Seasoned
snowmobilers
have
a
couple
of
items
they
usually
hit
the
snow
with.
Helmet?
Check.
Weather
appropriate
clothing?
Check.
Camoflaged
Black
Hawk
helicopter
detector?
Not
so
much.
After
Jeffrey
Smith
crashed
into
the
unexpected
helicopter
that
was
plopped
down
on
a
snowmobile
trail
by
the
U.S.
Army,
he
sued
the
government
for
negligence.
His
case
was
recently
decided,
and
the
ABA
Journal
has
coverage:
A
federal
judge
in
Massachusetts
has
awarded
$3.3
million
in
damages
to
a
lawyer
for
injuries
suffered
when
he
crashed
his
snowmobile
into
a
camouflaged
U.S.
Army
Black
Hawk
helicopter
parked
on
a
snowmobile
trail
at
dusk.
…
[Judge]
Mastroianni
found
that
the
government
was
60%
responsible
for
the
2019
incident
because
it
failed
“to
take
any
steps
to
protect
against
the
obvious
risk”
that
it
created
from
parking
the
helicopter
in
the
spot.
Smith
was
40%
responsible
for
speeding
and
wearing
tinted
goggles
at
night,
the
judge
said.
This
is
a
bit
shy
of
his
original
$9.5M
asking
price,
but
hopefully
it
is
enough
to
put
a
serious
dent
in
his
medical
bills
and
compensate
him
for
his
suffering.
Smith,
a
lawyer,
continued
with
his
law
practice
after
the
accident.
We
wish
him
and
his
practice
the
best.
Lawyer
Awarded
$3.3M
After
Crashing
Snowmobile
Into
Negligently
Parked
Army
Helicopter
[ABA
Journal]
Earlier:
Lawyer
Sues
Government
For
Treating
Snowmobile
Trail
Like
A
Helicopter
Parking
Lot
Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s.
He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boatbuilder
who
cannot
swim, a
published
author
on
critical
race
theory,
philosophy,
and
humor,
and
has
a
love
for
cycling
that
occasionally
annoys
his
peers.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at [email protected] and
by
tweet
at @WritesForRent.