It’s not everyday that the news media is able to print settlements of civil lawsuits.
Today, we were able to do that.
A federal judge approved the settlement between Ford Motor Co. and the family of former Amarillo police Officer Mark Simmons.
Simmons died while riding as a passenger in an unmarked Crown Victoria patrol car in March 2005. A pickup ran into the back of Simmons’ car and his seat anchor failed, Simmons’ family claimed in its lawsuit.
The case’s settlement needed to be approved by a judge before becoming final. In most settlements, attorneys inform the court an agreement has been reached, and the matter is dropped.
But in the Simmons matter, the parties attended a hearing in open federal court before U.S. District Judge Mary Lou Robinson.
Marshall attorney Carl Roth, who represented the Simmons family, tried to tell Robinson the parties wanted to keep the settlement confidential. He know the only person sitting in the court was a newspaper reporter.
“That’s not the policy of this court, counselor,” Robinson would quip back.
Instead, the family’s attorney laid out all the numbers of the settlement in open court; how much Ford Motor Co. would pay and how much the worker’s compensation company and family would receive.
In full disclosure, a report filed in with the court this week also revealed the settlement terms and stated in greater detail the payments to be made to Simmons’ two daughters, ages 7 and 8.
Where this may be a settlement of a lawsuit between a private company and a family, this is a fine example of journalists working to keep information in public view.
Today, we were able to do that.
A federal judge approved the settlement between Ford Motor Co. and the family of former Amarillo police Officer Mark Simmons.
Simmons died while riding as a passenger in an unmarked Crown Victoria patrol car in March 2005. A pickup ran into the back of Simmons’ car and his seat anchor failed, Simmons’ family claimed in its lawsuit.
The case’s settlement needed to be approved by a judge before becoming final. In most settlements, attorneys inform the court an agreement has been reached, and the matter is dropped.
But in the Simmons matter, the parties attended a hearing in open federal court before U.S. District Judge Mary Lou Robinson.
Marshall attorney Carl Roth, who represented the Simmons family, tried to tell Robinson the parties wanted to keep the settlement confidential. He know the only person sitting in the court was a newspaper reporter.
“That’s not the policy of this court, counselor,” Robinson would quip back.
Instead, the family’s attorney laid out all the numbers of the settlement in open court; how much Ford Motor Co. would pay and how much the worker’s compensation company and family would receive.
In full disclosure, a report filed in with the court this week also revealed the settlement terms and stated in greater detail the payments to be made to Simmons’ two daughters, ages 7 and 8.
Where this may be a settlement of a lawsuit between a private company and a family, this is a fine example of journalists working to keep information in public view.
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