Days after closing on their dream home – a brick colonial near the historic Texas Capitol – Hino and Mino Schute learned of their property’s ghastly past. Eleven months earlier, an intruder entered the house, shot and killed a 9-year-old girl and her father. Horrified, the Schutes unsuccessfully demanded their money back. When that failed,
Have Gun, Will Travel: Owner’s Liability to Patrons for Violent Acts
Attendees at the midnight showing of the remake of the movie “Paladin – the Gentleman Black Knight” were ambushed at the Orpheum Theater. According to news reports the accused bought a ticket and sat in the audience. He waited until after the movie started and then stepped out where he donned riot gear and re-entered
Return of the Stray Mac – Can You Claim Ownership of Stray Live Stock
Ray Kroc, a resident of a rural town in Texas, awoke one morning to find several head of cattle grazing in his backyard. Kroc does not have any idea who the owner might be and the cattle are untagged, unbranded and have no other identifying marks. Kroc is hopeful that Texas has some type of
Drilling Your Own Water Well – It’s a Mighty Deep Subject
Fearing that her beautiful landscaping will wither away from lack of water and feeling shafted by the ceaseless torrent of water usage limitations imposed by her city, Misty Spring is thinking about drilling a well in her own backyard. But does Misty own the water under her land and can she drill a well for
Differences Between Surface & Mineral Estate Ownership
Seldon Wright, an accountant, searched for years to find the perfect piece of property to open his tax preparation business, Many Happy Returns. At long last, Wright finally located and purchased an ideal parcel from Molly Kuehl, a physicist at the local university. Several months after Wright finished construction of his office and opened for
Should you Purchase Rental Insurance?
Les Plack, a dentist from Houston, took his family on a thrilling summer vacation to Baltimore, Maryland to fulfill his lifelong dream of visiting the National Museum of Dentistry. Having collected his luggage at the Baltimore Washington International Airport, Plack headed to the Joy Ride Rental Car counter to rent a sporty Kia Sedona for
Can you Sue for Damage from a Wind Blown Shopping Cart?
Yesterday Alluring Allison drove her brand new 2011 BMW to Wally World. Wanting to avoid that first door ding, Allie parked her beloved Beamer away from the other cars. Little did she know that Robby Redneck was loading up his pickup truck just up the hill from her. After unloading all of his shopping carts
Running Lawn Sprinklers During a Freeze Can Cause a Liability Issue
Crazy Mow’s Manacures wanted to keep the soil wet around its landscaping plants this winter to keep them from freezing. However, when its automatic sprinkler system at the corner of Main and the Interstate Highway came on this morning at 4:00 a.m. the overspray showered the street just the other side of Crazy Mow’s fence.
Litigious Lessees and Other Customers
The newspapers recently reported the story of woman who filed suit seeking a $100,000+ recovery from her landlord and former neighbor for damages allegedly caused by cigarette smoke drifting through the adjoining walls of their upscale townhome. Sue Yu alleges that construction defects at the Tiffany Townhomes allowed Marilyn Marlboro’s (her neighbor) cigarette smoke to
Explanation of bills that did, and did not, get passed
The 81st Texas Legislature that began in January ended with an exhausting five-day filibuster of the voter identification bill, a legislative logjam of other major legislation left for debate until late in the session, a frantic last ditch attempt to save much of that legislation, and a final-day meltdown in the Senate. The 2009 session