Campbell Conroy & O'Neil, P.C. has been retained on a number of occasions to act on behalf of clients involved in mass disasters such as explosions, fires, bus rollovers, plane crashes, and other large-scale events.
Like class actions, mass disaster litigation involves complex combinations of contracts, express and implied warranties, state and federal consumer protection, health and safety statutes and regulations, state of the art technology, technial questions of science, engineering, and medicine, and economic analyses. Technical disciplines span security and safety, product reliability, mechanical engineering, metallurgy, physics, hydraulics, electronics and electrical engineering, toxicology, pharmacology, epidemiology, injury mechanisms, and more. Legal issues involve federal statutory and decisional law on preemption, the Federal Aviation Act, the Food and Drug Act, the Class Action Fairness Act, the Magnusson-Moss Warranty Act, and numerous state common laws and statutes applicable to security, health, safety, strict liability, warranty, unfair and deceptive practices, and fraud.
Campbell Conroy & O’Neil, P.C. was retained by US Airways and its lead insurer, Global Aerospace, shortly after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The firm was hired to defend the company and its officers, directors, and employees during the 9/11 Commission investigation and the civil actions that followed this tragedy.
Campbell Conroy & O’Neil, P.C. was also retained as counsel for actions arising from the Lafarge cement slag release in Charlestown in September of 2006. This slag release involved personal injury claims and lawsuits by more than 100 claimants, property damage claims for 332 new automobiles, as well as claims for damage to many homes, businesses, and hundreds of Boston school buses. We also handled the crisis management for the company: hiring a public relations firm, preparing the company spokesperson for multiple press conferences on the night of the release, and advising and representing the company with respect to the City of Boston, State, and Federal government agency investigations into the release.