PLAINTIFFS LAWYERS CAPITAL VENTURE FAILS TO PAY OFF

[摘要] American plaintiffs' lawyers, whose attempts to represent victims of the Bhopal gas accident were thwarted when the case was transferred to India, say they may seek reimbursement for their work now that the case has been settled.The Indian Supreme Court on Monday approved an agreement under which Union Carbide Corp. will pay the Indian government $470 million to compensate the victims of the 1984 accident, in which thousands died or were seriously injured from a gas leak at a pesticide plant in Bhopal, India.The agreement would provide no money for the dozens of American lawyers who raced to Bhopal in the days after the accident and later brought the victims' case into U.S. courts.But Stanley Chesley, a leader of the committee of American lawyers who sought to represent the victims, said the group intends to ask federal Judge John Keenan of New York to reassert control over the case. He said the chief purpose of the motion would be to have the judge assure that the victims receive compensation. In addition, he said, the lawyers expect to ask Judge Keenan to reimburse them for their expenses during the period that they worked on the case.Any such reimbursement of the lawyers' expenses would come out of the $470 million settlement, Mr. Chesley said. Judge Keenan transferred the Bhopal case to India over the objection of the American lawyers in 1986.Attorneys' estimates of those expenses were in the range of $5 million to $7 million.Bruce Finzen, a lawyer for the Indian government. . .said there was no basis for any concern that the victims won't be paid.

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