MGM might pay 800 million to settle Las Vegas shooting.

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/mgm-might-pay-800-million-settle-lawsuits-las-084212083--abc-news-topstories.html
Informative

 

This is bad if you look at it, this will mean hotels are responsible for any shooting that happens and soon you'll have to go thru an airport-like security just to stay at a hotel. I mean they probably should cover the burial costs and hospital bills as a nice gesture but $800 million is outrageous.

 

Shouldn't the music festival folks chip in for this too?

 

This is so, so wrong.

It could happen again today - very easily. I still can not understand why they should be held responsible.

 

If they want to. Or the litigation could continue. Just because one party settles doesn't mean the other parties cannot continue the case. But most likely, if there is a settlement, all the defendants will chip in something

 

That's less than one million per person. I think MGM and its insurers would be ecstatic to get out from under this at that cost

 

Premises liability law that goes back a few centuries

 

They shouldn't have to pay anything. They should do something ( like the burial costs ) but they shouldn't be held responsible for it. The guy was a nut job. How is that the hotels fault.

 

That's outrageous for something they have no control over, that's why they "sued" back. With that type of thinking, if someone does a driveby shooting in a barbershop, does the barbershop have to pay the victims?

 

So the business has to determine how much it will cost them to litigate lawsuit after lawsuit for the shooting. How many lawsuits? how many lawyers? How billable hours to those lawyers? and how much will the eventually end up paying out? MGM must have figured the cost of lawyers and the payments that would evolve from them would be over $800 million.

It is a business decision for them to settle for that amount. They are not saying that they are at fault they are saying that a random group of citizens or judges may think that they are at least partially responsible and that they will award victims monetary damages.

 

Tragic. But the American default, as tragically, is "what can I get out of this situation?" This isn't an airline knowingly sending up poorly maintained planes. It's not a Ford Pinto.

 

For MGM, the costs for defending themselves just keep growing and growing. Unfortunately, many times a settlement is the lesser of two evils. Stop the bleeding on the legal front by admitting no guilt and make a payment to put an end to the litigation. This happens if and when they believe it would be cheaper than continuing in terms of cost, reputation, management attention, business disruption, etc..

If you read to the end of the article, it states that about half of a settlement will go towards legal fees on the plaintiff's side as well.

 

In your analogy, yes, the babershop may have to pay depending on which state it is in (state laws on premises liability vary somewhat) and depending on the circumstances. As for why MGM "sued back", you are incorrect. That was a legal strategy, not some response to show they had no control over the shooter.

All I am saying is that this is the law. And its not new law. It goes back a long ways. You may not like it for whatever reason and that's fine. But its certainly possible MGM could be found partially liable if this case ever went to trial. Or they might be found not liable. Its the insurers and company that get decide whether they want to take that risk or whether they want to try and settle the dispute. The victims also get to make that same decision. From a purely legal perspective, $800 million is a good deal from the defendant perspective if they believe there is any significant chance of being found liable at trial

 

I agree that MGM has some premises liability here, but $800 million seems way too high. Then again, MGM might just be bracing its shareholders for a worst case scenario and the actual settlement amount might be much lower.

My main fear is my favorite casinos in Vegas being outfitted with airport style security, lines, bag checks, frisking people etc. That would be unpleasant.

 

The insurance company will cover about $750,000,000 of this. We will cover the rest. I can't wait for the $50 resort fee.

 

Less than a buck for every person murdered.

Yep, we certainly are the ones being SO put upon.

 

In liability suits, the amount paid out is far less than the amount sought.

 

I think you’re math is off. 58 people died.

 

489 wounded.

 

I thought the total killed and injured was close to 900. But I am doing that from memory and could be off. If the number injured was only 489, then you're right.