Curt Anderson

AP Legal Affairs Writer

In this Friday, June 25, 2021, file photo, rescue personnel work in the rubble at the Champlain Towers South Condo, in Surfside, Fla. Even as the search continues over a week later for signs of life in the mangled debris of the fallen Champlain Towers South, the process of seeking answers about why it happened and who is to blame is already underway in Florida's legal system.

Building Collapse Lawsuits Seek to Get Answers, Assign Blame

At least five lawsuits have been filed on behalf of residents who survived or are feared dead.

Workers search in the rubble at the Champlain Towers South Condo, Saturday, June 26, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. One hundred fifty-nine people were still unaccounted for two days after Thursday's collapse, which killed at least four.

Engineers: Building Needed $9M+ in Repairs Before Collapse

There were several major repairs that needed to be done as soon as possible.

In this April 24, 2019, photo, American Airlines aircraft are shown parked at their gates at Miami International Airport in Miami. A veteran airline mechanic has been sentenced to three years in prison for sabotaging an American Airlines jetliner in Miami with 150 people aboard. The lawyer for 60-year-old Abdul-Majeed Marouf Ahmed Alani said at a hearing Wednesday, March 4, 2020, that the mechanic's sole motive in July was to earn overtime fixing the plane.

Mechanic Gets 3 Years for Sabotaging Jetliner

He was trying to get overtime fixing the plane.

A former American Airlines mechanic who prosecutors say may have some links to terrorists is due to enter a plea to charges that he sabotaged an aircraft with 150 people aboard.

Man to Enter Plea Over Plane Sabotage

He was upset an ongoing labor dispute was denying him overtime work.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks about the need to lower prescription costs by importing drugs from other countries, Tuesday, June 11, 2019, at the Eisenhower Recreation Center in The Villages, Fla. Listening at right is state Sen. Aaron Bean.

FL Gov. Approves Plan to Import Drugs

U.S. residents pay up to 174% more for the same prescription drugs than other developed countries.

President Donald Trump speaks during a event on medical billing, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Thursday, May 9, 2019, in Washington.

Trump Backs Plan to Import Meds

The bill overcame stiff opposition from pharmaceutical companies who claimed importing drugs would lead to risks of counterfeit substances.

Bill Making Hemp Florida Crop

Republican senator says, 'We want to be a leader in hemp, rather than a follower.'

This May 11, 2016, file photo shows an area of the Herbalife corporate office in Los Angeles. Some distributors who claim they were duped by Herbalife’s promises they’d get rich selling health and personal care products are suing the company for as much as $1 billion in damages.

Herbalife Distributors Say Events Were a Sham

The class-action case could involve more than 100,000 plaintiffs and mean as much as $1 billion in damages.

This undated photo shows Tania Julin, whose husband was kidnapped about 15 miles from the Colombian border. The families of six Americans kidnapped and killed in Colombia by the terrorist organization known as FARC are seeking damages from banana giant Chiquita Brands International.

Chiquita Sued Over American Deaths in Colombia

The families of Americans kidnapped and killed by a terrorist organization are seeking tens of millions of dollars in damages.

This undated photo shows Spencer Silver, left and Art Fry, right, holding a Post-It Note pad. Alan Amron, an inventor with 40 patents, claims that he invented what he called the Press-On Memo in 1973, a year before Fry and Silver, 3M scientists, developed what later became known as the Post-It Note. Amron is suing 3M for $400 million in damages.

Alleged Post-It Inventor Sues 3M

Meanwhile, 3M insists it developed Post-it Notes without any input or inspiration from the plaintiff, "and it is false and misleading for him to state or suggest that he created, invented, or had any role in the product's development."