Lawyers reach out to Briarwood Country Club deck collapse victims

Billings, Montana – On June 22, a back deck of the restaurant at Briarwood Country Club collapsed, causing numerous individuals to be taken to the hospital in one of Billings’ worst mass injury events.

Less than two weeks later, law firms are using social media advertisements to try to contact anyone involved in the crash.

Schevek and Salminen Law Firm in Billings is one that has a post on their Facebook page that says in part, “If you, or someone you know, is ever involved in an event like this, there are crucial steps you should take, after immediately addressing your medical needs,” written in their caption.

“Definitely get your injuries looked at because that’s going to help you prove your damages later. And then your second call should probably be to an attorney,” Vincent Salminen said on Tuesday.

Salminen couldn’t say whether anyone connected to the deck fall had contacted the legal firm due to privacy concerns, but he does believe litigation will be brought. On Tuesday, a clerk at the Yellowstone County District Court confirmed that Briarwood had not been the target of any civil litigation.

“I would say that there are some lawsuits coming up here, settlements with insurance for the people that were injured,” Salminen said. “Sounds like it’s probably going to be a negligence-type case.”

Salminen stated that among the damages for which a person may file a claim are pain and suffering, lost pay, and medical costs.

“There’s a lot of different things that need to be investigated as to why this collapsed,” Salminen said.

“I mean the first finger pointed probably going to be at Briarwood, but there could be issues with the engineering of the deck. The construction of the deck, maintenance, whether it was maintained by an outside company. Those are all things that need to be looked at before anyone’s going to be totally responsible,” Salminen said.