Category Archives: legal trend

Texas Central Rail Partner Opponents File Lawsuit.

Who filed a lawsuit? Texans Against High-Speed Rail

Who is the lawsuit against? TXDOT & Attorney General Paxton

What’s causing the foray into the courts? A public information request from Texans for High Speed Rail that sought any documents at TXDOT related to Texas Central Parnters.

What was the response to the public information request?  Texans Against High-Speed Rail believes that documents were withheld, and the documents provided were heavily redacted without…

3 Concerns Raised by Residents Against Texas Central Rail

Texas Central partners hosted an open house in Madisonville. Residents let their feelings be heard. Here’s what they said:

  • “We’re heartbroken, we’re shocked, my sons have been crying and it’s not right,”
  • “I would be upset about this issue even if it did not directly impact us, because this is the unlawful usurpation of Texans’ property.”
  • “All we wanted to do is become a part of the community and be left alone, and now we have to potentially fight this,”

Bryan College Station Eagle…

INTERIM. Sharing Economy Meets Ride Share Meets Tort Reform.

Ride Share Contracts are a modern contract lawyer’s dream. Evolving, intrictate, and constantly litigated.

One ride share company is altering its contract with drivers to include fixes illuminated by a trial court judge concerning arbitration provisions. New provisions, familiar to those who read the Texas Civil Practices and Remedies Code for bed time reading are:

  • allows for severability of certain state law claims
  • removes the requirement that arbitration be kept confidential
  • amends…

Legal Trend: Taxi Drivers Sue Ride Share Drivers. Sharing Economy Litigates. 3 Points to Know.

What cause of action are contract taxi drivers bringing against ride share companies? Tortious interference with business, punitive damages, and class certification.

Where is the lawsuit filed? Missouri, St. Louis County Circuit Court.

What are the laws and ordinances for ride share in Missouri? 

  • Statewide: no supportive laws
  • Local ordinances: As of September 18, 2015, St. Louis Metropolitan Taxicab Commission allows for ride share operators as long as drivers are fingerprinted as…

The Other High Speed Rail. Missed Deadlines. Over Budget. 5 Warning Signs.

The Los Angeles Times in a special piece dove deep into the California high speed rail project and found it likely over budget & late.

5 reasons why:

  • No Settled Route. The deadline for phase 1 is 2022, and there is no set route throught the mountains. To connect L.A. and S.F. via high speed rail will require 36 miles of tunnels into the mountains.
  • Rising Costs. The 1st phase, according to a confidential 2013 report, is 31 % over budget. The state has not used the state’s main project…

Trend: Self Driving Cars. 2 Regulatory Hurdles.

  • “flow of traffic” programing for freeway/ highway driving, this means so the car goes with the flow of traffic at a rate of speed higher than the speed limit
    • How do you write a law to allow the car to move at the faster than the posted speed limit sign?
  • Tailgating
    • Self driving cars can be closer to the cars around it without causing accidents

The Recorder | The Road Ahead for Automated Cars

Legal & Lege Trend: Air Share Regulation

Ride share has come to air travel, welcome air share. 

What’s the court hubub about air share? FAA thinks air share is tantamount to an illegal sharter airline.

What’s Air Share reponse that they are a legal, new part of the sharing economy?  Federal regulations, long before the internet, have allowed pilots to share:

  • the cost of fuel
  • aircraft rentals
  • airport fees 

What happens next? The DC Cicruit will rule and either the case will be settled or will be appealed to the US…

Legal Trend: Ride Share Drivers Go to Court to Challenge Cabs

3 ride share drivers have partnered with the Institute for Justice to challenge Chicago’s “cab cartels.”

This week the federal judge ruled in favor of the ride share drivers by  throwing out most of the cab claims against Chicago’s ride share ordinance. 

What did the cabs allege against the city ride share ordinance? That the ordinance amounted to a taking of their property. 

One cab claim continues to move forward in court whether the ride share ordinance treats rideshare…