Word: crashing
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...invariably begins with a race among some unscrupulous lawyers to sign up the next of kin. Soliciting clients, or "ambulance chasing," can cost a lawyer his license. But for some the temptation of a multimillion-dollar air crash is too much...
...practice is to hire "investigators" to interview the grieving relatives and drop the name of a "highly recommended" attorney. After crashes abroad, American lawyers have been known to travel to the villages where the victims lived, rent a hall and then invite the heirs to come and listen to a talk about "their rights." The DC-10 crash prompted a San Francisco law firm to place an ad in the Los Angeles Times headlined, in mortuary gothic letters, TO THOSE WHO NEED TO KNOW ABOUT AN AVIATION DISASTER. The ad invited readers to call the firm collect for further counsel...
Insurers for the airlines are understandably eager to head off the lawyers by getting to the next of kin first and offering them a quick settlement. A week after the Flight 191 crash, the insurer for American Airlines sent a three-page letter to the relatives of all the passengers. Extending his "sincere condolences" and detailing the insurers' plans to pay funeral expenses. Robert Alpert, vice president of the United States Aviation Underwriters, offered to settle any damage claims. Then came some pointed advice. "It is also our hope," wrote Alpert, "that you ultimately retain as much...
Kreindler defends his high fees (17½% of the award), pointing out that air crash suits are complex and time consuming. In the Chicago air crash case, he will have to show how much money his clients (so far, the relatives of 16 victims) need to be compensated for their loss, based on the projected earning power of the victim, age, dependence on and relationship to the claimant. He must also prove that American or McDonnell Douglas or both were at fault. To be sure, the airline and manufacturer have offered not to contest their liability and to settle...
Chicago Attorney John Kennelly, 62, an air crash expert who has so far filed suits on behalf of the relatives of 22 victims in the Chicago crash, charges that the insurers traditionally stretch out the litigation to hold on for as long as possible to the large sums of money they will inevitably have to pay out. The interest on the money alone is worth millions; Kennelly argues that that interest should be added to the final award...