Last week, we filed five FTCA cases in federal court in Arizona. All five matters dealt with issues at the Marine Corps Air Base in Yuma. Workers at the Children’s Development Center seriously abused very small children. It happened with shocking frequency, and over an extended period. The video evidence is truly disturbing. We’re talking about toddlers – all between the ages of one and two.
Another law firm filed the required tort claims. When the government rejected the claims, that firm washed its hands of the families, who then found their way to James Frogale and us. We assembled all the necessary information and prepared to file suit. This was no small effort.
When James and I met with the first family, we sat at their kitchen table and talked about the process with them. They told us about what happened to their child and the lasting impact it has had. I remember being hit with a huge sense of both sadness and anger.
Over the next few days, I couldn’t stop thinking about this situation. On the one hand, what happened to this child was just so wrong that we had to help. How could we NOT do something?
On the other hand, the focus of our national FTCA practice is mostly medical malpractice. Still, we felt comfortable taking on these cases. Nonetheless, we hit the books – so to speak (everything is electronic now, so law books don’t even exist). We developed our theories of the cases. We challenged ourselves with a lot of “what ifs.” We consulted with an Arizona lawyer who has handled such matters before, albeit not in the context of an FTCA case.
We know the nuances of the FTCA – probably as well or better than any firm in the country.
In the end, we concluded that representing these families in litigation was the right thing to do and decided to proceed. Of course, we hope to get recoveries for our clients and earn our contingent fees – limited though they are under the FTCA - but we are under no illusion that these will be easy cases.
Since no effort was made to resolve these claims administratively, we assume that the Marine Corps and the local United States Attorney’s Office will defend the cases aggressively with legal challenges. Perhaps we’ll be surprised by the other side stepping up and doing the right thing. We’re not counting on it, however.
We’re preparing for a battle.
We will be ready for whatever the United States government might throw at us.
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