As the lawsuits continue to pile up following the aftermath of the Astroworld Festival tragedy, attorney Tony Buzbee has filed one of the largest yet.
The prominent Houston lawyer filed a suit Monday on behalf of 125 clients, including Axel Acosta, who was one of the 10 victims who passed away from a catastrophic crowd surge.
Buzbee said at a Nov. 8 press conference that Acosta was suffocated and trampled and left on the muddy ground “like a piece of trash.”
“His death was needless, and was the result of gross negligence,” Buzbee said in a statement.
The suit seeks more than $750 million in damages and names a slew of defendants, including Travis Scott, whose real name is Jacques Bermon Webster II, Drake, whose real name is Aubrey Graham, Apple Music, Live Nation the event organizer, Cactus Jack Records, Travis Scott’s record label company, as well as other labels like Epic Records and Grand Hustle Records associated with producing the event, and Paradocs, the private medical company hired for the festival among others.
“The Buzbee Law Firm believes, based on its ongoing investigation, that Apple Music, Epic Records and many other corporations that stood to profit from Astroworld will share legal blame in a court of law, in front of a Texas jury,” Buzbee said.
The 55-page suit attacks Scott’s history of inciting behavior Scott refers to as raging both on social media and at his concerts, including the rapper’s previous misdemeanor charges for reckless conduct in 2015, plus disorderly conduct, inciting a riot and endangering the welfare of a minor in 2017 after he encouraged a fan to jump from a balcony. At least one person fell and became paralyzed in that incident.
See here for some background. Buzbee has another lawsuit on behalf of 100 clients in the works, so presumably that will be in the same ballpark. And if that isn’t big enough for you, try this.
A $2 billion lawsuit has been filed on behalf of nearly 300 victims of the Astroworld tragedy that left 10 people dead and 25 hospitalized earlier this month.
The lawsuit was filed by Texas Attorney Thomas Henry on behalf of 282 Astroworld victims. The suit seeks up to $2 billion in damages from a long list of defendants, including Apple Music, Travis Scott, Drake, Live Nation, the Harris County Sports and Convention Corporation, and NRG Stadium.
“The defendants stood to make an exorbitant amount of money off of this event, and they still chose to cut corners, cut costs, and put attendees at risk,” Henry said in a statement. “My clients want to ensure the defendants are held responsible for their actions, and they want to send the message to all performers, event organizers, and promoters that what happened at Astroworld cannot happen again.”
Henry added that another 120 victims have contacted his firm seeking representation.
More than 165 lawsuits have been filed in the wake of Travis Scott’s Astroworld concert earlier this month.
There’s basically no chance of a verdict that results in damages of that magnitude, and even if that did happen it would be drastically reduced on appeal, but these complaints will get the attention of the defendants and their insurance companies. Figure there will be a reasonable settlement reached at some point, for each of them. It will be a very active time for everyone involved until then. CultureMap has more.
24 days and counting………
PETITION MONEY VS. MONEY IN THE PIGGY
$2 billion makes Beto’s haul of $2 million look measly, except that 6-figure-and-up damages claims in original petitions are basically meaningless (it’s whatever you type in the blank) whereas Beto’s 2 million haul is real money.
The “magic” threshold amount is $250,000 to get you out of the expedited action process and have Level III discovery plan, which you will obviously need in a case with “chaotic” facts on the ground and numerous defendants sought to be held liable.
RULE 169. EXPEDITED ACTIONS
(a) Application. The expedited actions process in this rule applies to a suit in which all claimants, other than counter-claimants, affirmatively plead that they seek only monetary relief aggregating $250,000 or less, excluding interest, statutory or punitive damages and penalties, and attorney fees and costs.
(b) Recovery. In no event may a party who prosecutes a suit under this rule recover a judgment in excess of $250,000, excluding interest, statutory or punitive damages and penalties, and attorney fees and costs
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