5 ms·

I keep hearing about lawyers, but who exactly gets sued? The victims are also the building owners. Seems it was their responsibility?

by paul_f 5y ago

znkynz 5y ago
Some people may have been renters, rather than owners.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
dragonwriter 5y ago
> I keep hearing about lawyers, but who exactly gets sued? Whoever arguably had an unfulfilled duty. I’d say the condo association and its individual officers (who would have received the damage reports and arguably failed in their duty of care to owners and indirectly renters with regard to them) would be a good candidate. For renters or their families, their individual landlords would also be potential targets.
- throwawayboise 5y ago
  The condo association officers are likely volunteers, elected by the condo owners, and indemnified by the association. They are just homeowners like everyone else, unlikely to have any expertise in engineering or understanding engineering reports. And possibly also now dead.
  - dragonwriter 5y ago
    > The condo association officers are likely volunteers, elected by the condo owners, and indemnified by the association. Indemnity tends to have limited scope, and whether a particular claim is within it is a question resolved in a lawsuit. > They are just homeowners like everyone else No, they aren't, because they are differently situated. > unlikely to have any expertise in engineering or understanding engineering reports. Special expertise is not required for culpabale negligence or culpable non-, mis-, or malfeasance. Whether, for instance, the reports they received provided sufficient notice of danger that they should, under the duty of carr applicable, have acted differently and their failure to so contributed to the harms to persons and property in the collapse is...precisely the kind of question resolved in a lawsuit. > And possibly also now dead. Death does not erase legal liabilities, generally. Its true that, after published notice of death, there is usually a limited time to file claims against the estate (which, with a live defendant, might have more time under applicable statutes of limitations, etc.) But that just adds urgency to identifying and acting on potential claims here, where, yes, some of the potential defendants might also have died in the event.
taneq 5y ago
Depending on their insurance they may be able to sue themselves and have the insurance cover it. Sole trader workers compensation can work like this too.
wyldfire 5y ago
What if they acknowledged the problem, and acted on the information available by commissioning the repair/redesign work that's necessary but the work didn't happen fast enough to avoid the failure? It seems feasible that some structural weaknesses might not be easily measured/assessed in situ.
ummonk 5y ago
The HOA's insurance policy?

I keep hearing about lawyers, but who exactly gets sued? The victims are also the building owners. Seems it was their responsibility?

by paul_f 5y ago

I keep hearing about lawyers, but who exactly gets sued? The victims are also the building owners. Seems it was their responsibility?

znkynz 5y ago

Some people may have been renters, rather than owners.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

dragonwriter 5y ago

> I keep hearing about lawyers, but who exactly gets sued? Whoever arguably had an unfulfilled duty. I’d say the condo association and its individual officers (who would have received the damage reports and arguably failed in their duty of care to owners and indirectly renters with regard to them) would be a good candidate. For renters or their families, their individual landlords would also be potential targets.

throwawayboise 5y ago
The condo association officers are likely volunteers, elected by the condo owners, and indemnified by the association. They are just homeowners like everyone else, unlikely to have any expertise in engineering or understanding engineering reports. And possibly also now dead.
- dragonwriter 5y ago
  > The condo association officers are likely volunteers, elected by the condo owners, and indemnified by the association. Indemnity tends to have limited scope, and whether a particular claim is within it is a question resolved in a lawsuit. > They are just homeowners like everyone else No, they aren't, because they are differently situated. > unlikely to have any expertise in engineering or understanding engineering reports. Special expertise is not required for culpabale negligence or culpable non-, mis-, or malfeasance. Whether, for instance, the reports they received provided sufficient notice of danger that they should, under the duty of carr applicable, have acted differently and their failure to so contributed to the harms to persons and property in the collapse is...precisely the kind of question resolved in a lawsuit. > And possibly also now dead. Death does not erase legal liabilities, generally. Its true that, after published notice of death, there is usually a limited time to file claims against the estate (which, with a live defendant, might have more time under applicable statutes of limitations, etc.) But that just adds urgency to identifying and acting on potential claims here, where, yes, some of the potential defendants might also have died in the event.

taneq 5y ago

Depending on their insurance they may be able to sue themselves and have the insurance cover it. Sole trader workers compensation can work like this too.

wyldfire 5y ago

What if they acknowledged the problem, and acted on the information available by commissioning the repair/redesign work that's necessary but the work didn't happen fast enough to avoid the failure? It seems feasible that some structural weaknesses might not be easily measured/assessed in situ.

ummonk 5y ago

The HOA's insurance policy?