After the Texas Explosion: A Firestorm of Lawsuits?
Click here to read the full article at TIME.com
April 22, 2013 — While the exact number of dead and injured have yet to be finalized, the damage in West, Texas is already quite evident: 75 homes demolished or badly damaged, a nursing home, an apartment complex and middle school laid waste, and West Fertilizer Company’s plant itself destroyed. Experts expect insurance claims to be in the millions of dollars. Already, property and casualty claims specialists have flooded the zone, according to Mark Hanna, spokesman for the Insurance Council of Texas. And so have the litigators.
Within hours of the April 17 explosion, websites and YouTube pitches by several law firms were already up. One of the first to launch a webpage was The Schmidt Firm, a leading national plaintiffs’ law firm headquartered in Dallas. “If you or somebody you know was harmed by the fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. We are currently investigating potential lawsuits involving personal injury claims, hearing loss, property damage, economic losses, recovery costs, and more,” the firm’s West Fertilizer Company explosion page reads.
Hanna estimates that actual dollar losses in the plant explosion likely will be lower than those seen following a typical spring storm in one of the Texas’ major urban areas. Hanna pointed to a storm that swept through Central Texas on March 25 and likely result in $100 million or more in claims. The Schmidt Firm’s founder, attorney C.L. Mike Schmidt, admitted to TIME that “We haven’t gotten very far in our investigation.” Nevertheless, he laid out what he anticipated will be the plan of action in the days ahead.
As the firm’s web posting indicated lawyers will be casting their net wide, not just seeking to represent the immediate victims of the blast in the small town of West. Schmidt anticipates “mass action” lawsuits, prompted by widespread damages from the blast. The blast could be heard over 40 miles away and the percussive impact of high decibel shockwave may have resulted in hearing loss and trauma, both physical and psychological, for a wide circle of individuals, farm animals, pets and property in the area, Schmidt says. Potential plaintiffs would thus include residents of the small towns and rural areas surrounding West, plus travelers along Interstate 35 that lies on the western edge of the small town.
Do I have a Texas Fertilizer Plant Explosion Lawsuit?
Our law firm has already been contacted by residents of West, Texas and we are now currently representing a number of victims in the horrible tragedy. If you or somebody you know was harmed by the fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation.
We are currently accepting potential lawsuits involving personal injury claims, hearing loss, property damage, economic losses, recovery costs, and more. Please use the form below to contact our Accident & Personal Injury Litigation Group or call us toll-free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.
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