$3,400,000.00 – Georgia RESIDENTIAL PROPANE EXPLOSION – Burn Injury – Violation of LP Gas Code

Jonah Flynn recovered $3,400,000.00 from a propane retailer and, using somewhat novel liability theories, an “upstream” propane supplier, for failing to warn and instruct a propane end-user about the dangers and hazards of propane, and for illegally filling a rusted propane tank which was not equipped with a “data plate” (contrary to the LP gas code). These failures resulted in a home explosion and injuries to a small child. Attorney Flynn inherited this case on the eve of the statute of limitation running, and in just 16 months performed a full cause and origin investigation, established the possibility that “odor fade” of the propane in the tank had occurred, established that the propane retailer had not warned or instructed it customers about the dangers of removing a heater or other appliance from an LP gas system, and further established that the up-stream propane wholesaler had a duty to warn the retailer about what customers should be told regarding propane, and failed to do so. At mediation, defense counsel commented that the attorney Jonah Flynn’s ingenuity and knowledge of the LP gas code made the case “impossible to win” from the defendants’ perspective.