As expected, the practice facility that collapsed during a thunderstorm is about to launch a hurricane of litigation.
The Dallas Morning News reports that Cowboys scouting assistant Rich Behm has hired a high-profile Dallas lawyer. Although no lawsuit has been filed, attorney Frank Branson has attempted to commence the pre-trial "discovery" process, on a pre-litigation basis.
Branson has filed a petition for leave to take two depositions before filing suit. The target is Nathan Strobbe, the president of Summit Structures, the company that erected the steel-and-tarp building.
Branson tells the Morning News that Strobbe has since voluntarily submitted to questioning without a Court order.
It's unclear why Branson opted to depose Strobbe without filing suit. Typically, pre-litigation depositions are taken when the witness might not be available once the case commences, such as when the witness is gravely ill.
In this case, we initially thought that Branson might be looking for evidence on which to support a claim against the Cowboys. Though some have wondered whether the team's role as the general contractor for the construction of the practice facility jeopardizes the immunity from suit that employers in Texas (and most if not all other states) receive by subscribing to the workers' compensation system, Branson is convinced that the Cowboys are exempt from legal blame.
Branson calls the availability of workers' compensation coverage a "total and complete bar to any suit" against the team.
Of course, this doesn't mean that Summit Structures won't try to concoct a claim against the Cowboys, if/when Summit Structures finds itself (again) on the wrong side of the "v".
At this point, there's no "if" as to Summit Structures -- absent a pre-suit settlement, the company will be sued. The only "if" relates to the question of whether the Cowboys will be dragged into the mess.
For now, there's no tangible evidence to suggest that the Cowboys are in any way responsible for the incident. Given the financial stakes of the coming litigation, however, Summit Structures will have a strong incentive to try to conjure any good-faith basis for pursuing the team.
Lawsuit Looming In Cowboys' Facility Collapse
Posted by Mike Florio on July 8, 2009 1:27 PM ET
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4 Comments 
Latest stories in: Dallas Cowboys, Latest News and Rumors, Legal, NFL Mobile Exclusives - Legal, Top Stories
Latest stories in: Dallas Cowboys, Latest News and Rumors, Legal, NFL Mobile Exclusives - Legal, Top Stories
Good stuff Mike.
Still don't think that a jury will be able to find anyone culpable. Structures can and are reasonably designed and constructed to withstand lateral winds but if that facility had a microburst right over it, the winds were blowing straight down out of the sky. Weather phenomena like that have been known to collapse hard structures, it's no surprise to me that it could also collapse a bubble like the Cowboys facility.
http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/stories/wcnc-072208-krg-buildingcollapse.7e641dc9.html
http://www.kwch.com/Global/story.asp?S=10493159
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_notable_microbursts#cite_note-1
My guess? Cowboys will be sued for $44M. They'll counter with $3M, but kick in another $3M when they realize they're going to lose the case.
talking about bubbles collapsing...
6-44*
someone will settle. if they are still in the biz!