PROVIDENCE -- Senior U.S. District Court Judge Ronald R. Lagueux has scheduled a hearing Oct. 15 to hear arguments as to which court should hear civil lawsuits stemming from The Station nightclub fire.
At 10 a.m. next Wednesday, lawyers representing victims of the fire as well parties who have been sued or expect to be sued will argue their positions on the jurisdictional issue.
The fire on Feb. 20 caused the deaths of 100 people and injured more than 200. The fire broke out after the rock band Great White set off pyrotechnics, which ignited highly flammable packing foam that the nightclub owners had installed as soundproofing.
There is a split among the various parties involved in lawsuits -- as well as potential plaintiffs and defendants -- as to which court should hear the fire cases, which will likely be consolidated for trial.
A lawyers' steering committee that represents 182 victims of The Station nightclub fire wants all civil suits relating to the deadly blaze heard by the state Superior Court, not the U.S. District Court.
Jeffrey and Michael Derderian, the owners of the West Warwick nightclub, also want the Superior Court to hear the civil suits, as does American Foam, the Johnston company that sold the foam to the Derderians.
But General Foam Corp. and Foamex L.P., out-of-state foam manufacturers that have been sued, want the civil suits tried in the U.S. District Court in Providence, as do Anheuser-Busch, the Budweiser beer manufacturer, and its Rhode Island distributor, McLaughlin & Moran. Both are alleged to have been sponsors of the Great White concert.
Also, Triton Realty, which owned the property where the nightclub stood, wants Lagueuex to keep the cases in the federal court.
Some fire victims who have already filed lawsuits allege that General Foam manufactured the packing foam that was applied to the walls and ceilings near the stage in The Station. Foamex is sued because it took over certain assets of General Foam's business in 2001.
Historically, such cases would have been heard by the Superior Court in Rhode Island. But a new federal law, which took effect just 18 days before The Station fire, makes it easier for plaintiffs or defendants to have the U.S. District Court hear lawsuits that stem from "accidents" that cause at least 75 deaths. The Station fire may be the statute's first test. Under the new law, as long as one victim is from a state different from where the accident occurred, "any two defendants reside in different states" and any adverse parties are from different states, the federal court may hear the matter.
Currently, only seven lawsuits have been filed in connection with the fire, but many more are expected to be brought in months to come.
Lagueux has indicated that whatever decision he makes on the jurisdictional issue, he will probably ask the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review it.
In other litigation-related matters, Los Angeles lawyer Edwin F. McPherson, a longtime lawyer for Jack Russell, the lead singer for Great White, has received permission from Lagueux to be allowed to represent Russell in The Station fire cases in Rhode Island, along with local counsel Randall L. Souza and Fred A. Kelly Jr. McPherson is not a member of the Rhode Island bar but is a member of the California and Hawaii bars. Therefore, he had to get court permission to be allowed to represent Russell here.
