Shamu chasing

Plaintiff’s lawyers are no doubt racing to reach the family members of Dawn Brancheau, the victim of yesterday’s SeaWorld tragedy. Willie Gary is presumably taking his plane. Two factors come together to make this a perfect tort storm:

1.   The killer whale “Tilly” was— like some blubbery Vancouver luge run— widely known to be dangerous.

2.   Private equity giant Blackstone Group is the corporate parent of Busch Entertainment Group, owner of the SeaWorld theme parks. Blackstone announced it earnings today (nice timing) and its pockets are only getting deeper.

This just in from Vault’s crystal ball of obviousness™: Blackstone will settle this thing as soon as they can.

Speaking of plaintiff-side work, there are signs that BigLaw firms are increasingly open to contingency work aligning themselves with the interests of their clients.

-posted by brian