Law Firm Sues MnDOT for Access to Bridge Info
A law firm representing victims of the Interstate 35W bridge collapse has sued the Minnesota Department of Transportation, claiming the agency is withholding key information and giving it only to a company hired by the state to investigate the tragedy. The lawsuit focuses on MnDOT’s relationship with Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, a Chicago firm that…
A Law Firm Sues Mn/DOT to Force Compliance with Minnesota Government Data Practices Act
Today the law firm of Schwebel, Goetz & Sieben representing several families of persons who died in the I35 bridge collapse, and numerous injured victims, filed a lawsuit against Mn/DOT in an attempt to force it to release documents relating to the I35 bridge collapse. Attorney Jim Schwebel stated that while Mn/DOT has made…
Bridge Victims’ Lawyers Sue State
Victims of the Interstate 35W bridge collapse sued the Minnesota Department of Transportation on Thursday for its failure to turn over public information since the bridge fell Aug. 1. Filed in Hennepin County District Court, the suit seeks access to all records, studies, inspections, contracts and visual materials relating to the bridge and its collapse….
Firm Sues Over Bridge Collapse Access
MINNEAPOLIS – A law firm filed a freedom of information lawsuit against the Minnesota Department of Transportation on Thursday, seeking access to documents from an engineering firm the state hired to study the disaster. Attorney Jim Schwebel, whose firm Schwebel, Goetz & Sieben represents some of those injured in the Aug. 1 collapse and the…
Lawyers Seek Cause in Preparing for Lawsuits
State and federal officials aren’t the only ones investigating the Interstate 35W bridge collapse. From their downtown Minneapolis offices, two major law firms have initiated far-reaching efforts to find a cause and assign blame for the Aug. 1 disaster. They are meticulously assembling photos, documents, experts and witnesses in preparation for the next battleground: the…
Law Firm Allowed Limited Access by State to Bridge Collapse Site
The Minneapolis law firm of Schwebel, Goetz & Sieben represents the families of several who were killed in the 35W Bridge Collapse, as well as many of the injured survivors. As a result of negotiations with the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office and Minnesota Department of Transportation, five bridge experts employed by the law firm were…
Law Firm for Some 35W Victims Allowed into Site
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A law firm representing some victims of the Interstate 35W bridge collapse site said Friday its investigators had been granted access to the site. A federal judge in mid-August had rejected a request by Schwebel, Goetz & Sieben to be allowed on site. At the time, a recovery operation was ongoing for…
Legal Team is Given Access to Bridge Site
Bridge experts hired by a Minneapolis law firm were granted access Thursday to limited portions of the collapsed Interstate 35W bridge. On Thursday morning, a team of internationally recognized experts whose previous projects include the World Trade Center Towers, the Tropicana Hotel & Casino parking ramp and other structural collapses, examined previously restricted portions of…
Nick Coleman: Protecting Dignity? It’s Really Dodging Responsibility
After the Twin Towers were destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001, and as the recovery of the victims stretched from days and weeks into months, New York City built four platforms to allow the public to see the site. The platforms, each of which could hold up to 400 people, were open for five months, and…
Law Firm Denied Petition For Access To Bridge Site
Minneapolis A law firm that asked a federal court to grant its experts immediate access to the Interstate 35W bridge collapse site so they can begin their own investigation into what could lead to wrongful death and personal injury lawsuits has been denied that access by a federal judge. The petition was filed in U.S….
Law Firm Petitions for Access to Bridge Collapse Site
MINNEAPOLIS- A law firm asked a federal court to grant its experts immediate access to the Interstate 35W bridge collapse site so they can begin their own investigation into what could lead to wrongful death and personal injury lawsuits. The petition was filed in U.S. District Court here Monday by the law firm of Schwebel,…
Minnesota Bridge Death Toll up to Eight
MINNEAPOLIS — The official death toll in the devastating collapse of a highway bridge here last week rose to eight after rescue divers found what appeared to be three bodies Thursday and another body Friday. The Hennepin County medical examiner’s office identified one victim as Peter Joseph Hausmann, 47, a computer security specialist and former…
Effects of Bridge Work Weren’t Analyzed
As federal investigators continued to pursue evidence Thursday in the Interstate 35W bridge collapse, state officials said they had no reason to analyze the potential impact of resurfacing the bridge before authorizing that work. The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) said it didn’t need an analysis beforehand because the resurfacing work wouldn’t add weight to…
Possible Flaw Identified in I-35W Bridge Design
Federal officials investigating the Interstate 35W bridge disaster said Wednesday that they are looking at a possible design flaw in some of the steel plates under the bridge and issued an alert that added weight from construction work may have been a factor in its collapse. Opening a new window into last week’s fatal bridge…
Minnesota’s Worst Bridges
More than 35 state and federal highway bridges in Minnesota were ranked about the same as or worse than the Interstate 35W bridge that collapsed Wednesday. The list includes only those bridges labeled "structurally deficient" and having a "sufficiency rating" of 50 percent or less, meaning the bridges need monitoring and might need to be…
Two SG&S Named 100 Most Influential Attorneys in Minnesota History
Minneapolis (August 8, 2007) – Schwebel, Goetz & Sieben is pleased to announce that James R. Schwebel and William R. Sieben have been named by Minnesota Law & Politics as two of the ‘100 Most Influential Attorneys in Minnesota History.’ The August/September issue of Minnesota Law & Politics magazine named ‘Minnesota’s Legal Hall of Fame’,…
Prominent Trial Attorney Joins SG&S
MINNEAPOLIS (May 1, 2007) – The law firm of Schwebel, Goetz & Sieben announced today that prominent trial attorney, Richard J. Nygaard, formerly of Rider Bennett LLP, has joined the firm. Nygaard’s practice will focus primarily on plaintiff’s personal injury litigation. Richard Nygaard has been a trial lawyer for over 35 years and has tried…
MNOSHA Standards and Regulations
The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 gives employees the right to file complaints about workplace safety and health hazards. Further, the act gives complainants the right to request that their names not be revealed to their employers. Complaints from employees and their representatives are taken seriously by OSHA. Minnesota OSHA Rules, Minnesota…
CHASE Partnerships
The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) implemented a major safety-initiative in 2003 that is designed to reduce the number of injuries, illnesses and fatalities at participant construction industry employers. The initiative — Construction Health and Safety Excellence (CHASE) Minnesota — was jointly agreed to in February 2003 by Associated General Contractors of Minnesota…