Notable Cases

The Law Offices of Jongwon Yi represented six of the Victims in the devastating Ride the Ducks accident that occured on the Aurora Bridge on September 24, 2015, which tragically killed five. Ride the Ducks is a well-known tour guide service offered on amphibious vehicles through Seattle, Washington.

These vehicles were originally manufactured during World War II to provide land and water transport through warfare. After the war, these aged vehicles had been retrofitted to serve as commercial tour transports. Unfortunately, the poor engineering, high wear and tear, and lack of effective safety and maintenance protocols, finally culminated in this preventable accident in which the front axle of the Ride of Ducks’ vehicle broke, forcing its spearheaded front-end to jackknife violently into an oncoming charter bus full with college students.

While it was a miracle that many more did not die, through trial discovery, we learned that this accident was due to a complete disregard for the safety of others and may have very likely been completely preventable. Following months of heated negotiations and court battles through the trial process, the Defendants were defiant of any wrongdoing and steadfast in their relunctance to fairly compensate the victims. Finally, the final battle was staged throughout a greuling four-month trial in which the jury found heavily in favor of the victims and awarded them $123 million. As a result of this case, Ride the Ducks made changes to their safety protocols and improved the design structure of their vehicles.