Did Amazon do enough to protect workers? Lawyers intend to find out
Barely a day had passed after a tornado claimed six lives at an Amazon warehouse when prominent attorney Ben Crump announced he’d been hired to represent the family of one victim. Crump, who gained national fame for his representation of the family of Michael Brown, said he would investigate whether Amazon did “everything in its power” to protect workers.
That question will likely keep a lot of lawyers busy.
Connie McFarland-Butler, who owns her own law firm in Florissant, noted that the Amazon warehouse’s location in Madison County, Illinois, makes the litigation uniquely appealing for out-of-town lawyers. The county is known nationwide as particularly favorable to attorneys seeking big jury verdicts.
“A lot of times you have plaintiff's attorneys up in Texas and all over the country who are attempting to file in Madison County. [In this case], it doesn’t take much to establish a connection with Madison County and to get jurisdiction in Madison County,” McFarland-Butler noted. “I'm sure that there are plaintiff’s attorneys all over the country who are swooping in trying to take advantage of this litigation.”
https://news.stlpublicradio.org/show/st-louis-on-the-air/2021-12-23/did-amazon-do-enough-to-protect-workers-lawyers-intend-to-find-out