January 29th, 2021 at 5:28 PM ^
No thanks.
January 29th, 2021 at 5:39 PM ^
Well no amount of money is going to make their grief go away. Losing a child is not something that you ever truly recover from. That being said. 3.5 million sounds super low, especially given how preventable it was and how awful the coaches were. But I’m not an attorney so ??♂️
January 29th, 2021 at 6:24 PM ^
You're correct. It's like losing a limb. The wound heals and you learn to live without it, but part of you is always missing. So there really is no correct answer.
January 29th, 2021 at 6:51 PM ^
I think if given the choice, they would want their son back
January 29th, 2021 at 8:12 PM ^
This is often confused. The coaches were not there, and were forbidden my the NCAA to be there. This largely falls on the training staff. Given the exceptionally low number, one has to think there are more details that were left out that may look a bit better for the school.
January 30th, 2021 at 2:59 AM ^
Divide it by 50 years (normal life expectancy) and it’s 70k per year. Minus god knows what legal expenses and you’re at probably 40-50k/year. I think it’s a reasonable settlement/judgement. Again, nothing will fix the situation and the whole thing was totally preventable. Oh well. How is Durkin still walking around?
January 29th, 2021 at 5:42 PM ^
No link for details, but I’m assuming the lawyers are going to get their share of that. Seems incredibly low.
January 29th, 2021 at 5:43 PM ^
It was enough for the family, and enough for the University. So, yes.
January 29th, 2021 at 5:46 PM ^
Such a sad situation - easily avoided.
January 29th, 2021 at 6:17 PM ^
Noooooooo.
January 29th, 2021 at 6:26 PM ^
We don't have enough detail to say (or at least I don't). What does Maryland law say about this sort of negligence (maybe I'm wrong to even assume a negligence claim)? What are College Park juries prone to doing in these cases? How much does the family want this to end?
January 29th, 2021 at 6:29 PM ^
The family probably could not afford to hold out as long as the university. 3.5M likely is less than his lifetime earning potential especially if he had NFL prospects. Not to mention compensating for family’s grief.
January 29th, 2021 at 6:31 PM ^
Not our business - we don’t know the family or the coaches, or the details, or the values, or really anything that gives us a right to pass a judgment on this tragic and personal matter
January 29th, 2021 at 6:36 PM ^
It’s definitely not enough, but no amount of money could be enough in this situation. And the family would almost certainly get more money if they didn’t settle. They could get an attorney to take the case on a contingency basis, so it wouldn’t be expensive for them up front. But litigation is agonizing at best. It takes forever and it is just brutal emotionally. Litigation over the death of a child ... I can’t even imagine. So a decision to settle is not just about money. It’s also about moving on from the dispute. So if the family decided to settle, then I assume it was the right decision for them & Ill respect their decision.
January 29th, 2021 at 6:43 PM ^
What’s maybe most egregious is the man who was in charge is still allowed to be responsible for young mens safety. Coaches should lose their “license” when preventable things like this happen on their watch
January 29th, 2021 at 6:43 PM ^
Not knowing the details but this feels low. Assuming the attorneys take a significant percentage the family is likely to receive maybe half that amount, and that doesn't seem close to enough for a young man's preventable death. But I hope this does provide some comfort to his family.
January 29th, 2021 at 6:45 PM ^
Depends on the legal framework in MD. Some states have wrongful death limits that are much too low, others have a variety of immunity statutes that may limit (and sometimes prohibit) recovery too.
I'm an Oregon lawyer so I don't know the landscape in MD, but I have been lead counsel in two wrongful death civil jury trials, with parents going through extreme trauma having to re-live the worst day of their lives, I can fully appreciate why people don't want to go through that experience. The second trial had very good appellate issues (we lost), but an appeal would have meant years of postponing the healing process.
I can also tell you that a big check is often a pretty empty apology and does not necessarily bring any healing at all.
January 29th, 2021 at 7:25 PM ^
I once watched a woman testify about her daughter dying in her arms after a car accident. It was painful just to observe. I can't imagine how the mother felt testifying.
January 29th, 2021 at 8:54 PM ^
I will forever despise the name D.J. Durkin because of this. The whole situation sickens me
January 29th, 2021 at 10:10 PM ^
Haven't been following the legal side of the case that closely, but I would bet the University feels like it got off easy with that settlement.
On another note, I have a family member who works for the training staff at a B1G school (not UM or MD) and he thinks the training staff is to blame and shouldn't be allowed to work again so take that FWIW.
January 30th, 2021 at 12:21 AM ^
God Bless this family.
January 30th, 2021 at 9:03 AM ^
This might be of interest. It seems that all parties are looking to move forward.
January 30th, 2021 at 10:05 AM ^
University got off super light on this one. I hope the settlement includes a provision that the training staff responsible are fired and never put in any kind of oversight position again.