Anybody wondering why it took all of nine days for the first Zoo train derailment lawsuit to be filed?

What may be more worrisome for the City of Louisville and the Zoo, the case has been brought by one of the most feared and experienced personal injury lawyers in the country.

Larry Franklin filed a lawsuit against the Zoo today on behalf of Amy and Darren Bamforth of Indiana. Franklin was the focus of an in-depth feature by the C-J’s Andrew Wolfson in Dec. 2007, which detailed his successful and, as of late, high-profile career. The piece listed several familiar cases in which Franklin won victories for clients, including:

• the Louisville teen whose legs were severed by a ride at Kentucky Kingdom
• a family involved in the 1988 Carrollton bus crash
• an elevator repairman injured in a 1980 accident at the Kentucky Home Life Building
• an Indiana high school football player who suffered brain damage on the field
  

The lawsuit is already generating controversy because it comes so soon after the incident, before the Zoo’s investigation is complete. But the suit also asks that the train not be altered or changed, thus preserving evidence.

You can bet Franklin knows what he’s doing, and isn’t some ambulance chasing attorney. The suit charges “gross negligence” in the operation of the train. Which is not good for the Zoo.