Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Texas 2011 Legislative Update
Feb 21 2012 // Ambulance-chasing attorneys, frivolous lawsuit filings and contractual indemnification clauses were all subjects addressed by the Texas 2011 legislative session. Joanna Salinas, partner and manager of the Austin-based law...
U.S. Should Expect Another Above-Normal Tornado Season in 2012
Feb 21 2012 // The U.S. should expect an active severe weather season with above-normal tornadoes in 2012. That’s after a near-record number of tornadoes in 2011, according to forecasters at AccuWeather.com in State College,...
South Central Business Moves
Feb 20 2012 // TDECU, Assurance Insurance, Burridge Insurance TDECU Insurance Agency LLC has acquired two independent insurance agencies: Assurance Insurance Agency Inc. (Assurance) based in Bellville, Texas, and Burridge Insurance...
BP Wins Ruling Keeping Prior Accidents Out of Gulf Spill Trial
Feb 20 2012 // BP Plc won a court order to keep references to some previous accidents out of the trial to assess blame for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the oil company’s second victory in as many days to bar potentially...
Is Common Law Bad Faith Dying in Texas?
Feb 20 2012 // When a carrier is sued for denying a claim, it is usual for policyholders to raise claims of bad faith. For decades now, policyholders have frequently pled both common law (i.e., law created by cases) and statutory (i.e.,...
BP Keeps Prior Accidents Out of Gulf Oil Spill Trial
Feb 20 2012 // BP Plc won a court order to keep references to some previous accidents out of its trial to assess blame for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. It was the oil company’s second victory barring potentially damaging...
Higginbotham Appoints Shell to Lead Transportation Insurance Unit
Feb 17 2012 // Texas-based independent insurance and financial service firm, Higginbotham, has appointed commercial insurance broker Jack Shell to develop its new transportation unit. Shell, hired in April 2011 at Higginbotham’s...
Drought Takes Toll on Texas’ Urban Forest
Feb 15 2012 // An estimated 5.6 million trees that once shaded homes, streets and parks in communities across Texas now are dead as a result of last year’s unrelenting drought, the Texas Forest Service says. The economic cost...
Safety, Security at Bio Labs Open to Interpretation, Not Matter of Law
Feb 15 2012 // To reach his office in Galveston National Laboratory, where scientists study deadly pathogens such as the Ebola and Marburg viruses, director James Le Duc swipes his key card at the building’s single entrance, which...
South Padre Mayor Appointed to Texas Coast Insurance Study Group
Feb 14 2012 // Texas House Speaker Joe Straus of San Antonio has appointed South Padre Island Mayor Robert Pinkerton, Jr. to the Joint Interim Committee to Study Seacoast Territory Insurance. The committee will examine alternative ways...
BancorpSouth Insurance Hires Texas Region Marketing Manager
Feb 13 2012 // BancorpSouth Insurance Services Inc. has added Larry D. Batie II as marketing manager for the Texas region. He previously served as account executive and assistant vice president at Marsh & McLennan Cos. Based in...
Roach Howard Smith & Barton Creates Karen Farris Scholarship Fund
Feb 13 2012 // In recognition of her leadership as CEO and move to chairman of the board, Dallas-based independent insurance agency Roach Howard Smith & Barton has established a scholarship honoring Karen K. Farris. The fund was...
BP Wins Ruling Keeping Prior Accidents Out of Gulf Spill Trial
Feb 9 2012 // BP Plc won a court order to keep references to some previous accidents out of this month’s trial to assess blame for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the oil company’s second victory in as many days to bar...
Many Texans Earn Low Pay, Hold Few Assets
Feb 7 2012 // Texas politicians like to tout the state’s economic growth, but more and more Texans are finding themselves teetering on the edge of poverty. There is little doubt Texas has survived the Great Recession better than...
Copper Thieves Plaguing Texas Businesses
Feb 7 2012 // Despite new laws making any theft of copper a state jail felony, thieves continue to plague Texas businesses by ripping away copper tubing from commercial air conditioning units. Several Texas businesses have been hit more...
Newton Joins AmWINS Brokerage of Texas in Houston
Feb 6 2012 // Daniel Newton has joined AmWINS Brokerage of Texas as an assistant vice president and a marketing manager in the company’s Houston office. Newton formerly was territory manager – commercial lines with America First...
People
Feb 6 2012 // Sandra Helin has been elected president of Southwestern Insurance Information Service. Helin will succeed Jerry Johns, who retires March 1, 2012. A 13-year veteran of SIIS, Helin previously served as director of public...
Texas Medical Loss Ratio Waiver Request Rejected
Feb 6 2012 // A request by Texas to be excluded from a new law that limits how much health insurance companies can spend on overhead has been rejected. The medical loss ratio requirement is part of the Affordable Care Act, the federal...
Business Moves
Feb 6 2012 // R-T Specialty, Maclean, Oddy & Associates R-T Specialty LLC, the wholesale broker of Ryan Specialty Group LLC, has acquired Texas-based insurance wholesale firm Maclean, Oddy & Associates Inc. (MOA). MOA is a...
TDECU Insurance Acquires 2 More Texas Independent Agencies
Feb 3 2012 // TDECU Insurance Agency LLC announced it has acquired two independent insurance agencies: Assurance Insurance Agency Inc. (Assurance) based in Bellville, Texas, and Burridge Insurance Agency Inc. (Burridge) based in...
