Happy Independence Day!
I wish you all a safe, sane, star-spangled Fourth of July.
As we celebrate our freedom, I’ll toast Albert Einstein who said, “Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom.”
Einstein, who was Jewish, left Germany in 1932 as antisemitism was rising. He made his way to the United States where the sui generis scientist spent the rest of his genius life.
Boeing, Boeing, Gone
Five years after the second crash of a Boeing 737 Max 8, I’m gearing up my one remaining Max 8 case for trial in April 2025.
Additionally, my firm is representing 31 passengers on the Alaska Airlines flight where the door plug blew out of a Boeing 737 Max 9 at 16,000 feet.
Boeing has been delaying justice on Max 8 crash cases for years. The once great company has also been delaying reforms to its culture.
After negotiating a Deferred Prosecution Agreement with the Department of Justice, Boeing violated the conditions of that agreement and faces further prosecution and penalties.
The Max 9 door plug blowout, among other incidents, demonstrates the continuing safety issues at Boeing. One of my clients and I appeared on a Dr. Phil Show episode, “Boeing Under Fire,” to discuss this. Dr. Phil, by the way, was smart and gracious.
In all of our cases against Boeing, I’m aiming not just for justice and accountability, but for Boeing to get its act together. Boeing management could take a lesson from Steve Jobs who said, “If you keep your eye on the profit, you’re going to skimp on the product. But if you focus on making great products, then the profits will follow.”
In the aviation arena, our firm is also representing and advocating for victims of sexual assault. There has been an unfortunate uptick in reports of in-flight sexual assaults according to the F.B.I.
Accountability is important for the perpetrators and for the airlines if company negligence contributes to the crime.
Epic Space
Mark Lindquist Law is now sharing office space with Evergreen Personal Injury Counsel, aka EPIC, in an iconic downtown Tacoma building. Come visit sometime.
The space is cool and so are the attorneys and staff at EPIC. We are associating on some cases.
You can see the new offices on the Mark Lindquist Law Google business page. While there, feel free to write a review, thank you.
You can also see the space in various interviews I did with FOX 13, or KOMO TV, or KING 5, or KIRO TV in our conference room.
Meanwhile, if you do this sort of thing, you can vote for Mark Lindquist Law for “Personal Injury Firm” in the “Services” category at the Best of Pierce County website. You can vote once a day until July 8. As always, I appreciate your vote.
While most of my cases are aviation related, or wrongful death and serious injury cases against the government, we handle other types of personal injury cases as well.
If we aren’t the right firm for you, I’ll refer you to someone who’s a good fit for your case. Happy to help friends.
Finally, I continue to do “expert legal commentary” for local and national media and I appreciate your feedback, even if it’s just, “Maybe you should wear something other than the same blue and red Rep ties.”
Books & Movies
Good news! Ryan Holiday has a new book out — Right Thing, Right Now: Good Values. Good Character. Good Deeds.
This is his third book in the Stoic Virtues series. I just started it, but I’m confident in recommending it to all my friends.
If you don’t buy it, I’ll likely buy it for you come Christmas. Books are the best gifts.
As for movies, well, Sloane and I are revisiting everything by the Farrelly brothers, especially Dumb and Dumber, Sloane’s favorite.
Peter Farrelly, a good friend from the Bad Old Days, has invited Sloane to the set of his new movie, Balls Up, to play a small, small part.
This means we are flying to Australia in August, which is winter there. Winter in Australia, however, is a lot like summer in the Northwest.
Sloane, by the way, starts high school this coming fall. She’s Chelsea’s height.
One More Thing
Steve Jobs used to say that a lot, “one more thing.” Walter Issacson’s biography of Jobs is one of the best I’ve read. I’m now into Isaacson’s bio of Elon Musk, which is equally fascinating for similar reasons.
Sticking with the theme of freedom and creativity, here is what Elon Musk, who was born in South Africa, says about our country, which he, like Einstein, made his home.
“If someone wants to accomplish great things, there is no better place than the U.S.”
Sure, sometimes we see enough dumbness to make Harry Dunn and Lloyd Christmas blush, but so it goes. I’m going to focus this Fourth of July on our everlong greatness.
And speaking of greatness, congratulations to R.E.M. on their induction to the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Enjoy this video clip of “Losing My Religion” from the ceremony.
Thanks for reading.
