Crash landing: The rapid response of the ISBA – 1989

The Iowa State Bar Association's Sesquicentennial Committee is curating historical information and planning a celebration of the association's 150th anniversary in 2024. The committee is pleased to publish a monthly series of articles regarding significant milestones throughout the ISBA's 150 years. The following article was authored by committee member and ISBA Past President Dan Moore (2008-2009).

Sioux City Journal - Friday, July 21, 1989 headline: STATE BAR FOREWARNS OUT-OF-STATE LAWYERS

United Airlines Flight 232 was a scheduled flight from Denver, Colorado, to O'Hare International Airport in Chicago and continuing to Philadelphia International Airport. On July 19, 1989, the DC-10 crash-landed after suffering a catastrophic failure of its tail-mounted engine. Tragically of the 296 passengers and crew on board, 112 died during the accident.

The Iowa State Bar Association immediately recognized that while the crash victims and their families would need legal services, it also recognized that those impacted would be overwhelmed and at risk of being unduly influenced, intimidated, or otherwise taken advantage of in the event they were contacted by lawyers overreaching in soliciting clients with the view of personal pecuniary gain.

What did The Iowa State Bar Association do? Under the leadership of then ISBA President Edgar F. Hansell of Des Moines, the ISBA took immediate action and sent two lawyers from Des Moines to set up an office at Marian Health Center (now known as Mercy Medical Center) to address all inquiries or complaints.

Edgar F. Hansell, ISBA Past President 1989-1990

The Sioux City Journal reported in the July 21, 1989, issue: "A notice to victims published in today's Journal by the bar association lets them know that business contacts initiated by lawyers, out of state or not, are unethical, improper, and strictly forbidden by the Iowa Code of Professional Responsibility." The journal further reported that Sioux City attorneys Bob Eidsmoe and Marvin Berenstein assisted the ISBA in setting up the office at Marian Health Center.

ISBA President Hansell was quoted in the July 23, 1989, Sioux City Journal article "We want to re-emphasize to those involved in this tragic occurrence that any lawyer who contacts them and solicits their representation without that person's prior request to the lawyer to so represent them is violating the disciplinary rules of the Iowa Supreme Court, and that person should be reported to our association."

Apparently, there were two instances involving out-of-state lawyers. In one instance, the lawyer was contacting or soliciting business in person and in the second instance the lawyer apparently made statements about soliciting clients.

No Woodbury County lawyers acted inappropriately by trying to recruit clients after the United Airlines Flight 232 tragedy. Woodbury County Bar Association President John Pirog was quoted in the Sioux City Journal article dated July 28, 1989: "I haven't heard of even one single complaint, or even had any indication that any local lawyer did any soliciting. And I'd be the one that would be getting them."

Pirog went on to state "[I]t is possible lawsuits connected to the crash could be filed in Sioux City, but if that occurred, they would most likely be filed in U.S. District Court which has federal jurisdiction rather than Woodbury County District Court, which has state jurisdiction."

Because of the quick action of The Iowa State Bar Association leadership, many out-of-state lawyers avoided unethical actions in the state of Iowa, and the crash survivors and the victims' family members returned to their homes without being pressured to select legal representation during the midst of the catastrophe. Several victims were then able to contact their trusted lawyers of choice and file suits for damages.

Also published in the Sioux City Journal on Sept. 12, 1989, was an article reprinted from the National Law Journal titled "Lawyers differ on Flight 232 class actions." This article pointed out the following:

"A partner from Los Angles' Wernik & Gutman went to Iowa to counter what the firm called the heavy post-crash presence of the insurance/airline forces. The move came as the Iowa State Bar Association and the Association of Trial Lawyers of America spoke out against solicitation.

"'My suggestion is that attorneys should be available should survivors request them' said Bruce Wernik, whose partner, Alan Gutman, was in Iowa. 'It is an inequitable situation in that the insurance companies are given free reign.'

"Carl V. Nielsen, executive director of The Iowa Bar Association, said even if that practice was policed, legal rules may not apply because 'not all people who appear on behalf of insurance companies and airlines are lawyers.'

"'I guess if anything we need to do more to inform people of rights and in most any circumstance' he said."

Other tragic events included the devastation from the Parkersburg and New Hartford tornadoes on May 25, 2008, which were Iowa's strongest in 32 years.

While these sorts of tragedies and catastrophes live on in the collective consciousness of our communities, the quick response of the ISBA may not. Of the many tragedies and horrific disasters we may endure, Iowa lawyers prove time and again why they are the best lawyers in the United States of America.

About the author:

Dan Moore is a partner at Moore Corbett in Sioux City focusing on real estate, commercial law, and banking law. He served as ISBA president from 2008-2009.

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