The lawyer for the families who lost loved ones in two Boeing crashes of 737 MAX jets argued on October 11, 2024, that the plea deal between the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Boeing should not be accepted by the federal district court judge in Texas who is overseeing the criminal matter against the aircraft manufacturing giant.

Paul Cassell, attorney for the families in this case and professor of the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah, argued before U.S. Federal District Court Judge Reed O’Connor that the plea deal “rests on an airbrushed set of facts that conceals the truth about this case.” He went on to tell the court that the DOJ and Boeing set the terms of the plea deal as “non-negotiable” and were finalized without consulting the families who have been found to be victims under the federal Crime Victims’ Rights Act.

Cassell went on to say that the plea deal does not mention the 346 deaths in the two crashes five years ago and argued for the case to go to trial because the plea deal is “not an appropriate determination of remedial measures” to ensure that these planes that continue to fly are safe. “What fine is commensurate with a crime that kills 346 people?” he asked. Alternatively, Cassell argued that Judge O’Connor should reject this deal and have the parties return with an alternative plea deal that is fairer to the families and the flying public.

“The heart of the matter is that the parties are swallowing the gun,” Cassell said Friday morning. He also told the Court that Boeing failed to provide all relevant facts that go directly to the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history. He pointed to the October 9, 2024, article in The New York Times, “Months Before Ethiopian Crash, Boeing Turned Aside Carrier’s Questions,” by Mark Walker and James Glanz, that revealed that Boeing failed to answer the chief Ethiopian pilot’s questions about the new MAX jet following the first crash in the Java Sea in October 2018. These emails also were not provided to Congress despite congressional officials asking for all pertinent information at several hearings in Washington, D.C. The article stated that answers to these questions could have avoided the second crash five months later.

The plea deal includes a fine that the families say is wholly inadequate to make a statement to Boeing and a monitor appointed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and approved by Boeing without family input. Cassell asked the court to reject the plea agreement with Boeing on nine grounds, including that it is too lenient given the criminal sentencing guidelines and that “it surreptitiously exonerates Boeing’s then-senior leadership.” The families are arguing for an independent monitor to be appointed by the court.

At least 14 family members from various countries were present at today’s hours-long arguments presented to Judge O’Connor. Susan Riffel of California, who lost her two sons, Melvin and Bennett, in the second crash, said following the hearing, “The 170,000 members of the ‘Boeing Family’ didn’t kill our sons; the Boeing executives did. … How is it counterproductive to have an independent monitor? Boeing’s business as usual isn’t working. The DOJ told us what they were planning to propose to Boeing and that it was a non-negotiable offer, and then they negotiated with Boeing. … We want those responsible to be held responsible. Not 170,000 workers, as suggested by the Boeing lawyer today. Boeing is not too big for justice.”

Her husband, Ike, who also attended the hearing, said:

“Our families come back to truth, justice, and accountability. … No one wants Boeing to fail, but we need to get the criminals out of the system. … It seems that DOJ just is interested in getting this case behind them.”

Chris Moore of Canada, who lost his daughter in the crash and who attended today’s hearing, said, “Boeing has always had the privilege of second changes and ‘do overs’ whether it is by way of the FAA’s lack of oversight and ability to assess airworthiness and risk properly or the Justice Department’s lack of integrity. My daughter Danielle and 345 other passengers never got a ‘do over’ after the brand new 737 MAX plane crashed due to Boeing’s criminal acts. The House’s final report found significantly more incriminating facts than the DOJ’s agreement stated. The deal is like Boeing’s MCAS certification plan: half-baked and noncompliant. The plea bargain rehashes the deferred prosecution agreement but leaves out the most important facts that tie the crime to the death of 346 people, for which Boeing should be held to account. The only way for this to occur is to conduct a criminal trial and let all the facts come to light.

“DOJ supported Boeing’s position of minimizing the loss and protection of information. The argument lacked factual support. Given the severity of this case, it should have mandated greater penalties and monitoring. … The DOJ is protecting Boeing’s image, assets, and mitigating its market losses. … The FAA failed to oversee Boeing engineering and production, and they need an independent set of eyes to oversee these areas at Boeing. The plea deal ignores this and the full picture of facts. The House has a more accurate picture of what happened, but the plea deal distorts this,” Moore said.

Nadia Milleron, who lost her daughter Samya in the crash and who also attended today’s hearing with her husband, Michael Stumo, said, “The Department of Justice said that the plea agreement is ‘reasonable and in the public interest,’ but it actually protects Boeing. The Department of Justice is supposed to represent the people of the United States, and by not holding Boeing accountable in any meaningful way, it allows for no consequences and, therefore, repeated bad behavior on Boeing’s part but also on the part of other executives who might threaten human life. Mark Philip, who argued for Boeing said that the FAA is the safety expert, and it is counterproductive to have a safety monitor that that would be conflicting. But actually the FAA needs the pressure of the criminal court to hold Boeing accountable and add additional pressure for safety. In the five years since the crash and this year also especially with the Alaska Air blowout, we can see that FAA oversight is inadequate. The public, through criminal accountability, has to assert greater pressure for safety.”

For further information, contact Clifford Law Offices Communications Partner Pamela Sakowicz Menaker at 847-721-0909 (cell) or pammenaker@cliffordlaw.com.

Various family members who lost loved ones in the Boeing crash speak to the media following Friday’s hearing outside the federal courthouse in Fort Worth, Texas.

The post Federal Judge Hears Arguments Against Boeing’s DOJ Plea Deal in Texas appeared first on Clifford Law Offices.

U.S. Federal District Court Judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth, Texas, has set a hearing for Friday, October 11, at 9:00 a.m. in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas – Fort Worth Division to hear objections to a proposed plea deal from victims’ relatives in the criminal case against Boeing for the two 737 MAX8 crashes that killed 346 people.

The families’ objections to the plea deal gained additional support in the October 9 New York Times story, “Months Before Ethiopian Crash, Boeing Turned Aside Carrier’s Questions,” by Mark Walker and James Glanz, exclusively reporting that in late 2018, prior to the second crash in Ethiopia, high-level executives at Boeing refused to answer email questions from Ethiopian Airlines’ chief pilot about how to respond to activation of a new flight control system called MCAS – the very problem that would just months later lead to the second crash of ET Flight 302.

Reporters said these emails were not made available to U.S. congressional investigators. Relying on information that the families had originally filed under seal with Judge O’Connor, The New York Times stated, “[A]viation experts said the lack of additional information most likely contributed to the inability of the pilots to pull themselves out of a fatal nosedive once the flight control software system malfunctioned. … The emails stand in sharp contrast to Boeing’s initial efforts to suggest that the Ethiopian crash was partly the result of pilot error.”

The New York Times story goes on to report the families’ reaction to this news, quoting Naoise Connolly Ryan of Ireland, who, with her two young children, lost her husband, Mick Ryan, in the Ethiopian crash: “Ms. Ryan criticized Boeing for holding back safety information from airlines, calling it criminal and suggesting it could have prevented the Ethiopian crash. … Ms. Ryan said she did not know why the Justice Department had not dug deeper into the matter.”

Following the two crashes and a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) criminal investigation, in January 2021, Boeing entered a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with the DOJ to resolve a criminal charge of conspiring to defraud the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about the safety of the Boeing 737 MAX. Then, in May 2024, the DOJ found that Boeing violated its promise in the DPA to improve the company’s safety protocols. The DOJ cited, among other problems, a January 2024 in-flight panel blowout on an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX jet built by Boeing.

In July, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to defraud the FAA. The DOJ and Boeing presented a proposed plea agreement to Judge O’Connor for his review. The victims’ families, who have been found to be victims under the federal Crime Victims’ Rights Act, have objected to the proposed “sweetheart” plea deal, arguing in their objections that the DPA fails to include any provisions acknowledging the 346 deaths and generally fails to hold Boeing accountable for past consequences of its crime and to protect the flying public in the future.

Paul Cassell, attorney for the families in this federal case and professor of the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah, said, “Today’s story confirms what the families have been saying for years: Senior executives at Boeing concealed safety issues with the 737 MAX, at congressional hearings and even from pilots who were trying to learn how to respond to those issues. Boeing hid those problems as part of its criminal conspiracy to defraud the FAA. And, sadly, the emails publicly released now for the first time confirm that one tragic consequence of Boeing’s lies was the crash of ET Flight 302, killing 157 passengers and crew.” He told The New York Times reporters that “Boeing put continuing its conspiracy of concealment ahead of passenger safety, killing all those on board.”

At Friday’s hearing, lawyers will ask Judge O’Connor for accountability from Boeing. This is only possible by not accepting the DOJ plea deal and putting Boeing executives on trial to find the full truth for the families and the flying public. Several family members of crash victims, including some traveling from other countries, are expected to appear at Friday’s 9 a.m. (CST) hearing in federal District Court in Fort Worth, Texas.

For further information, contact Clifford Law Offices Communications Partner Pamela Sakowicz Menaker at 847-721-0909 (cell) or pammenaker@cliffordlaw.com.

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James Pullos, Kristofer Riddle, and Joseph Murphy, partners at Clifford Law Offices, filed the case on behalf of the family of Marin Lacson in the January 25, 2024, death of their daughter as she crossed the tracks at the Hough Street railroad crossing on her way to school in the far northern suburb.

The 34-page complaint alleges negligence against defendants Union Pacific Railroad Company, Metra Railroad, and the Village of Barrington for their failure to adequately warn and protect pedestrians at the Hough Street railroad crossing despite at least two prior occasions where trains struck pedestrians. According to information provided by the Illinois Commerce Commission, even after these prior pedestrian casualties, no engineering study was ever performed to assess the risk of train collisions with pedestrians at this crossing, and no action has ever been taken to improve pedestrian safety at this crossing. This lack of safety measures proves especially troublesome in this community because this crossing is located in what is called a “Quiet Zone,” which means that horns are not to be sounded except at the train operator’s discretion.

The day of Marin’s death was one of dense fog, and at the time she was heading to high school at about 7:45 a.m., two trains approached the Hough Street crossing at the same time from opposite directions along the Union Pacific Northwest line. After the outbound train departed the Hough Street crossing, and due to lack of the train horn, safety warnings, and significantly reduced visibility, Marin stepped into the path of an inbound train approaching on a second track.

“Marin’s death was entirely preventable. Marin merely attempted to cross over the sidewalk on her way to school after the first train passed through the crossing. Without any warnings to alert her that an inbound train was coming from the opposite direction and without notice that this inbound track was what is sometimes called a ‘hot rail,’ Marin was unaware there was a second train approaching,” Pullos said. “Instead of showing urgency for the community safety, no action was ever taken to address the long-standing safety concerns at this crossing.”

For further information or to speak to attorney James Pullos, contact Clifford Law Offices Communications Partner Pamela Sakowicz Menaker at 847-721-0909 (cell) or pammenaker@cliffordlaw.com.

Media:

• • Filed Complaint (9/18/24)
  • Complaint of Michael Lacson
  • Statement by Michael Lacson
  • Photos (Pictures and video Courtesy of Clifford Law Offices)
    • Lacson Family Photo 1
    • Lacson Family Photo 2
    • Marin Lacson Photo 1
    • Marin Lacson Photo 2
    • Hart Crossing Barrington
    • Hough Street Crossing (Facing Northeast)
    • Hough Street Crossing (Facing South)
    • James Street Crossing (Barrington)
    • Main Street Crossing (Barrington)
    • Pedestrian Gate Example
    • Warning for Another Train Approaching

The post Clifford Law Offices Filed Lawsuit Against Railroads and Village of Barrington in Death of 17 Year Old appeared first on Clifford Law Offices.

The reply brief argues that the DOJ did not reasonably confer with the families about specific terms of the plea agreement. It goes on to ask Judge Reed O’Connor, who is overseeing the criminal matter in federal district court in Fort Worth, Texas, to reject the plea deal because it blocks his ability to craft his own sentence for Boeing.

“The proposed plea deal is not only deceptive but morally reprehensible because it fails to hold Boeing accountable for killing 346 people,” said Paul Cassell, attorney for the families in this case and professor of the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah. “A judge can reject a plea deal that is not in the public interest, and this misleading and unfair deal is clearly against the public interest. The families ask Judge O’Connor to use his recognized authority to reject this inappropriate plea and airbrushed factual account of what happened.”

After a door plug on an Alaska Airlines jet flew off mid-air in January, the DOJ found in May that Boeing had breached its obligations under a previously entered Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA). In July, the DOJ announced a proposed plea deal that recommends Judge O’Connor impose a fine of only $243.6 million. The deal does not include any prosecution of Boeing executives.

The families argue in their brief that the fine is an inadequate response to what Judge O’Connor previously called “the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history.” And the families argue the remedial measures and monitoring that the agreement would provide are inadequate to protect the safety of the flying public. The families also argue that the proposed facts surrounding the plea deal misleadingly exclude the involvement of Boeing’s top executives in the crime.

The Foundation for Aviation Safety held a Zoom press conference Thursday, August 22, 2o24, where it revealed heretofore unreleased documents that detail mechanical and electrical issues with the 737 MAX jet that continues to be manufactured and continues to fly thousands of passengers daily.

The families’ reply brief is available at www.CliffordLaw.com and is attached here.

For further information, contact Clifford Law Offices Communications Partner Pamela Sakowicz Menaker at 847-721-0909 (cell).

Media Files:

• Plaintiffs Redacted Reply Brief

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The following lawyers were named to the 2025 The Best Lawyers in America list:

• Robert A. Clifford, Founder and Senior Partner (Recognized in Best Lawyers since 1993)
  Aviation Law
  Bet-the-Company Litigation
  Commercial Litigation
  Mass Tort Litigation/ Class Actions – Plaintiffs
  Medical Malpractice Law – Plaintiffs
  Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs
  Product Liability Litigation – Plaintiffs
  Qui Tam Law
  Railroad Law
  Transportation Law
• Tracy A. Brammeier, Partner (Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2021)
  Aviation Law
  Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs
  Product Liability Litigation – Plaintiffs
• Richard F. Burke, Jr., Partner (Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2015)
  Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs
• Susan A. Capra, Partner (Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2021)
  Medical Malpractice Law – Plaintiffs
  Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs
  Product Liability Litigation – Plaintiffs
• Bradley M. Cosgrove, Partner (Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2019)
  Medical Malpractice Law – Plaintiffs
  Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs
  Product Liability Litigation – Plaintiffs
  Professional Malpractice Law – Plaintiffs
  Transportation Law
• Marta K. Davidson, Associate (Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2024)
  Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs
  Product Liability Litigation – Plaintiffs
• Kevin P. Durkin, Partner (Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2011)
  Aviation Law
  Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs
  Product Liability Litigation – Plaintiffs
  Railroad Law
  Transportation Law
• Charles R. Haskins, Partner (Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2021)
  Medical Malpractice Law – Plaintiffs
  Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs
  Product Liability Litigation – Plaintiffs
• Keith A. Hebeisen, Partner (Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2011)
  Medical Malpractice Law – Plaintiffs
  Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs
  Product Liability Litigation – Plaintiffs
• John V. Kalantzis, Partner (Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2022)
  Aviation Law
  Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs
• Sarah F. King, Partner (Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2021)
  Medical Malpractice Law – Plaintiffs
  Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs
  Product Liability Litigation – Plaintiffs
• Yvette Loizon, Partner (Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2023)
  Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs
• Shannon M. McNulty, Partner (Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2015)
  Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Plaintiffs
  Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs
  Product Liability Litigation – Plaintiffs
• Nicholas T. Motherway, Associate (Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2024)
  Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs
• Joseph Murphy, Partner (First year of recognition)
  Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs
• James C. Pullos, Partner (Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2020)
  Commercial Litigation
  Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Plaintiffs
  Medical Malpractice Law – Plaintiffs
  Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs
  Product Liability Litigation – Plaintiffs
• Kristofer S. Riddle, Partner (Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2024)
  Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs
  Product Liability Litigation – Plaintiffs
  Qui Tam Law
• Hon. Henry R. Simmons (Ret.), Managing Partner (Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2019)
  Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs
• Craig J. Squillace, Partner (Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2022)
  Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs
  Product Liability Litigation – Plaintiffs
• Robert P. Walsh, Partner (Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2018)
  Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs

Congratulations to all twenty lawyers for their selection to this prestigious list!

About Clifford Law Offices

Clifford Law Offices is dedicated to serving the needs of families and individuals in the Chicago area and throughout the nation. With nearly four decades of experience in personal injury litigation, the firm has recovered over $5 billion for its clients setting the gold standard for dedication to finding justice, impacting change in public policy, and recovering maximum compensation across a broad range of practice areas including aviation, transportation, medical malpractice, wrongful death, and product liability law. https://www.cliffordlaw.com

About Best Lawyers

Best Lawyers is the oldest and most respected lawyer ranking service in the world. Universally regarded as a definitive guide to legal excellence, Best Lawyers provides lists of high-caliber attorneys and firms in more than 75 countries. Lawyers included on The Best Lawyers in America list are separated and evaluated by geographic region and practice area. Nominations are reviewed by peers based on professional expertise and undergo an authentication process to ensure they are in current practice and in good standing. The methodology involves a rigorous peer-review survey comprising more than 13 million confidential evaluations by top attorneys. https://www.bestlawyers.com/

The post Clifford Law Offices Lawyers Named to 2025 Best Lawyers in America List appeared first on Clifford Law Offices.

Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Best Lawyers recognitions are compiled based on an exhaustive Purely Peer Review® evaluation. More than 123,000 industry-leading lawyers are eligible to vote (globally), and Best Lawyers has received more than 20 million evaluations on the legal abilities of other lawyers based on their specific practice areas around the world.

Only a single lawyer in each practice area and designated metropolitan area is honored as the “Lawyer of the Year,” making this a significant and coveted accolade. These lawyers are selected based on particularly impressive voting averages received during the peer review assessments. Receiving this designation reflects the high level of respect a lawyer has earned among other leading lawyers in the same communities and the same practice areas for their abilities, their professionalism, and their integrity.

In addition to the “Lawyer of the Year” award, Kevin P. Durkin was also listed in the 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® in the following practice areas:

• Aviation Law
• Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs
• Product Liability Litigation – Plaintiffs
• Railroad Law
• Transportation Law

Kevin P. Durkin has nearly 40 years of experience representing clients with an emphasis in the practice areas of complex aviation accident litigation and transportation liability. He has been involved in nearly every major commercial airline crash over the last four decades, often serving as lead counsel. Mr. Durkin is an approachable and engaging leader who values hard work and dedication to his clients. His work ethic has propelled his career as a personal injury attorney to include a wide range of record-setting, globally recognized aviation cases. He was selected by his peers as “Lawyer of the Year” in “Aviation Law” due to his outstanding record of results, his commitment to the Chicago community, and his determination to obtain justice for his clients.

Congratulations, Kevin!

About Clifford Law Offices
Clifford Law Offices is dedicated to serving the needs of families and individuals in the Chicago area and throughout the nation. With nearly four decades of experience in personal injury litigation, the firm has recovered over $5 billion for its clients setting the gold standard for dedication to finding justice, impacting change in public policy, and recovering maximum compensation across a broad range of practice areas including aviation, transportation, medical malpractice, wrongful death, and product liability law. To learn more about Clifford Law Offices, click here.

The post Kevin Durkin Named Best Lawyers® 2025 “Lawyer of the Year” in Chicago appeared first on Clifford Law Offices.

The Justice Department announced last week that it had reached a plea deal with Boeing, in which Boeing would plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about the safety of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. In today’s motion, the families criticize the deal as a “sweetheart” plea that allows Boeing to skate away from responsibility for killed 346 people.

The issue of whether to accept or reject the plea agreement now rests with Judge Reed O’Connor, who is overseeing the criminal matter. Families from around the world are intending to travel to an anticipated court hearing to argue against the deal. Judge O’Connor ruled earlier that the 346 family members who lost loved ones in two Boeing 737 MAX crashes in October 2018 and March 2019 were “victims” of Boeing’s crime of lying to the FAA, with rights under the federal Crime Victims’ Rights Act.

“This sweetheart deal deceptively presents a version of Boeing’s crime that conceals the fact that Boeing’s lies to the FAA directly and proximately killed 346 people,” said Paul Cassell, attorney for the families in this case and professor of the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah. “This plea deal is not in the public interest. It is deceptive and unfair, and we urge Judge O’Connor to use his recognized authority to reject this inappropriate plea and set the matter for a public trial, so that all the facts surrounding the case will be aired in a fair and open forum before a jury.”

“The families are highly disappointed that the DOJ fails to account for the two crashes,” said Robert A. Clifford, founder and senior partner at Clifford Law Offices and Lead Counsel for the families in the civil litigation pending in federal district court in Chicago. “The families will continue to fight for justice and safety for the flying public in the names of their deceased loved ones who gave the ultimate sacrifice. There must be accountability for the loss of 346 lives.”

In support of their motion, the victims’ families filed today their own “statement of facts” about what happened to produce the two crashes of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. The statement of facts presents extensive evidence that the Justice Department and Boeing did not disclose in their proposed plea agreement. Some of the evidence was filed under seal, because it is covered by a protective order obtained by Boeing in earlier civil litigation.

Chris Moore of Canada who lost his 24-year-old daughter Danielle in the crash of a Boeing MAX8 jet in Ethiopia, said, “The DOJ’s handling of the Boeing MAX case has failed the main tenets of justice once again. Whereas the DPA, was a ‘sweetheart deal,’ the plea bargain is a ‘do over.’ The average citizen during criminal prosecutions doesn’t get a ‘do over.’ More to the point, my daughter didn’t get a ‘do over,’ which is why the DOJ should take justice seriously instead of bowing to the pressures of commerce.”

Catherine Berthet lost her daughter Camille in the March 2019 crash of a Boeing 737 MAX8 jet in Ethiopia. She said, “I had hoped, when the DOJ notified Boeing that they had violated the DPA, when they met with us on several occasions, that the precise terms of the DPA would be enforced: in the event of noncompliance, the company was to be prosecuted and tried. Basically, this appalling door plug incident in January happened because, despite the constraints imposed by the DPA, nothing has changed at Boeing. What will the plea deal change? Nothing. The only way to change Boeing is simply to apply justice: make Boeing, Mr. Muilenburg and Mr. Calhoun accountable for their actions and decisions by facing a jury at a trial.”

Javier de Luis who lost his sister Graziella in the crash said, “The ultimate aim of this agreement should be to ensure that the two 737 Max crashes are never repeated. This agreement does nothing to achieve that objective. It is essentially a do-over of the failed DPA, with minor cosmetic changes. The DPA completely failed in changing Boeing’s behavior, culture, and practices, as evidenced by the Alaska Air door plug blowout. The DOJ should not be allowed to repeat the same actions and expect different results. The DOJ has put the financial health of Boeing ahead of its duty to act in the best interest of the American people.”

In May, the DOJ decided that Boeing had breached its obligations under a 2021 deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) entered into with Boeing. DOJ found that Boeing had, for example, failed to fully satisfy the DPA requirement to “create and foster a culture of ethics and compliance with the law in its day-to-day operations by failing to mitigate known manufacturing and quality risks.

In connection with these issues, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has scheduled two full days of hearings in Washington, D.C., August 6-7, 2024 regarding safety issues at Boeing.

The terms of the plea agreement provide that The Boeing Company will plead guilty. So far, no senior executives at Boeing have been charged with a crime, even though families and their attorneys have sent evidence of Boeing’s then high-level executives being culpable in the conspiracy. Under the proposed deal, Boeing would pay a fine of $487 million with a $234 million credit given for monies previously paid, a tiny amount compared to the potential $21 billion fine that the families indicated Boeing was exposed to.

Clifford also commented on today’s announcement of a new CEO at Boeing, Robert “Kelly” Ortberg, former CEO of Rockwell Collins, effective August 8, 2024.

“The arrival of a new CEO at Boeing could not have happened at a more crucial and necessary time for the safety of the traveling public around the world. As a company, Boeing has been nose-diving in self-destructive flight under the past leadership of Muilenburg, Calhoun and the do-nothing Board of Directors. This move may give the company the ability to pull out of its impending total and fatal crash, unlike what occurred to the 346 innocent victims of the two Boeing 737 Max 8 preventable disasters. While this man is an industry insider, he does come from outside of Boeing and on the face of it has a well-regarded reputation in the industry. Maybe he can bring the company back to the stature it once held before it criminally and preventively killed 346 people.”

The families also object to the plea agreement’s procedures for DOJ appointing a corporate monitor for three years at Boeing facilities. The procedures would not ensure a truly independent monitor, the families explained. Instead of the court, to determine who that person or people should be. The families asked to be involved in the selection process with Judge O’Connor to have the final say in the selection of the monitor.

Documents:

• Motion to File Objection of DOJ’s Plea Deal

For further information, contact Clifford Law Offices Communications Partner Pamela Sakowicz Menaker at 847-721-0909 (cell).

The post Families File Objection to Justice Department’s “Sweetheart” Plea Agreement with Boeing appeared first on Clifford Law Offices.

Families who lost loved ones in two Boeing 737 MAX crashes quickly filed in that same court an objection to the deal. The families’ notice indicated that “the plea deal with Boeing unfairly makes concessions to Boeing that other criminal defendants would never receive and fails to hold Boeing accountable for the deaths of 346 persons. … As a result, the generous plea agreement rests on deceptive and offensive premises,” according to the objection filed in federal district court in Texas after the DOJ filed Boeing’s plea with the court.

The issue of whether to accept the plea agreement and Boeing’s guilty plea now rests with Judge O’Connor who is overseeing the criminal matter. Families from around the world are intending to travel to an anticipated court hearing to argue against the deal.

“This sweetheart deal fails to recognize that because of Boeing’s conspiracy, 346 people died. Through crafty lawyering between Boeing and DOJ, the deadly consequences of Boeing’s crime are being hidden,” said Paul Cassell, attorney for the families in this case and professor of the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah. “A judge can reject a plea deal that is not in the public interest, and this deceptive and unfair deal is clearly not in the public interest. We plan to ask Judge O’Connor to use his recognized authority to reject this inappropriate plea and simply set the matter for a public trial so that all the facts surrounding the case will be aired in a fair and open forum before a jury.”

“The families are highly disappointed that the DOJ fails to account for the two crashes,” said Robert A. Clifford, founder and senior partner at Clifford Law Offices and Lead Counsel for the families in the civil litigation pending in federal district court in Chicago. “Much more evidence has been presented over the last five years that demonstrates that the culture of Boeing putting profits over safety hasn’t changed. This plea agreement only furthers that skewed corporate objective. The families will continue to fight for justice and safety for the flying public in the names of their deceased loved ones who gave the ultimate sacrifice.”

The DOJ initially informed the families that it would not seek prosecution against Boeing and explained the terms of the plea agreement on a last-minute two-hour video conference last Sunday (June 30, 2024).

Reaction to the Justice Department offering what families and their lawyers term a “sweetheart deal” was swift with some referring to the DOJ’s Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) entered into nearly four years ago. In May, the DOJ decided to discard the DPA after it found Boeing hadn’t complied with its terms following a door plug flying off of an Alaska Airlines jet in mid-flight in January.

Catherine Berthet of France who lost her 28-year-old daughter, Camille, said in response to the DOJ action, “In offering this plea deal to Boeing on a platter, the DOJ is demonstrating its weakness and contempt for victims’ families and the public interest. No one will be fooled. After years of legal battles by the families of the 346 victims killed in the crashes of flights JT610 and ET302, the DOJ is offering the same iniquitous sweetheart deal deemed illegal that it offered in January 2021. In the meantime, the families had asserted their right to be recognized as direct victims of Boeing’s crimes, and won, with Judge O’Connor describing these crashes and Boeing’s conduct as the deadliest corporate crime in American history. Once again, and despite its denials, on the pretext that it met with the families at ‘meet and confer’ events that were merely “meet and announce,’ the DOJ is ignoring the families by not mentioning any of the victims Boeing killed in the Plea Deal agreement. Worse still, the DOJ, using its legal options, is filing the plea deal and putting the decision on whether or not to accept it in Judge O’Connor’s hands, hoping that the Judge won’t dare to rule against it. But we know better and trust Judge O’Connor’s sense of justice and public safety interest. It’s as if the U.S. government has learned nothing from the last five years, either in terms of justice or air safety. As if the DOJ didn’t understand that the only way to stop Boeing from continuing its deadly culture is to take them to court, as would be the case for any dangerous individual or criminal company that has killed 346 people. Of course, with the help of our lawyers, we immediately filed a motion before Judge O’Connor, and I hope to have the opportunity to go to Fort Worth as soon as possible so that I can be heard and make the case, like the other families, for Boeing to be taken to court. This is the only way to obtain Truth, Accountability, and Justice for my daughter Camille, and for the 345 other victims. Finally, this agreement is a folly in terms of air safety. It demonstrates the DOJ’s contempt and deafness in the face of whistleblower hearings before the highest courts, expert reports, and the alarming increase in serious incidents and accidents involving Boeing aircraft, especially the 737Max, in recent years, including the near-miss crash last January. The reality is that the next crash is likely, and the government will have done nothing to prevent it. As far as I’m concerned, American justice, which should be an example to the whole world, is in fact shamefully complacent towards those who put short-term profitability and image before passenger safety.”

“The DoJ has decided that repeating the same mistakes made when they negotiated their illegal DPA three years ago will now yield a different result. The penalties and conditions imposed on Boeing as a result of this plea deal are not substantively different than those that failed to change Boeing’s safety culture and that resulted in the Alaska Air door blowout,” said Javier de Luis who lost his sister Graziella in the second crash five years ago. He is an aerospace engineer. “This agreement ignores Judge O’Connor’s finding that Boeing’s fraud was directly responsible for the deaths of 346 people. It ignores the Fifth Circuit’s observation that an agreement such as this fundamentally needs to serve the manifest public interest of improving aviation safety. When the next crash happens, every DoJ official that signed off on this deal will be as responsible as the Boeing executives that refuse to put safety ahead of profits.”

Zipporah Kuria of England who lost her father, Joseph, said, “Miscarriage of justice is a gross understatement in describing this. It is an atrocious abomination. I hope that, God forbid, if this happens again the DOJ is reminded that it had the opportunity to do something meaningful and instead chose not to. We will not stop our fight for justice, whatever that looks like moving forward. For a company that keeps singing that they have changed their tune to take the easy way out again, isn’t reflective of that. It’s a stark reality that this sets a precedent for morally bankrupt companies like Boeing can prosper at the cost of human life without real reprimand and that justice is for those who can afford to wriggle out of accountability. Shame on the DOJ.”

Chris and Clariss Moore of Canada lost their daughter Danielle, 24, in the crash. He said, “The Department of Justice should have initially conducted a full investigation and a criminal trial against Boeing staff who spearheaded the fraudulent certification of the Boeing Max plane. The deadliest corporate crime in United States history but the most lenient sanction for corporate manslaughter of this magnitude requires a detailed explanation of what happened; the facts must be made public, and the individuals must be held to account. Just as Boeing didn’t take corrective actions after the first crash, the Department of Justice, too, has not taken corrective action after yet another accident caused by Boeing (Alaska Air). The plea deal is a carbon copy of the DPA and without true accountability, more accidents will happen. These soft actions taken by the Department of Justice once again show favoritism to those who are wealthy and powerful in the United States.”

Ike Riffel of California who lost his two sons, Melvin and Bennett, in the crash said, “Again the Department of Justice leaves the families of 346 people killed by Boeing’s reckless and negligent behavior in the dark. Without full transparency and accountability, nothing will change. I would hope that we could learn from these terrible tragedies. But instead, the DOJ hands Boeing another sweetheart deal. With this deal, there will be no investigation, there will be no expert witness testimony, there will be no perpetrators of these crimes to answer the charges in court. Without a full public investigation and public trial, the families and flying public will never know the truth. We would hope that the death of our loved ones would have brought about real change in the way Boeing does business and begin to put safety over profit again — the formula that made them the great company they used to be. The first corporate probation did nothing to change Boeing’s behavior, what makes the DOJ think that another one will make any difference? It makes you ask the question, is justice really blind?”

Paul Njoroge of Canada who lost his entire family, Carol, his wife, and his son and daughters, 6-year-old Ryan, 4-year-old Kelli, and 9-month-old Rubi, and his wife’s mom, said, “It was obviously a no-brainer that Boeing was going to accept the plea agreement. It is a deal that allows Boeing to go unscathed. The truth is that the Department of Justice re-wrote the Deferred Prosecution Agreement of January 2021. Obnoxiously, this plea agreement does not factor in that 346 lives were lost because of the negligence of Boeing’s senior management. When this deal goes before Judge O’Connor of the Northern District of Texas, I will request him to disallow it.”

Judge O’Connor ruled earlier that the 346 family members who lost loved ones in two new Boeing 737 MAX8 crashes within five months were crime victims in this case under the federal Crime Victims’ Rights Act.

The terms of the deal appear to mean that no individual executives at Boeing will be charged with a crime, even though families and their attorneys have sent evidence of Boeing’s then-high-level executives being culpable in the conspiracy. Boeing will pay a fine of $487 million with a $234 million credit given for monies previously paid, an amount that is much smaller than the potential $24.7 billion fine that Boeing could have faced.

The DOJ plea agreement also includes an independent corporate monitor for three years at Boeing facilities to be selected by the government. The families asked to be involved in the selection process with Judge O’Connor to have the final say in the selection of the monitor.

For further information, contact Clifford Law Offices Communications Partner Pamela Sakowicz Menaker at 847-721-0909 (cell).

Court Files:

• Department of Justice Notice of Agreement
• Department of Justice Letter to Crash Victims’ Families RE: Plea Agreement
• Boeing Crash Victims’ Families Notice of Objection

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Paul Cassell, attorney for the families in the criminal action pending in federal district court in Texas and professor of the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah, said, “The Justice Department is preparing to offer to Boeing another sweetheart plea deal. The deal will not acknowledge, in any way, that Boeing’s crime killed 346 people. It also appears to rest on the idea that Boeing did not harm any victim. The families will strenuously object to this plea deal. Judge Reed O’Connor will have to decide whether this no-accountability-deal is in the public interest. Indeed, he will have to decide whether to approve a federal Rule 11(c)(1)(C) that ties his hands at sentencing and prevents him from imposing any additional punishment or remedial measures. The memory of 346 innocents killed by Boeing demands more justice than this.”

Robert A. Clifford, founder and senior partner at Clifford Law Offices and Lead Counsel in the civil litigation pending in federal district court in Chicago who participated in the call, said, “I can tell you that the families are very unhappy and angered with DOJ’s decisions and proposal. There is no accountability, no admission that Boeing’s admitted crime caused the 346 deaths, and the families will most certainly object before Judge Reed O’Connor and ask that he reject the plea if Boeing accepts.”

Cassell told Leon that the families will be traveling from around the world to go to the next hearing before Judge O’Connor in Texas “to fight this.”

Glenn Leon, Chief of the Fraud Section of the Criminal Division at the U.S. DOJ, told the group on the call that the DOJ hasn’t shared the new plea agreement with Boeing but would do so later Sunday. He admitted there is “a strong interest” by the families to go to trial, but he repeatedly said that the DOJ couldn’t prove charges by a reasonable doubt. Families argued over and over for a trial and to allow a jury to make that decision.

Javier de Luis, who lost his sister in the second crash of a Boeing 737 MAX8 jet and who was a member of the Federal Aviation Administration Expert Review Panel on Boeing’s Safety Culture, said following Sunday’s meeting, “The issue is not whether there should be trial vs a plea deal. The issue is that the penalties being proposed by the DoJ are totally inadequate both from the perspective of accountability for the crimes committed and from the perspective of acting in the public interest by ensuring a change in Boeing’s behavior. The penalties proposed here are essentially the same as those proposed under the previous DPA which, as Alaska Air demonstrated, did nothing to increase the safety of the flying public.”

Other issues included the choosing of a corporate monitor and the amount of the fine DOJ intends to ask the court to impose on Boeing.

For further information, contact Clifford Law Offices Communications Partner Pamela Sakowicz Menaker at 847-721-0909 (Cell).

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For more than six months, Edgardo Lopez, 56, saw his physician, Dr. Peter Yoon, who failed to undertake proper testing that would have discovered Lopez’s heart condition despite initial tests that indicated further medical testing was required in March 2019. Seven months after initial tests, Lopez was taken to the emergency room of a local hospital, where it was found he was in cardiac shock. The only way experts were able to save his life required a heart transplant that shortens a person’s life. Had it been discovered earlier, bypass surgery would have been a possible alternative.

“The negligence that occurred here clearly was avoidable and the jury understood that,” Hebeisen said following the verdict. “This man relied upon his doctor to do what was necessary, having been his physician and familiar with this patient for years. He neglected to do the right thing and now Mr. Lopez and his wife are left to suffer for the rest of their lives.”

The verdict was against Dr. Yoon and the DuPage Medical Group. The case was given to the jury Thursday who deliberated for nearly two days before reaching the verdict before Judge Karen L. O’Malley at the Daley Center.

The jury decided that Lopez is to receive $3.85 million, and $2.5 million was awarded to his wife, Jordana Arzadon, for loss of society and companionship.

Courtney Berlin, associate at the firm, assisted at trial.

For further information, contact Clifford Law Offices Communications Partner Pamela Sakowicz Menaker at 847-721-0909 (cell).

Case No.: 21 L 1755

Attorneys for Defendants:

• Scott Herbert and Anne Kuban
• Cunningham Meyer and Vedrine
• 1 E. Wacker Dr., Suite 2200 Chicago, IL 312-578-0049

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