PROVIDENCE — Lawyers for the victims of the Station nightclub fire have filed papers asking the U.S. District Court to approve a proposed plan for distributing $176 million in settlement offers to the more than 300 victims who suffered injuries or lost loved ones in the catastrophic fire.

The proposed plan for distributing the settlement proceeds was devised by Duke University law school Prof. Francis E. McGovern.

Lawyers for the victims also asked the court Friday to appoint Jeffrey Dahl, of Faribault, Minn., as a neutral verification expert who would review all documents submitted by the fire victims to make sure that the information they provide on damage-claim forms is accurate.

The lawyers are also asking that the court appoint Massachusetts lawyer Paul A. Finn as administrator for a trust fund that needs to be established as a repository for the settlement proceeds.

Finn has been involved in mediating many of the Station fire settlement offers and is a practicing attorney as well as president of Commonwealth Mediation and Conciliation. Since 1992, Finn has mediated and/or arbitrated more than 5,000 claims in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Mississippi and California, including clerical sexual-abuse claims, medical malpractice complaints and general liability and business disputes.

In 2002, Finn was the mediator who helped settle, for $14 million, three dozen sexual-abuse claims filed against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence. The following year, the State of Rhode Island gave him a commendation for his work on those cases. Finn was also chief arbitrator and settlement administrator for the Archdiocese of Boston and Springfield, Mass., clergy-abuse claims.

The new papers filed by the victims’ lawyers seek to push the settlement process through the court system. But it appears that the payout to the victims is still several months away.

The judge in charge of the case, Senior U.S. District Judge Ronald R. Lagueux, has been out of work since early last May when he suffered a stroke. It is unclear when he might return to the bench to approve the distribution plan and other matters that must be wrapped up before any money goes to the victims. In his absence, Magistrate Judge David L. Martin has been handling preliminary issues related to the proposed settlements. Another status conference is scheduled before Martin on Tuesday.

One hundred people died in the fire at The Station, on Cowesett Avenue in West Warwick, the night of Feb. 20, 2003. More than 200 others were injured. The fire erupted after sparks from pyrotechnics set off by the rock band Great White ignited highly flammable polyurethane foam that had been installed as soundproofing on the walls and ceiling of the club by its owners, Michael and Jeffrey Derderian.

The $176 million in settlement offers comes from every defendant still being sued by the fire victims. McGovern’s proposed distribution plan has been assented to by all of the plaintiffs. At this point, none of the victims knows exactly what he or she will get because the distribution plan is based on a point system that awards different points for death cases and for injury claims. The system is similar to those used in other mass liability cases, such as the settlements in the 9/11 attacks.

According to McGovern’s plan, the survivors of the fire who were most badly burned and were hospitalized the longest would receive more money than several families who lost loved ones in the fire. A minor child could end up receiving more than a surviving spouse.

In papers filed Friday with the court, lawyers for the victims say that the range of injuries suffered by their clients is diverse. Some “have catastrophic, life-altering burns that have required amputation, skin graft surgery, extensive therapy and other care.” Some suffered only psychological injuries. Some have incurred no medical bills but medical care for others has cost well over $3 million. McGovern has determined that the medical expenses incurred by each victim “are the only effective, objective basis upon which an allocation of points can be based,” the lawyers say.

tbreton@projo.com