Robert A. Clifford, senior partner at Clifford Law Offices in Chicago which has been involved in nearly every commercial aviation crash in America in the last three decades as well as many international aviation tragedies across the world, is criticizing the filing of any lawsuit or action against any parties yet in the mystery surrounding Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Already a Chicago law firm has filed a discovery petition in Chicago against Boeing, which is based there. That same Chicago law firm filed an identical petition in the Asiana crash that was dismissed for cause in August, 2013, by Cook County State Court Judge Kathy Flanagan. Clifford has spoken to Associated Press on the issue of deployable recorders and assets trackers, technology improvements that could have helped to avoid the tragedy that is unfolding, but to go to the extent of filing an action against Boeing or any other potential defendant without any clear evidence “is premature and headline-grabbing,” Clifford said. Clifford’s op-ed piece on the issue of upgrading technology appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, March 20, 2014, which can be read here. He can speak to the issue of “tombstone technology” – the fact that after enough deaths and frustration, the technology improvements find their way into airlines’ fleets voluntarily and finally by FAA regulation. He also can speak to the issue of the likelihood of the retrievability of the black boxes on the plane. Certainly the families deserve answers, but to file a discovery petition against Boeing gives the families false hope of an answer coming from potential parties who don’t have all of the answers yet, Clifford said.
CLIFFORD IS AVAILABLE TO SPEAK TO THE PRESS ABOUT THE LEGAL ISSUES SURROUNDING MALAYSIA AIRLINES FLIGHT 370.
He currently is preparing for trial as the lead counsel for the families of five victims in the Colgan air crash in Buffalo, New York, five years ago when a Continental Connection flight crashed killing everyone on board. He also represented 17 families who lost loved ones in the Turkish Airlines crash at Amsterdam’s Schiphol International Airport five years ago. For further information or to arrange an interview with Robert A. Clifford or his aviation team of attorneys, please call Clifford Law Offices’ Communications Partner Pamela Sakowicz Menaker at 847-251-4877 or 847-721-0909, Pammenaker@cliffordlaw.com www.CliffordLaw.com