Posted on 09/03/2007 8:34:20 AM PDT by rhema
The last victim of the Interstate 35W bridge collapse has been recovered from the water. The long, complex search for the disaster's cause is ramping up in earnest. It's about the time we'd expect the lawyers to descend. But the pinstripes are already out of the gate, setting new records for jumping the gun in a disaster.
Just days after the collapse, while recovery crews were still battling treacherous waters, Schwebel, Goetz & Sieben -- one of the state's highest profile personal injury firms -- petitioned for access to the site for three attorneys and two expert witnesses.
An immediate inspection of the bridge "will be essential to vigorously ... prosecute wrongful death and personal injury claims" for five unnamed clients, the lawyers insisted.
Such an inspection, of course, would also create big-time publicity and a chance to attract more clients.
U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz rejected the petition. Judges have to be civil, of course, but in reading between the lines I detected a judge who was steamed.
In an order heavy with understatement, the judge made clear that the Schwebel firm's appearance in court was highly premature. The firm, he noted, "candidly admitted" that it does not yet know "whom it should sue or what allegations it should make."
The court found no precedent for ordering the government to let private attorneys inspect a mass disaster site while recovery efforts were underway.
The judge emphasized the government's "urgent interest" in recovering victims, clearing unstable and dangerous wreckage, reopening the Mississippi River to commerce and beginning to rebuild the bridge as soon as possible. These challenges are "daunting enough," he said, "without this Court turning loose dozens of lawyers, expert witnesses, and investigators on the site."
The court seemed to anticipate a coming feeding frenzy.
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
Check the scum’s payee...bet it is some anti-American group like greenpeace, sierraclub, aclu, that was in some way responsible for holding up construction maintenance of bridges, because it wasn’t sightly, or some other air headed excuse to stop preventive maintenance or worse...politician’s who failed to authorize funding for such activity...waiting with baited breath.
check other disaster areas in recent history and you will find the “pouncing” lawyers syndrome is par for the course
I suspect “Vulturing 101” is a required course at every law school.
The wave of the future, apparently. There's been talk in Virginia of using taxpayer funds to compensate families and victims of the shootings at Virginia Tech.
Truly despicable behavior by truly evil people. A special place in hell for these greedy shysters.
ditto Virginia Tech and the I-35 disasters.
“The wave of the future, apparently. There’s been talk in Virginia of using taxpayer funds to compensate families and victims of the shootings at Virginia Tech.”
Sadly, that defeats the only legit purpose of liability actions.
Lawsuits make it more expensive to “save money” by taking safety shortcuts. Otherwise, your hospital might not buy the proper machines, or staff w/ the proper number of nurses, etc. You car maker might opt for less crash testing, or your airlines might find it more profitable to extend the time between wing inspections.
Lawsuits take any possible costs savings out of such half-a&&ed measures. It is the free market’s replacement for government regulations. It isn’t perfect, but it certainly does stop many companies from saving money at the expense of your safety.
Consumerism, even usage of public facilities, would be best served by caveat emptor thereby multiplying the value of a brand.
Good on the judge!!!
Tort reform BUMP!
I’m torn on the issue of gross negligence or incompetence.
Those guilty of it should not go free. Nor is satisfaction to the state enough. Biblically, restitution to victims is also in order. Sometimes double and triple restitution. You cannot just take someone’s bread winner through gross negligence, and then get away with paying damages for his car and calling that sufficient.
If it takes lawyers to make fairness to victims & families happen, then I’m OK with that.
I’ve heard estimates of $250,000-450,000 being spent per person in Katrina.
We don’t need catastrophic life insurance and now we don’t need property insurance either.
Let me know when the corrupt Democrats who tanked New Orleans will be sentenced and fined for their crimes.
But this one is almost humorous (.pdf file).
BUMP to Judge Schiltz!
No fair injecting a rational, common sense argument into an emotional outburst!!!
Those estimates are wrong. Somebody took the total amount of relief dollars and divided that number by the population of NOLA. That’s wrong in it’s very basis as the relief dollars used covered the entire Gulf coast and not just NOLA.
If you knew the population of all the counties harmed by Katrina and divided that number into the relief dollars you'd get a reasonable number. But I don't know what that would prove.
Precisely. Don’t you think gross negligence should have to pay?
For example, anyone encouraging folks to move back into below sea level New Orleans should have their head examined at a minimum.
This includes ANYONE in the Federal Government.
That is why God invented Life Insurance and Accident Insurance. Any bread winner who doesn't have it is negligent toward their own family.
Sometimes there are accidents. I suspect that this was one. Yet there are sharks in the waters in Minnesota. These law firms are ambulance chasers of the worst kind.
However, the responsibility for the insurance should fall on those who caused the injury. As a fallback, the injured should have insurance.
Luke 19:8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount." 9 Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.