How Mass Lawsuits Could Change the Oil and Gas Industry
MAY 1, 2012 | 6:00 AM
BY DAVE FEHLING
“It’s saying a lot that these people who’ve put up with so much have finally decided the state is failing us, the EPA is failing us, we’re going to try to do it ourselves through the court system,” Buzbee said in an interview with StateImpact Texas.
The many plaintiffs in this case received triple damages and those same attorneys have won other massive cases.
Some Texans have a low opinion of trial attorneys and it’s because industry spent a lot of money driving those opinions. But trial attorneys are our last best hope when the Big Oil & Gas Mafia is pushing you around. (Ask me how I know.)
Change is gonna come.
About Sharon Wilson
Sharon Wilson is considered a leading citizen expert on the impacts of shale oil and gas extraction. She is the go-to person whether it’s top EPA officials from D.C., national and international news networks, or residents facing the shock of eminent domain and the devastating environmental effects of natural gas development in their backyards.
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Sharon,
Your blog is so vital. I am so grateful for what you are doing. but
I do not share your enthusiasm for attorneys. I understand that you have found a good one, and that you have been put in a position where you had no choice but to do exactly that.
Chip Northrup knows oil rigs. He speaks with authority on this subject, and the Bluedaze is a better place for it.
I know personal injury attorneys. Ask me how? Sorry, I cant go there anymore. Please believe me though, my low opinion of lawyers has nothing to do with industry spin, and everything to do with personal and professional experience.
Remember, the more screwed up one’s life becomes, the more money one’s attorney stands to make. There is often very little incentive for attorneys to do the right thing – which inevitably starts with – get those people away from there.
The longer innocent children remain in harms way, the better for the attorneys, and the younger the better. I’ve seen this play out far too many times now, and I’m sick to death of it.
There is never any incentive for injury attorneys to put an end to the pollution either. But the lips still move. Its amazing. The deals they cut with industry can be even more amazing.
The case you link to is really just another case in point here, in my view. Attorney Scott McClain says he can’t sleep at night because that plume is still out there.
Out there In the neighborhood, under the neighborhood, completely unabated, after he settled case, took the money, and allowed the records to be sealed.
I’m with Scott on that one. I’d lose sleep too. He needed to do better than that.
Sorry you have had a bad experience. I’ve had good experiences with attorneys.
The people in McAllen received enough money they could move away. That’s way more than most people get. The state and federal regulators should force the clean up.
Clean up http://old.brownsvilleherald.com/comments.php?id=http://www.themonitor.com/news/gas-12181-mclain-court.html
I don’t know where those people would have been if attorneys had not taken their case.
After seeing the tied hands of regulators due to politics, I also feel that suing is the only way to go.
If the system weren’t so corrupt, we would have other choices.
Andy, I agree with you. I have experience with lawyers/judges and the Gas Mafia. Have seen lawyers bought off as well as judges. Don’t get me started. The whole “justice” system is rotten to the core and will not provide any help to the peasants against the Gas mafia.
You have also had a bad experience but you did tell me that your attorney was good and trying to be helpful so it’s not a good idea to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Now, the oil soaked Texas courts is something upon which we can agree but that is hardly the lawyers fault and even in that case not all judges are corrupted by industry money.
There are many families who have gotten to safety only because the skill of their attorneys made that possible.
I understand that not all attorneys are good just like anything else but I despise wholesale trashing of trial attorneys. It’s not in our best interest.
However, we can agree to disagree on this one.
The lawyer I told you about is a good dude—but, I never told you about the other bad lawyers that I have had experiece with. And I know about cases not only our case where bad things were done, like withdrawing.
Good luck to you with the “justice” system. I wish you luck.
Oh, BTW, if you mention that you don’t have any money to fund the “justice” event, watch the stuttering and back-tracking begin.
The “justice” system is actually two systems: 1 for the rich, 1 for the poor. Rarely do the poor win in such a system, and even when they do, it’s usually not a very big win.