A liquid natural gas pipeline fire erupted in a neighborhood outside of Houston and burned for multiple days. The plume of flames received coverage from news outlets across the region.
Haynes and Boone, LLP Crisis Management Chair Lauren Brogdon has experience managing similar issues and spoke with both the Houston Chronicle and KHOU, the Houston CBS affiliate, the discuss the potential for litigation related to the incident.
Read an excerpt below and watch Brogdon’s appearance on KHOU:
From Houston Chronicle:
After the pipeline fire is completely extinguished and the area has begun to rebuild, investigative and legal processes will just be getting started, experts said.
"These things often take several years, because of the investigations that need to happen and because of the exchange of documents and interviews of witnesses," said Lauren Brogdon, an attorney who leads Haynes Boone's crisis management practice group.
Brogdon said she expects some neighbors are already gearing up to sue Energy Transfer, hoping to prove that the company breached its duty to the public. She expects those lawsuits to argue that the company was negligent with their security to allow a stray vehicle to cause such damage, but said their cases will be made difficult by the fact that the fire was likely triggered by a third party.
"The standard of proof is really high," Brogdon said, adding that companies in Energy Transfer's situation would typically "argue that they had all the appropriate safeguards in place and that this is just a freak accident."
From KHOU:
Haynes and Boone, LLP Crisis Management Chair Lauren Brogdon has experience managing similar issues and spoke with both the Houston Chronicle and KHOU, the Houston CBS affiliate, the discuss the potential for litigation related to the incident.
Read an excerpt below and watch Brogdon’s appearance on KHOU:
From Houston Chronicle:
After the pipeline fire is completely extinguished and the area has begun to rebuild, investigative and legal processes will just be getting started, experts said.
"These things often take several years, because of the investigations that need to happen and because of the exchange of documents and interviews of witnesses," said Lauren Brogdon, an attorney who leads Haynes Boone's crisis management practice group.
Brogdon said she expects some neighbors are already gearing up to sue Energy Transfer, hoping to prove that the company breached its duty to the public. She expects those lawsuits to argue that the company was negligent with their security to allow a stray vehicle to cause such damage, but said their cases will be made difficult by the fact that the fire was likely triggered by a third party.
"The standard of proof is really high," Brogdon said, adding that companies in Energy Transfer's situation would typically "argue that they had all the appropriate safeguards in place and that this is just a freak accident."
From KHOU:
