International Lawyers Offer Assistance to Families of China Airlines Flight 611 Victims

Business Wire, June 5, 2002

Business Editors/Legal Writers

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 5, 2002

Distinguished international lawyers from the United Kingdom and the United States of America, Nigel Taylor and Bill Lann Lee, have agreed to come together for purposes of offering their advice and support to the families of the Taiwanese passengers on board the ill fated China Airlines Flight 611. The London firm of Nigel Taylor & Associates will partner with Bill Lann Lee of the United States firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, to offer their joint services to local families who wish for answers concerning their legal rights under the court systems of the United Kingdom and the United States concerning the disaster.

Nigel Taylor, regarded as Europe's leading air crash victim's lawyer, has successfully represented hundreds of families of airplane crash victims, including families from Taiwan whose loved ones were killed in an aviation disaster in Siberia in 1994. Taylor commented, "The families, in addition to grieving for their loved ones on Flight 611, are also asking why the plane crashed and how they can press for answers. They should be aware that claims may be brought in courts outside of Taiwan to obtain these answers."

Bill Lann Lee, one of the most honoured practicing Asian American attorneys in the United States, stated, "Based on preliminary data, it is possible that structural defects or problems with the Flight 611 Boeing 747 may have caused it to fall apart. If this proves to be the case, the families could file legal claims in United States courts against Boeing Corporation where the compensation provided to victims of airline disasters, if the lawsuit is successfully prosecuted or settled, is typically much greater than in Taiwan or other Asian countries."

Taylor and Lieff Cabraser have a record of successful prosecution of cases on behalf of families of airplane crash victims, including Taiwanese, and Lieff Cabraser previously led the prosecution of an air disaster lawsuit involving the Boeing 747. Together, Taylor and Lieff Cabraser look forward to applying their knowledge and experience in this complex field of law to make a valuable contribution to the difficult task of obtaining answers as to the causes of this tragedy and to obtaining fair compensation for the bereaved families.

Nigel Taylor and Bill Lann Lee will be visiting Taipei in the near future and have offered to meet with bereaved families on a complimentary basis. They may be contacted through the office of Mr Jerry M. H. Liu in Taipei by telephone at 2976-4222 or via email to Bill Lann Lee directly at blee@lchb.com or telephone to the U.S. at 415-956-1000 (reverse charges will be accepted). For further information on Lieff Cabraser and the China Airlines Flight 611 crash investigation, please visit http://www.lieffcabraser.com/china-airlines-crash.htm

About Nigel Taylor and Bill Lann Lee of Lieff Cabraser

Formerly a successful international maritime lawyer who lived and worked in Hong Kong for more than ten years, Nigel Taylor has devoted the last eleven years of his professional life to the representation of families of air crash victims. His impressive record in the representation of his clients includes a total of more than US$250 million in settlement monies, including the largest verdict ever given to a crash victim by a European Court (US$6 million to a single victim). Taylor's principal office is in England, close to Lloyd's of London, the insurance centre where the world's airlines buy their insurance cover. He maintains a close association with Asia through an associated legal office in Hong Kong and a network of lawyers specialising in international claims.

Bill Lann Lee is a partner with the national law firm in the United States Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP. Lieff Cabraser is a national law firm in the United States with offices in San Francisco, New York, Boston, Nashville and Washington D.C.. The firm is renowned for its work in class action lawsuits, a type of lawsuit in which one or several individuals sue on behalf of a larger group of injured persons.

Lieff Cabraser enjoys a reputation for professional integrity and the efficient and responsible prosecution of its clients' case. The firm possesses sophisticated legal skills and the financial resources necessary for the handling of large, complex cases. Among the firm's recent successes was obtaining a verdict of US$170.7 million in April 2002, in a federal court securities lawsuit. The verdict constitutes the third largest jury verdict in the United States to date in 2002. Lieff Cabraser also represented a number of American States in connection with the US$206 billion settlement with the tobacco industry in 1998.

Partner Bill Lann Lee of Lieff Cabraser conducts his practice from San Francisco and Washington, D.C. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Yale College and Columbia Law School scholar, Lee's concentration is in international human rights. Under the Clinton administration he served as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights with the Department of Justice in Washington D.C., making Lee the highest-ranking Asian American civil rights enforcer in the nation's history.