bonuses to hours. Therefore, in a lawyer's life, time literally is money.
Pick Me! Persuading the Texas Supreme Court to Grant a Petition for Review	Top
Anyone who has done this law thing for awhile surely has been done wrong by a court of appeals — or at least thinks so, writes Kendall Gray. Upon vowing to "take it all the way to the Texas Supreme Court," the odds are that the lawyer failed. According to the 2010 Annual Report for the Texas Judiciary: Fiscal Year 2010, published by the Office of Court Administration, the court granted only about 12 percent of its petitions for review in 2010. Trying to become part of that 12 percent can make one feel like a child tugging on the skirt of a preoccupied parent ("Mom. Mom! MOM!!") or perhaps the teacher's pet shooting a hand to the ceiling trying to get called on.
I Like Being a Lawyer	Top
Lee Keller King lists the top five reasons he likes being a lawyer.

CREATE MORE ALERTS:

Auctions - Find out when new auctions are posted

Horoscopes - Receive your daily horoscope

Music - Get the newest Album Releases, Playlists and more

News - Only the news you want, delivered!

Stocks - Stay connected to the market with price quotes and more

Weather - Get today's weather conditions

You received this email because you subscribed to Yahoo! Alerts. Use this link to unsubscribe from this alert. To change your communications preferences for other Yahoo! business lines, please visit your Marketing Preferences. To learn more about Yahoo!'s use of personal information, including the use of web beacons in HTML-based email, please read our Privacy Policy. Yahoo! is located at 701 First Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94089.