Seasoned snowmobilers have a couple of items they usually hit the snow with. Helmet? Check. Weather appropriate clothing? Check. Camoflaged Black Hawk helicopter detector? Not so much. After Jeffrey Smith crashed into the unexpected helicopter that was plopped down on a snowmobile trail by the U.S. Army, he sued the government for negligence. His case was recently decided, and the ABA Journal has coverage:
A federal judge in Massachusetts has awarded $3.3 million in damages to a lawyer for injuries suffered when he crashed his snowmobile into a camouflaged U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter parked on a snowmobile trail at dusk.
…
[Judge] Mastroianni found that the government was 60% responsible for the 2019 incident because it failed “to take any steps to protect against the obvious risk” that it created from parking the helicopter in the spot. Smith was 40% responsible for speeding and wearing tinted goggles at night, the judge said.
This is a bit shy of his original $9.5M asking price, but hopefully it is enough to put a serious dent in his medical bills and compensate him for his suffering. Smith, a lawyer, continued with his law practice after the accident. We wish him and his practice the best.
Lawyer Awarded $3.3M After Crashing Snowmobile Into Negligently Parked Army Helicopter [ABA Journal]
Earlier: Lawyer Sues Government For Treating Snowmobile Trail Like A Helicopter Parking Lot
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s. He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at [email protected] and by tweet at @WritesForRent.