Cook County Circuit Judge Kathy Flanagan said that there was ‘no basis’ for such a claim to be brought and criticised the law firm, Ribbeck Law, for filing similar petitions in the past. The law firm appears to have used a formula which should only be used when defendants are unknown - but it identified Boeing in this case.

Expectations

Ribbeck Law has said that it expects to represent families regarding more than half the people on board. But its court filing was made in relation to a Dr Januari Siregar, described as the father of a passenger. Instead, Dr Siregar appears to be an uncle of the passenger and he is also said to be acting without the agreement of the rest of the family.

Legal grey area

Robert Clifford of Clifford Law has acted for hundreds of air victims and their families over three decades and says: ‘These are the kind of lawsuits that make lawyers look bad -- and we already look bad enough.’ He is concerned that legal steps were made before the plane was found. Bruce Ottley, professor at DePaul University’s International Aviation Law Institute, says: ‘It seems to be a legal grey area when we are operating without the plane…It certainly gets them attention to be first. ... But when you file it before we even have verified that the passengers are dead, it may be a little bit early.’ Source: AviationPros.com and ABA