December 10, 2007
Hanson Bridgett Secures Settlement for Crab Fisherman Who Suffered Economic Losses in Cosco Busan Oil Spill
San Francisco (December 10, 2007) — Just one month after the crash of the Cosco Busan into the Bay Bridge, attorneys from San Francisco-based law firms Hanson Bridgett and McGuinn, Hillsman & Palefsky have brokered a first-phase relief agreement with the insurance companies to compensate their clients, some 65 crab fishermen and the fisherman's associations for San Francisco, Half Moon Bay and Bodega Bay for economic losses suffered as a result of the ship's oil spill. The spill occurred just a week before fishing season was to open and devastated the traditionally best two weeks of the local Dungeness crab fishing season.
Attorneys Michael Duncheon and Ray Lynch of the firm of Hanson Bridgett, and maritime law attorney John Hillsman from McGuinn, Hillsman & Palefsky, based in San Francisco, negotiated the relief settlement with insurance adjusters representing Hong Kong-based Regal Stone Ltd., owners of the Cosco Busan.
Thursday, the insurance companies deposited $700,000 into a trust account at Hanson Bridgett to provide immediate, short-term relief for Hanson Bridgett's clients, the fishermen. That amount represents about $5,000 to $10,000 for each fisherman with a substantial claim. These amounts are now being distributed. The higher awards will go to those crabbers who can demonstrate the largest impact on their businesses. Not all fishermen will get an advance but all will be entitled to file a claim.
Duncheon and Lynch see the relief fund as evidence that the shipping company and its insurers are living up to their end of the obligation to process and pay legitimate claims.
"Hanson Bridgett has been zealously pursuing immediate relief for our clients, the fishermen, and are pleased we were able to negotiate some compensation just one month after the oil spill," said Michael Duncheon of Hanson Bridgett. "This down payment on addressing the damage done to the crab fishermen means a brighter holiday season for about 65 families whose very livelihoods were halted because of this spill. All of us at Hanson Bridgett hope we can work together with those responsible to resolve larger, longer-term issues affecting the fishermen's future ability to earn a living fishing for crabs in San Francisco Bay."
The insurance adjuster has agreed to a goal that claims will be processed within 30 to 45 days and that valid claims will be paid. This first-phase settlement only resolves past and existing claims against the shipping companies, and does not affect the fishermen's right to pursue further compensation for the devastating long-term impacts the spill may have on their businesses.
The spill could not have come at a worse time for crab fishermen, as estimates are that as much as 80 percent of the season's harvest of Dungeness comes in the two weeks prior to Thanksgiving.
It is still unclear what effects the contamination of the bay will have on the next few years' harvest of the highly-sought Dungeness crab. Oil in the sea has a greater toxic impact on Crustaceans than on fish, experts report.
About Hanson Bridgett
Hanson Bridgett is a 130-attorney firm with offices in San Francisco, the North Bay and Sacramento. Its practices encompasses traditional areas of law such as general business and corporate law, litigation, estate planning and administration, as well as major practice groups that focus on sustainable business, health care, senior housing and care, construction, intellectual property, labor and employment and public sector law. These areas are supplemented by refined expertise in such specialized and diverse fields as product liability, transportation, agriculture, real estate, environmental law, insurance coverage and public finance.
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