Digital Extra: The Station Fire

05:46 PM EST on Monday, March 29, 2004

The Associated Press

PROVIDENCE -- A federal judge ruled today that civil suits stemming from The Station nightclub fire will be heard in federal court.

U.S. District Judge Ronald R. Lagueux said the court will exercise jurisdiction under a recent federal law that gives the federal court system authority in cases involving an accident in which at least 75 people died and a defendant resides in a different state than where the accident occurred. Congress passed the law only 18 days before the West Warwick fire, which killed 100 and injured about 200.

Lagueux's decision also indicated the court intends to consolidate all nightclub fire lawsuits for the discovery phase of the trial, in which lawyers for both sides exchange information.

Several suits have already been filed in both the courts in Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts. All have been on hold while Lagueux considered the issue of jurisdiction. More suits are expected.

The Feb. 20, 2003, fire started when sparks from a band's pyrotechnic display set fire to highly flammable foam used as soundproofing in the club. Members of the band Great White say they received permission for the fireworks from club owners Jeffrey and Michael Derderian -- who insist they were never told the band intended to use pyrotechnics.

The Derderians and Great White's former tour manager, Dan Biechele, each face 200 counts of involuntary manslaughter stemming from the fire.

On the civil side, some plaintiffs and defendants had argued lawsuits should be heard in federal court because the cases involve parties from several states. But others said the fire was essentially a local disaster and lawsuits should be handled in state court, where many pretrial activities were started.

The majority of the 100 people killed in the fire were from Rhode Island, though there were also victims from Massachusetts, Connecticut, California and Florida.

The law at issue was the Multiparty, Multiforum Trial Jurisdiction Act of 2002, designed specifically for disasters such as hotel fires and plane and train crashes, where plaintiffs and defendants come from different states.

This ruling represents the first time a judge is interpreting the law.

In the past, Lagueux has indicated he probably will ask the U.S. Court of Appeals to review his decision.

Defendants include the Derderians, who are from Rhode Island; the 1980s band Great White, from California; the town of West Warwick; and companies based in Missouri, Texas, Alabama and Pennsylvania.

Lagueux's ruling provided for discovery in the cases already filed to remain stayed until Sept. 1, in order to allow all potential plaintiffs to file their cases.

Almost 50 lawyers, many of them from out of state, crowded Lagueux's courtroom Oct. 15 for a hearing to determine jurisdiction.

Attorney Max Wistow, who told Lagueux that he was speaking on behalf of 185 dead and injured fire victims and an eight-lawyer committee that represents them, urged the judge to send all of the cases back to Superior Court.

It's clear from over 200 years of precedent, said Wistow, that the Superior Court has the authority to hear such cases. But it is very unclear, he argued, whether the newly-enacted federal law would stand up to appellate review. And if a circuit court or the U.S. Supreme Court were to decide, years from now, that there were fatal flaws in the wording of the new statute, the cases would have to be tried all over again at great expense.

Wistow said the U.S. District Court cannot hear a case where the primary defendants and a substantial majority of the plaintiffs are from the same state.

Edward Crane, a Chicago lawyer representing Anheuser-Busch, argued that The Station nightclub fire was "exactly the type of [case] that Congress envisioned when it enacted the new law."

He said, "This tragedy is national in scope."

Forty-one of the 100 people killed in the fire lived outside of Rhode Island, he pointed out. And if Lagueux were to send the cases back to state court, multiple Station fire lawsuits would be filed all over the country, which would create a host of problems with case management, Crane said.

Legal experts have said there are benefits to presenting the cases in federal court.

Federal court has a reputation of having better resources, including a bigger court staff and better equipment, said David Yas, an attorney and editor of Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly. The jury is drawn from a larger pool and some would argue the rules in federal court are clearer, he added.

But, Yas said, some lawyers believe it's harder to win big damages in the federal court system.

DIGITAL EXTRA: Read the full text of Lagueux's ruling.