The Malaysian website headline screams US lawyers gearing up for MH370 suits after waiting period ends and the plane has yet to be found.
According to CNN, as quoted in The Malaysian, the United States enforces a 45-day rule for how long American lawyers have to wait before reaching out to a family that has lost a loved one in a plane crash.
The lawyers are, apparently following the old adage of "sue everyone, especially if the have deep pockets," and they obviously think Boeing has very deep pockets.
The problem is, unlike the BP oil spill and the Exxon Valdez tanker "mishap," there is no - zero, nada, sum - evidence that Boeing's plane failed in any way. If this were a criminal case, there is no corpus delecti, defined by The Free Dictionary as
- Law The material evidence in a homicide, such as the discovered corpse of a murder victim, showing that a crime has been committed.
- A corpse.
There is no plane; there is no wreckage.
In fact, there's very little evidence that the aircraft crashed at all.
But, the lawyers are lining up to sue Boeing.
Boeing will have to defend to protect its reputation and its financial resources.
Even though, so far, there is no evidence that the aircraft was faulty or failed in any way.
There IS some evidence that the aircraft was high jacked, but no one currently is speculating by whom, or to what purpose. There have been no ransom demands and no displays of captive passengers.
I'm sure the lawyers have a reason to be the first to file, even at the risk that they won't have a case later.
Meanwhile, Boeing has to spend its resources to try to hold off the lawyers until there is at least some evidence that the aircraft manufacturer failed to make a safe product.
Even some lawyers seem to realize actions against Boeing may be premature. According to The Malaysian, Aviation lawyer Daniel Rose, a partner at the firm Kreindler & Kreindler, told CNN, "If we don't have the black box with all the critical information on it, or we don't have any part of the wreckage, it would be very hard to maintain a claim against Boeing in any court in the United States."
I hope Boeing has good insurance to pay its legal representatives.
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