Strategies, Challenges, and Answers

Congratulations to our own Carrie McCrea Hanlon, Esq. for her decisive victory on behalf of client Alaska Airlines.

Alaska AirlinesCarrie McCrea Hanlon of Mills & Associates won a defense verdict in favor of defendant Alaska Airlines in the U.S. District Court, District of Nevada case of Ginena v. Alaska Airlines, Inc., 2:04-CV-01304-MMD-CWH.  The Las Vegas Review Journal reports on Carrie’s success HERE.  Alaska Airlines is a small but fast growing airline and is proud that this case will establish an important precedent that will benefit carriers nationwide.  (Click HERE for a recent New York Times article highlighting Alaska Airlines’ success in the industry.)

The case involved nine Egyptian nationals who failed to obey instructions of uniformed crew members during a flight from Vancouver to Las Vegas and the plane was diverted to Reno.  Plaintiffs claimed they were entitled to damages for having to book passage on another airline to complete their trip to Las Vegas and claimed defamation for the report of the incident which ultimately ended up in the hands of the Federal Air Marshals and the Joint Terrorism Task Force. (The incident occurred just 2 years after 9/11.)  Plaintiffs asked the jury for 39 million dollars and were awarded nothing on either their delay or defamation claims. Carrie argued that the Captain’s decision to divert the flight was reasonable under the circumstances.   Plaintiffs elected to not accept offers of judgment made early on in the case, thus exposing them to liability for Alaska Airlines’ attorneys’ fees.(Click HERE for more information on the value of serving Offers of Judgment.)  Kudos to Carrie for her outstanding performance.

About Michael Mills

Mr. Mills practices in the area of civil litigation and appeals, with particular experience in matters involving trucking liability, insurance defense, insurance coverage, premises liability, products liability and defense of personal injury. Mr. Mills is a member of the Trucking Insurance Defense Association, the Defense Research Institute Trucking Committee and the Nevada Motor Transport Association. Mr. Mills is licensed to practice before the Nevada Supreme Court and the Utah Supreme Court. He is also licensed to appear before the United States Supreme Court, the U.S. District Courts for the Districts of Nevada and Utah, as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Mr. Mills has created 3 Blogs for the benefit of the insurance industry. He serves as editor and publisher of the Nevada Insurance Law Blog, the Nevada Coverage and Bad Faith Blog and the Nevada Trucking Law Blog.

 
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