LONGVIEW, Wash. — In the wake of the Nippon Dynawave tragedy, legal experts say there will likely be multiple lawsuits filed in the next weeks and months, and mass casualty experts say these families deserve justice.
Victim’s family members say they plan to demand the paper mill be held accountable for the loss of their fathers, sons, and husbands.
“We know someone’s at fault,” said Kevin Durkin with Clifford Law Offices, who worked on the deadly Amtrak crash in Dupont in 2017, the Alaska Airlines doorplug blowout, and other notorious Washington cases.
“If you retain a lawyer, you can do what you need to do and grieve and let everything else get worried by someone else,” he adds.
Eleven people were killed, and several more were injured in last week’s implosion.
Durkin says now is the time to start building a case.
“If this was one of my loved ones, I’d want to know exactly what happened, who’s at fault, who’s being held accountable, and what’s being done to make sure this never happens to another family,” said Durkin.
He says he expects civil lawsuits to be filed in the coming months, and possible criminal filings, too.
“If someone knew we had a horrible situation here, put everyone at risk because we don’t want to spend the money, that might lead to that, but if it’s not something like that, it’s a workman’s comp claim,” explained Durkin.
He says mass fatality chemical cases usually take up to three years to get an answer.
“Judge could say you got a year to get this done, or I’m too busy, I have other things that take precedence,” said Durkin.
Durkin says it’s too early to know if the victim’s families will receive any large payouts, but the incident investigations will shed light on that soon.