First Trial Set to Begin Monday, April 7, 2025, Against Boeing in 2019 Crash of 737 MAX8; Pre-Trial Hearing Set for April 2, 2025
The first trial is set to begin in federal District Court in Chicago on Monday, April 7, 2025, against Boeing in the 2019 crash of a 737 MAX8 aircraft in Ethiopia on behalf of two victims who were among the 157 killed six years ago. Federal District Court Judge Jorge Alonso has set a pre-trial hearing for 11 a.m. tomorrow (Wednesday, April 2, 2025) at the Dirksen Federal Building to hear motions prior to the start of jury selection Monday.
Robert A. Clifford, founder and senior partner of Clifford Law Offices and Lead Counsel in the litigation, will be trying the cases of Paolo Dieci and Darcy Belanger, who are represented by Mark Lindquist of Mark Lindquist Law in Tacoma, Washington, and Austin Bartlett of BartlettChen LLC of Chicago.
Dieci, 58, was Founder and General Director of CISP, an NGO committed to fighting poverty and inequality to protect and enhance human dignity that operated in 30 countries and benefitted more than two million people. He was also President of Link2007, an association of 13 Italian NGOs aiming to strengthen the impact of international cooperation for poverty reduction and to support peace and stability. He left behind his wife, Maria Luisa, and two children from Italy.
Belanger, 46, of Denver, Colorado, was a founding member of the environmental non-profit Parvati.org, where he worked to spread awareness about an initiative called the Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary (MAPS). He was travelling to Nairobi on a mission to address hunger and poverty for the UN Environment Assembly, having taken time off from his job as director of professional development at PCL Construction.
“These families look forward to their day in court as they seek justice more than six years after that tragic avoidable crash,” Clifford said. “A jury of their peers will determine the level of accountability by the corporation that manufactured the Boeing 737 MAX8 aircraft.”
Boeing agreed to take full responsibility for the cause of the crash. The trial, therefore, will focus on damages to the surviving family members. Judge Alonso has set two more trial dates in 2025 for crash victims’ families who have not settled their cases against Boeing.
For further information, contact Clifford Law Offices Communications Partner Pamela Sakowicz Menaker at 847-721-0909 (cell).