Texas Lawyer Writes About Austin Lawyer’s Unique Approach

Texas Lawyer, the state’s leading legal publication, recently wrote about Mike Slack of Austin–based Slack & Davis (http://www.slackdavis.com/) and his unique approach to resolving the litigation that surfaced after the Reno Air Races crash 18 months ago, which claimed the lives of spectators and caused numerous injuries.

Slack, a veteran aviation lawyer, recognized that there was a cap of the amount of funds that would be available to plaintiffs of $100 million. So he brought all the plaintiffs’ lawyers together and created a “claims resolution facility” to administer the funds that were available to the families of those injured or killed.

This produced a number of winners, including the insurance  company, the Reno Air Races Association, and most importantly the plaintiffs since some of them would have been left out after the $100 million was exhausted through traditional litigation.

“The idea was to have something with certainty and had an advantage over the alternatives,” Slack told Texas Lawyer.

Slack also brought in Ken Feinberg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Feinberg)
to help oversee the collaborative process. Feinberg was impressed with the concept, telling the newspaper:

“The creativity and ability of Slack and McQuillen made my job much easier. They were on the same page from day one. It’s vastly preferable to arguing in the courtroom. Instead, the lawyers get together, they secure the services of an independent neutral, they work with a formula, fashioning a formula, and then the formula is implemented.”

 

 

Slack & Davis Attorney Interviewed about Helicopter Crash

Austin-based Slack & Davis (www.slackdavis.com), a law firm with deep expertise in aviation law, had one of its attorneys interviewed on January 2 about a medical helicopter crash near Seminole, OK.

Attorney Ladd Sanger was interviewed by KFOR-TV (Oklahoma City), which published a news report about the Mediflight helicopter pilot making an emergency landing near Seminole.

“Air Methods is the world’s largest operator of EMS helicopters but they have had more than their share of crashes,” Sanger said, citing numerous examples of other crashes.

He added that ground ambulances are often faster, safer and more cost-effective than air transports.

“We are using helicopters in far too many instances where they are not medically necessary simply because they’re sitting there on the helipad and the hospital and the operator need to have them flying to make money and we’re seeing people get injured and killed when they shouldn’t have been in the helicopter in the first place,” Sanger told the media.

Slack & Davis Secures $2.53 Million for Family of Passenger Killed in Airplane Crash

A Willacy County jury has unanimously awarded $2.53 million to the family of James Robinett, who died in a plane crash on December 10, 2009.

Slack & Davis attorneys Ladd Sanger and Paula Sweeney represented plaintiffs Sherry Robinett, wife of James Robinett, and Desiray Jynae Johnson and Devin James Robinett, the Robinetts’ grown children.

The Austin-based firm said that the plane went down in the Laguna Madre approximately 1.6 miles east of Charles R. Johnson airport in Port Mansfield, Texas. The pilot had been on an instrument flight plan, but attempted a visual approach in fog and a low cloud ceiling.

The defense was led by attorney Chris Kilgore of Carstens & Cahoon.

Willacy County District Judge Migdalia Lopez presided over the case.

“We were glad we could show the jury what a wonderful father and husband James Robinett was to his family and the loss his death created,” said Slack & Davis’ Sanger.