Word: crash
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Corboy's lawsuit was the first volley in what promises to be a high-stakes legal battle over the Iowa crash. Some attorneys have even taken to calling the tragedy "Sue City" because of the huge number of lawsuits that are expected to follow. While the 185 survivors and the next of kin of the 111 who were killed are the ultimate beneficiaries, the struggle will take place between a small cadre of plaintiffs' lawyers and their counterparts, who represent airlines, aviation manufacturers and their insurance companies. That kind of tug-of-war has grown increasingly fierce over the past...
Iowa bar officials arrived at the scene of the Sioux City crash nearly as fast as the doctors did. They were determined to head off a well-known postcrash problem: unscrupulous lawyers soliciting clients on the scene in violation of ethics codes. Representatives of the state bar set up an office at the health center where many of the survivors had been taken for treatment. Bar officials also placed an ad in the Sioux City Journal asking people to call if they knew of any unethical contacts by attorneys. None were reported...
...Other crash scenes have been more ghoulish. After 137 people died in the Aug. 2, 1985, crash of a Delta L-1011 at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport, legions of lawyers sought business amid the chaos, scurrying among emergency- relief workers and hospital aides. They even tramped through the halls of Parkland Memorial Hospital handing out name cards to the families of the deceased. Top lawyers in the field, who get their cases mainly through referrals, consider such tactics lowbrow. "I have utter contempt for those who choose to get cases this way. They deserve the bad reputation they have...
...just as quickly as the lawyers, seeking through a disputed process known as claim control to keep costs from spiraling. Associated Aviation Underwriters, one of the major airline-liability insurance companies, has already begun the process of talking with survivors and the families of victims of the Sioux City crash, trying to settle their claims quickly and dissuade them from going to court. Says Peter Magee, executive vice president of the company: "If you buy a ticket to get from Point A to Point B, and you don't make it there, then the legal burden...
...those who sign up with the insurance companies. Friendly letters urging families and survivors to take the settlements initially offered to them -- and suggesting that they shouldn't consult a lawyer -- are anathema to the aviation bar. According to Gerald Sterns, a San Francisco lawyer who specializes in air- crash litigation, "These letters can be very dangerous for the victims if they decide later to file a lawsuit. The insurance company's concern is damage control. What they're doing is developing a rapport with the victims and duping them...