Tomorrow is June 1,  the official start of the Atlantic Hurricane Season, which is predicted by NOAA to be near normal. It comes almost as an afterthought this year because already we have had two named storms.  In mid-May Tropical Storm Alberto appeared and quickly disappeared.  It was followed shortly after by Tropical Storm Beryl, which made landfall at Jacksonville, Florida with record winds for a May storm.   Some undoubtedly have the view that the season's early arrival is further evidence of climate change.  That conclusion may be premature. ...

What do you get when the beneficiary of “the largest public/private federal transportation electrification grant provided by the U.S. Department of Energy” concludes that “one of the country’s largest power generation and retail electricity businesses” is not playing fair?  What you get is quite an interesting lawsuit filed in the California Court of Appeal.  See ECOtality, Inc. v. California Public Utilities Comm’n, et al., Verified Petition for Writ of Mandate (attached).  ECOtality, the project manager of The EV Project, filed suit last Fri...

An interesting case crossed our desk last week from the Texas Court of Appeals. The amount at issue, $4,410.69, belies its significance. In Alvarado v. Lexington Insurance Company, Nos. 01-10-00740-CV, 01-10-01150-CV, slip op. (Tex. Ct. App. 1st Dist. Apr. 19, 2012) (attached), the court thoroughly examined (with extensive citations) the issue of whether a homeowner, subject to "force placed" insurance, has any rights in the policy obtained by his lender.  The majority concluded that the terms of the policy established that the homeowner was an intended beneficiary and could claim under t...