Jefferson County Judge extends orders preserving and protecting evidence in the TPC Explosion

JEFFERSON COUNTY JUDGE EXTENDS ORDERS PRESERVING AND PROTECTING EVIDENCE IN THE TPC EXPLOSION

Judge Mitch Templeton, Judge for the 172^nd State District Court of Jefferson County, Texas, signed orders Tuesday extending the temporary restraining orders he initially entered the date of the TPC explosions in Port Neches last Wednesday.

This extension will give lawyers representing residents in the area impacted time to request and examine equipment and documents and prohibits TPC from damaging or destroying any potential evidence related to the case. The motions were requested by the law firm of Brent Coon and Associates. BCA had filed the original petition and request for the temporary restraining order (TRO) last Wednesday. This new motion extends the orders indefinitely.

The terms and conditions of the new orders were worked out with the agreement of the lawyers from TPC in Houston and Brent Coon, founder of the national law firm of Brent Coon and Associates, a firm long specializing in cases of this nature with several offices around the country.

“It was important to work out an agreement preserving all potential evidence long term in the case. It will be weeks before the area is likely to be safe enough to conduct a comprehensive investigation on site with our process safety management experts, and even longer before we are able to initiate production of the thousands and thousands of relevant documents and conduct formal depositions of witnesses. The main goals early in a case of this nature is to make sure we have court orders in place protecting this critical information. Today was another important step in that process” said Brent Coon.

“In the interim, we are diligently moving forward on other less formal investigations through interviews with other witnesses, people familiar with the facility and initial contacts with the various state and federal investigative agencies, most of which we have worked with numerous times in the past” stated Mr. Coon. “We will continue to keep the public in general and or thousands of clients informed of developments in a very timely manner. This disaster has a profound impact on the entire region and where we go with this incident will set the tone for the future of safety in this business sector which predominates our local markets. Hopefully our end work leaves a lasting and positive effect.”

(Judge extends restraining order protecting potential evidence related to TPC explosion, KBMT)

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ABOUT BCA:  Brent Coon & Associates was founded in 2001 by triple board certified Brent Coon, an attorney who had already gained national recognition as a high impact trial attorney with multiple high profile multi-million dollar verdicts all over the country. Today, with several satellite offices around the country and hundreds of associated firms in various practice areas, it is one of the most recognized trial law firms in the nation and the epitome of the 21st century law practice. Brent Coon & Associates employs a full complement of aggressive litigators with solid experience in individual and complex multi-party, occupational/environmental, health and personal injury cases.

BCA is a public policy firm and has worked with numerous state and federal investigative agencies, including the Department of Justice, multiple state Attorneys General, the United States Chemical and Hazards Investigation Board. BCA serves as institutional or advisory counsel to numerous agencies and organizations, including the United Steelworkers, pilot unions, railroad and other transportation unions. Their work in this arena has led to widespread improvements in the safety and working conditions of industries throughout America and abroad.

The firm and founder has been repeatedly recognized by most leading journals and legal associations including Best Lawyers in America as published in the Wall Street Journal (2016-2019); Best Lawyers in Texas as published in the Houston Chronicle (2018); The National Trial Lawyers Association Top 100 Trial Lawyers; America’s Top 100 Personal Injury Attorneys (2019).