here's a report about the US attorneys visiting the families:
Now, that wait is being increasingly punctuated by visits with lawyers, as big American law firms position themselves for potentially lucrative lawsuits. Slipping through the thicket of reporters at Beijing’s Lido Hotel Friday were representatives of at least two legal teams, for whom Flight 370 represents a major opportunity.
“This is the biggest since, I think, 2001,” said Deon Botha, global insurance claims manager for Chicago-based Ribbeck Law Chartered, which calls itself the biggest in the world in litigating air disasters. On Nov. 12, 2001, the crash of American Airlines Flight 587 into Queens, N.Y., killed 260. Flight 370 had 239 people on board.
In the week since he has arrived in Beijing from Johannesburg, Mr. Botha has spoken with roughly half the families of Chinese passengers aboard the Boeing 777.
The lawyers’ first bit of advice: Don’t sign anything offered by Malaysia Airlines and its lead insurer, Allianz. Airlines might offer $60,000 to $100,000 (U.S.) per person. Lawyers would sue for several million, Mr. Botha said.
The second bit of advice: If there’s any chance to make a legal connection to the United States, then file suit there. With Flight 370, that link might be provided by Chicago-headquartered Boeing, which made the vanished aircraft. “You can try to sue the case in Asia, but we all know American courts are more generous and supportive to the victims,” said Keke Feng, a lawyer with Motley Rice LLC, a firm based in Charleston, S.C. She flew to Beijing days after the Malaysia Airlines flight went dark.
For the lawyers, recovery of the flight’s “black box” voice and data recorders is particularly important, since the information contained there can be crucial to finding out what went wrong – and, therefore, assigning blame.
But some of the crucial information may already been deleted, since cockpit voice recorders typically keep only the most recent two hours of a flight, and Flight 370 is believed to have continued flying for as much as seven hours after diverting course. In addition, a battery-powered locator “ping” used to help searchers find a submerged black box is designed to last for 30 days; half that time has now elapsed.
For the lawyers, another time matter is also a concern. U.S. law prevents lawyers from any “unsolicited communication concerning a potential action for personal injury or wrongful death” within 45 days of an aviation accident.
But the fines are low – $1,000 per violation – and lawyers have in the past flouted it. The crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407 in Buffalo, N.Y., for example, resulted in two attorneys each paying $5,000 to settle allegations they broke the rule.
But Mr. Botha points out that the 45-day rule is “overrun” if families request to speak with lawyers, “and we’ve been contacted locally,” he said.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...s-advise-distraught-families/article17626002/
bbm