Callahan & Blaine

An independent engineer says that design of an apartment complex balcony near UC Berkeley that collapsed last week, killing six college students — including five visiting from Ireland — had no obvious defects and was not overloaded, according to a news report.

The civil and structural engineer, who has no ties to the investigation, inspected the balcony’s architectural design and said that it should have held up to 13 people if it was built according to the plans and was properly maintained.

The report noted that many experts believe the balcony collapsed because the wooden beams that supported the structure were rotted from exposure to water.  Berkeley city officials ordered the removal of a second balcony in the same building because of dry rot a few days following the tragedy.

The Irish students —  Olivia Burke, 21; Eoghan Culligan, 21; Lorcan Miller, 21; Niccolai Schuster, 21; and Eimear Walsh, 21 — attended various colleges in Dublin and were spending their summer working in the U.S. under the J-1 visa program.

In addition to the five Irish students, the balcony collapse claimed the life of Ashley Donohoe, 22, of Rohnert Park, California, who reportedly held joint Irish-American citizenship. Seven more people were injured.

The students were celebrating a 21^st birthday in an apartment in The Library Gardens apartment complex.  At least 13 people were reportedly on the balcony of the fifth-floor apartment in the complex when it collapsed, sending them about 50 feet down onto the pavement.

Daniel J. Callahan of Callahan & Blaine, who is of Irish descent and has been named to the Irish Legal 100 for five years, an award that recognizes him as one of the top Irish-American attorneys in the United States, said, “We continue to grieve for the families of these young people who were in the prime of their lives.  This is an unfathomable tragedy made worse by the knowledge that it may have been preventable.”

If you or a loved one is involved in an accident that causes death or serious injury, call the Orange County personal injury attorneys at Callahan & Blaine, California’s Premier Litigation Firm.  We are one of the leading catastrophic Orange County personal injury law firms. In fact, in the last five years alone our lawyers have obtained over $1.5 billion in verdicts and settlements, including a record breaking $50 Million settlement against the City of Dana Point, which has been certified as the largest personal injury settlement in the history of the United States.

Callahan & Blaine also has numerous other record-breaking verdicts and settlement in Orange County, including the largest jury verdict in the history of Orange County ($934 Million), the largest class action settlement ($38 Million), the largest insurance bad faith judgment ($58 Million) and the largest employment law settlement ($38 Million).  Callahan & Blaine also has recent personal injury settlements of $28 Million for a driver who was hit by a runaway truck wheel on the freeway,  $17 Million for a bicycle accident on Pacific Coast Highway,  $7.25 Million for a bus accident, $7 Million for a bicyclist who was struck by a delivery truck, and $6 Million for a bicyclist struck by an airport shuttle bus.

If you or someone you know has suffered a catastrophic injury or died as the result of an accident, please contact our Orange County law firm for expert legal counsel.