5.15.24: Settlement Signed!
Best, Rob Kwok
From Rob Kwok:
In my 30+ years of law practice this explosion hits closest to home. Literally, 5 miles from home. We woke up to the sonic boom that set off our house alarm on January 24, 2020 at 4:23am. My phone started ringing around 7am and hasn't stopped ringing since. Many close friends from Church and school live near the Watson facility. Some of my kids' classmates had homes destroyed. In fact, our lead Plaintiffs have 4 kids in school with our 4 kids. We're honored to serve their family during this explosion that destroyed their home. We were grateful to help them win their lawsuit against their homeowners insurance company so they could find a replacement home. And as promised, we handled all first party lawsuits for free, so our clients could use all their insurance money to rebuild their homes.
From the beginning I promised to handle your first party lawsuits without charge so you could use your insurance money to rebuild your homes. We handled 85+ first party lawsuits and have sucessfully won every single one. We also did not take any fees on your honmeowners claims, leaving nearly $4mm in your neighborhoods from Westbranch to historic Carverdale, to rebuild damaged homes, as promised.
A bit about me, I'm board certified in personal injury trial law, and have represented people my entire career. I am AV rated, peer review/judicial review rated - the highest possible rating. I'm a Texas Super Lawyer and serve on the nominating committee for Texas Monthly Magazine. Serving my clients well is my passion and top priority. We continue to offer Personal, Efficient and Agressive legal services at my firm since 1996.
I filed and won the first wrongful death case in the tragic 2005 BP Amaco Explosion that killed 23 workers. We won incredible results for all of our clients. I presented my last BP case to a Galveston County jury - and the case settled for many times the "final offer" after jury selection.
I also won the record setting jury verdict in the Channelview Explosion in 2014, that killed 1 worker and injured others. The 5-week jury trial record verdict landed Kwok Daniel LLP in the Texas Lawyers Hall of Fame.
When not working Explosion cases, my firm is one of the highest volume personal injury trial law firms in Houston. I'm so grateful for our world-class team of 66+ talented professionals. Update: we've added more team members in the past year to staff up for the Watson litigation and have tripled our mass torts division. We are grateful for our explosive growth! Update 2: We need more space! On February 10, we moved to larger offices at 2050 W. Sam Houston Pkwy S., Ste 1500, Houston 77042!
Looking back on 2023, we are blessed and grateful for yet another record-setting year of income from our litigation practice. Partner Thomas Daniel continues to manage the firm well so my team may "work without worry" on your January 24 explosion cases. Congrats to all Kwok Daniel team members for setting new all time income records for 2023!
Please know that I take each one of your cases personally. I'm deeply honored to represent 1,000+ of your family members, friends and neighbors. In December, I successfully concluded my appointment as co-chair of the January 24 Claimants Committee, and now serve in leadership on the January 24 MDL in state court. I am focused on bringing your cases to resolution by settlement or trial - that is our mission in 2024.
Much good has already been done, as we charge forward on mission to rebuild your neighborhood, one home at a time.
God bless, Rob Kwok
rkwok@kwoklaw.com
Dear Clients,
Remember the disclosure packets you signed months ago? The settlement amount you agreed to and the releases you signed covered multiple Defendants who are all offering a percentge of your settlement amount. Last night we signed a Settlement Agreement with Western/Matheson (gas companies) to lock in their portion of your settlement amount! Next up we ask the bankruptcy court to release the Watson portion of your settlement amount. The holdup has been groups of claimants (none from our group) who rejected their settlement amounts. Those claimants have been excluded from the current settlement and will take their chances at trial. As for our group, the number you signed is your absolute bottom number - interest continues to build up on the Watson money which will be repaid to everyone pro rata to settling claimants.
So this is good news. The gas companies will pay some of the awards, including all of ours. Thank you for your contined patience, our mass torts team has been working hard each and every day to get your individual awards accepted and paid. Once we have a timeline on the bankruptcy hearing and approval of funds, we will go back to state court and get approval of all of the current funds. this could take another 4-6 weeks, but hopefully sooner. By now you understand the complications we face. Your patience will soon be rewarded, just a bit longer while we get Court approval please.
The next few months will be filled with minors' hearings with parents. Judge Medina is focused on getting minors' funds into interest bearing accounts asap. We will work closely with Judge Davidson to make sure all minors settlements are properly handled and are in the minors best interests. We will need parent involvement to approve settlements so be ready to appear in court or by zoom. If you would like a free (no obligation) annuity quote for your minor child, contact Rosendo Zepeda at 713.822.0388. Please tell him you are a Kwok Daniel client.
Update to follow when we have the bankruptcy court disbursement approval timeline and the MDL court timeline.
Again, thank you for your cooperation with the allocation process. We are one step closer to fulfilling our mission of "rebuilding your neighborhood, one home at a time."
Best, Rob PS: We have a call with Defendant 3M today, they are the company who employed the technicians last to service the gas sensors at Watson. Defendant 3M sold the sensor business to Defendant Teledyne just before the explosion. To date, 3M and Teledyne have refused to make any settlement offers. Instead, they have filed motions to get out and get our experts struck. They have lost both motions. The MDL Court has set all cases (including yours) against Teledyne Detcon 3M for trial on a tight track schedule which has already begun. On April 19, 2024 our team spent the day taking the deposition of Teledyne's corporate representative in preparation for trial against them. According to the Rep, their technician telling the Watson manager "open loop fault not connected" was enough to warn Watson that their spray room would explode if propylene met an ignition source. The sensors were not connected and possibly never connected during the three years of service from the sensor company. Our team has been preparing for this trial for many months now, and we hope to bring a strong case against Teledyne Detcon 3M, the sensor company who last inspected the gas detection system at Watson before the January 24, 2020 explosion. As always, find real-time updates here at www.watsongrindingexplosion.com
Best, Rob PS: We have a call with Defendant 3M today, they are the company who employed the technicians last to service the gas sensors at Watson. Defendant 3M sold the sensor business to Defendant Teledyne just before the explosion. To date, 3M and Teledyne have refused to make any settlement offers. Instead, they have filed motions to get out and get our experts struck. They have lost both motions. The MDL Court has set all cases (including yours) against Teledyne Detcon 3M for trial on a tight track schedule which has already begun. On April 19, 2024 our team spent the day taking the deposition of Teledyne's corporate representative in preparation for trial against them. According to the Rep, their technician telling the Watson manager "open loop fault not connected" was enough to warn Watson that their spray room would explode if propylene met an ignition source. The sensors were not connected and possibly never connected during the three years of service from the sensor company. Our team has been preparing for this trial for many months now, and we hope to bring a strong case against Teledyne Detcon 3M, the sensor company who last inspected the gas detection system at Watson before the January 24, 2020 explosion. As always, find real-time updates here at www.watsongrindingexplosion.com
Lawsuit filed - 3 TROs Granted
Rob Kwok has already filed and won 3 TRO's in this case.
See Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) - here
See Houston Chronicle Article - here
See ABC news - here
See Fox 26 news story - here
See KPRC Ch2 news story - here
See ABC Watson/Kwok news story - here
See AP news story - here
See KPRC Ch2 walk through news story - here
See KPRC Ch2 TRO vs. City of Houston news story - here
See 1st TRO vs. City - here
See 2nd TRO vs. City - here
See Houston Chronicle Article - here
See Agreed 5-8-20 Lift Stay Order - here
See 06.21.20 Houston Chronicle Article - here
See 07.03.20 Houston Chronicle Article - here
See 12.30.20 Houston Chronicle Article - here
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