Robert Clifford to File First Lawsuit in Alaska Airlines Crash in Chicago

Nationally recognized aviation attorney, Robert Clifford of Chicago, will file a lawsuit in federal district court in Chicago Monday (Feb. 14) on behalf of a Round Lake Beach, Illinois woman who lost her husband in the Alaska Airlines Flight 261 which plunged into the Pacific Ocean Monday carrying 83 passengers and five crew members two weeks ago.

Clifford represents Julie Friedmann, wife of Allen M. Friedmann, 48, who was aboard that ill-fated flight. Allen Friedmann had just started a new job and was returning from Puerto Vallarta to his position in the marketing department at the California Bankers Association when the plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean.

Clifford, along with partner Kevin Durkin, will file a negligence lawsuit against Alaska Airlines. The lawsuit contends that the pilot did not take all necessary measures to secure an emergency landing immediately upon detecting a mechanical problem with the aircraft and, instead, was troubleshooting in the air.

Boeing Corporation of Seattle, Washington, acquired the assets and assumed the liabilities of McDonnell Douglas which manufactured the aircraft. Both also are named as defendants in the lawsuit. The component parts manufacturer, the elevator trim and stabilizer -- two airplane parts that have been the center of the initial investigation -- will be named as defendants as more information becomes available.

Clifford also represents other families of Alaska Airlines crash victims, and he intends to be filing suit later this week in those cases.

Clifford, partner of Clifford Law Offices , also has represented victims of aviation crashes and their families in every major commercial airline crash in the last two decades. He acted as lead counsel in the crash involving American Airlines Flight 4184 in Roselawn, Indiana. That resulted in a $110 million settlement for some two dozen families.

Clifford was lead co-counsel in the recent $43.7 million settlement on behalf of three families who lost loved ones aboard USAir Flight 427 from Chicago to Pittsburgh. One of the settlements was for $25.2 million, the largest settlement to a person in a commercial airline disaster.

Clifford also holds the record for the largest verdict in a commercial aviation disaster. That was back in 1994 when a jury returned a verdict for $28.2 million on behalf of a 70-year-old woman who was seriously injured in the Sioux City, Iowa crash.

Clifford was more recently in the news when he received a $29.6 million verdict for internationally-acclaimed violinist Rachel Barton who was severely injured in a Metra train accident.