Lawyer treats gene pool to 30 ball parks

This month Baker Botts appellate section head Stephen Tipps finished something he's been working on since 1991 with three close associates -- a visit to every major league baseball stadium with his children.

Stadium 30 was conquered July 13 when Tipps, daughter Catherine, twin sons Peter and David, and father Robert "Red", attended a game at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. You can watch some of their last trip here in a KARE-TV report on the final stop for what the station dubbed "Fields of Dreams."

The Tipps family began running the stadiums with a trip to Kansas City when Catherine was 11 and the twin boys were 9. They have a photo album of the family, sans Mom who doesn't take baseball seriously enough, at each ball park.

Tipps said it's been an invaluable bonding experience and the family has worked in other sightseeing like the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, Disneyland in Anaheim, and, along with his World War II veteran father, they all saw the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.

They missed one summer when the game they were scheduled to see in 1994 was the first cancelled by the baseball strike. The family Tipps chalked up two "triples" -- visiting Milwaukee and two Chicago stadiums on one trip and then spending three successive days in San Diego, Los Angeles and Anaheim

All three children wrote about the family summer trips to baseball stadiums in their college essays. And they all got into college.
Tipps said these summer trips have done a lot for his family, but not so much for his business. "This hasn't helped my legal career a bit, beyond entertaining a few clients," he said.

Things changed over the 16 years. Son Peter notes in his interview with the Minneapolis television station that: "When we were younger he'd give us money for souvenirs, but now he gives us money for beer."

The all have different favorite stadiums. Tipps said his is Dodger Stadium, Peter's in Fenway Park, Catherine's is Oriole Park at Camden Yards, David's is AT&TPark and Red's is the Astrodome.

Insurance companies made whole? Fortis v Cantu

This column today explores plaintiff lawyers' fears about what the Texas Supreme Court did in Fortis v. Cantu.

The bottom line is that lawyers who handle personal injury cases see this ruling that allows insurance companies the first bite of settlements or verdicts as an end to the ability or impetus for many injured Texans to try to be made whole. They say the 27-year-old precedent of the "made whole" doctrine has been shattered.

Insurance companies and tort reformers who support them are happy with the decision. They say it's only fair that insurance companies get back what they've spent and that this will help hold down insurance costs for everyone.

A reader this morning disagrees with this view, offering an unhappy example:

I read with interest your excellent article this morning about the Cantu case. At least Ms. Cantu gets some money. Its real impact is even better illustrated in a case I am now handling. It is like countless other cases currently pending.

My client was rear ended by a driver who had a minimum limits insurance policy of $ 25,000. To protect himself against such drivers, my client purchased an underinsured policy of insurance with $ 25,000 in coverage. He therefore assumed he had $ 50,000 in coverage.

WRONG. His medical bills were in excess of $ 80,000 for surgery on his neck and his wife's healthcare plan negotiated these down to about $ 60,000. Under Cantu, the health care provider is now arguing that they should receive the entire settlement amount. If that happens, the healthcare provider will have been paid a premium but paid out virtually no benefits and my client receives nothing.

That's some Catch, that Catch 22.

As justification, the Cantu Court relied on the sanctity of contracts and held they would not use equity to "rewrite the parties' contract...." So next time you purchase insurance, be sure and negotiate the terms. Yeah, right.

What the legislature missed in Tort Reform to protect corporations and insurance companies, the Texas Supreme Court will remedy.

What are your thoughts on this case, the Texas Supreme Court, and the struggle between injured parties and the insurance companies? Leave a comment here.