Names and details are left out. Everything in the analysis came from the public record.
A passenger jet on approach to land collided with a military helicopter. Everyone on both aircraft was killed. The families sued the airline and the federal government. The case is headed for trial.
A law firm retained me to study what the airline was already saying and doing in public. I worked only from the airline’s own statements and from news coverage.
The airline had a clear public position. It said its flight was on a routine approach when the helicopter, flying above its published altitude, collided with it. It said it would defend itself against any claim that it caused or contributed to the accident.
The airline moved fast and at scale. Overnight, it sent more than 220 trained staff from more than 80 departments and 30 locations to support the families. Nearly 2,000 of its employees had the same training.
The airline then made that support permanent. It created a dedicated office and brought a 40-year veteran out of retirement to lead it. By one published account, the airline was still talking to the families every day, long after the crash.
So the company the families were suing was also the company in daily contact with them.
None of it was hidden, and none of it was improper. It was organized, staffed and consistent. The families’ side needed the same.
This is the first thing I do on every matter. A lawyer should know what the other side is saying and doing before deciding what to say.
The airline had the right to contact the families. The families and the public needed to hear the other side of the story too.