After the Williams Geismar facility exploded in 2013, we represented approximately 90 families who had been severely injured by the blast. Listen as we explain the story, including our firm was able to help our clients.
June 13, 2013, the Williams Geismar facility exploded. It killed 2 and injured hundreds. Literally, they foresaw the very thing that caused the explosion back in 2001. They had outside companies come in and say “This is going to explode.” They intentionally chose not to add a safety guard that would have cost $5 and would have taken 5 minutes. They didn’t care because it would have cost them a little more time in their processes.
Soon thereafter, clients were starting to get denied basic medical care.
We started getting phone calls. We ultimately got hired by about 90 families to help them get through this explosion that had hurt them in such an awful way. Right from the beginning, we helped them get the very best medical care. If comp or whoever was denying who they could see or who they really wanted to see, or if they didn’t know who a neurosurgeon was because they are from a small town, we helped them with that. We helped get their lives stable, ensuring that they could take care of all of their bills—and then we went to work.
We figured out within a couple of weeks everything that had gone wrong. Something that took safety boards and the government agencies more than 3 years. The defendants said “We’re not going to offer you any money.” They had a team of 41 lawyers trying the case. I literally walked up with my little clients. It was David vs. Goliath. We tried that case after nearly 4 weeks, and we got a $15.5 million verdict for the first few clients.
So we said, “Alright, guys, now that you’ve seen what the jury is going to do, are you now ready to settle?” And they said “We think it was a fluke.” They wanted to try it again. A month later, we had another 3 week trial. Different clients, different families. Again, jury saw right through it.
After a 3 week trial, $18.5 million verdict. We spent more than $10 million of our own firm’s money to ensure that our clients got the very best recovery and were taken care of. That’s what we did, and that’s what we do.
