Litigation - Recent Cases.
Bicki v Houston Lighting & Power Company et al. and Electric Power Research Institute

Background: The parents of 11 children with a variety of cancers allege in a lawsuit filed in the Circuit Court of Harris County that magnetic fields from power lines and building wiring caused their children’s cancers. The lawsuit, which was filed December 1994, claims that Houston Lighting & Power Co. (HL& P) was aware that magnetic fields can cause childhood cancer but failed to warn the public of "dangers to public health caused by the magnetic fields generated by HL& P." The lawsuit also alleges that the utility conspired with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) "to hide the effects of their wrongful conduct and to conceal their wrongful actions...[and] to falsely persuade plaintiffs, the public at large and the responsible governmental entities that magnetic fields present no cancer danger or any other form of danger." Joseph Jamail of Jamail & Kolius in Houston and John Tyler of Tyler & Das, also in Houston represent the plaintiffs. Attorney G. Irvin Terrell of the Houston firm of Baker & Botts represents HL& P and its corporate parent Houston Industries Inc. EPRI has retained the Palo Alto law firm of Cooly, Goddard, Castro, Huddelson & Tatum, and the Houston law firm of Fulbright & Jaworski.