> [...] Kind of like a roulette wheel. [...]
> My lawyer once told me to take a really crappy
> settlement; because going in front of a judge or
> jury is nothing but a "Crap Shoot" anyway. [...]

I agree, and think this is the same dynamic that means a deal is probably already done. Sure, a lawyer could argue to try to challenge the law that caps damages at 200m. And you can bet your left nut they got their been-counters figuring the odds. But even if they could get $2b they would have to have more than a 10% chance of hitting their draw. Since this particular legal cap was just recently put in place directly to keep people from cashing in on this exact kind of railroad accident, none of the lawyers must think they are anywhere close to having a 10% chance. Just my opinion.

> Question - from the article, it was unclear if
> Connex is going to have to pay or not.
>
> Seems they should be paying the most. After-all,
> It was their employee that did the dirty deed.
> And most importantly, it was their willful refusal
> to fire him on similar prior incidences, and their
> well documented failure to maintain customary rail
> industry standards of supervision; that enabled
> their employees to continue doing those dirty
> deeds in the first place. Without Connex
> managements tacit consent (same as full
> cooperation), this accident and several others at
> MetroLink would simply not have happened.

Yea, I think Connex is going to pay, either directly or through their insurance companies, and also through deserved higher premiums in the future. Metrolink set up a 200m contingent fund and started paying the smaller uncontested claims out of that really quick, I believe (but I'm sure I have the details wrong or distorted). Don't think any organization, not to mention a government agency, would start handing out money before the lawyers even got started. Unless they could and were absolutely certain that they were going to pay it anyway, or someone was going to pay and everyone responsible were going to pay their share also (like PB). Once again, not a lawyer, just my opinion.

> They (Connex) should pay most of it - even if it
> puts them and their parent companies out of
> business!
>
> Wouldn't be much of a loss anyway - to the public
> good in fact!
>
> OPB