Early Assistance from Potentially Responsible Parties After Human-Made Disasters

In the immediate aftermath of a disaster, first responders, charitable aid organizations, and community members stabilize dangerous situations and prevent further personal injury, loss of life, and property damage. But when the disaster may have had an anthropogenic origin, the U.S. system of tort liability can also play a role in the recovery process. Those affected by the event may seek to recover their losses from the alleged potentially responsible parties (PRPs), advancing demands for compensation or other relief. Often, entities that appear to have contributed to the onset of the event take a defensive stance and refrain from offering any help at all to disaster victims until forced to by settlement or trial verdict, in fear that doing so might create the appearance of accepting full legal liability. In many instances, however, PRPs will immediately engage in an aggressive program that offers assistance to individuals, businesses, and local governments that have incurred losses, ranging from simply handing out vouchers for hotels and meals to evacuees to setting up sophisticated programs that facilitate the processing of claims for property damage, business disruption, medical expenses, and other losses. Often no release of liability is required to accept this aid. In this paper, the authors describe illustrative instances in which early assistance was offered, explore the benefits and drawbacks of early assistance from the perspective of different stakeholders, and examine potential options for encouraging PRPs to provide early assistance should policymakers decide that it is desirable to do so.