Rhode Island Station nightclub fire – Overlawyered

Station nightclub fire: government defendants settle

Walter Olson — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 01:49:30 +0000

The state of Rhode Island and town of West Warwick, the last major defendants left in the lawsuits over the Station/Great White fire, agreed to throw $10 million apiece into the settlement pot, which now reaches $175 million, to compensate the 200 injured and survivors of the 100 killed in the 2003 blaze. The town of West Warwick, population just under 30,000, is expected to have to borrow heavily to enable its payment; it has a $4 million insurance policy, but defense litigation costs will be deducted before any of that money is made available for the settlement (RedOrbit/ProJo, more, AP/Firefighting News via Childs).

Dozens of private companies named in the suits had settled earlier, including many with peripheral or remote connections to the calamity, such as beer sponsor Anheuser-Busch, which together with a beer distributor agreed to pay $21 million, and radio operator Clear Channel, which paid $22 million. West Warwick will wind up paying much less than that, although its negligent contribution to the disaster (in failing to enforce key provisions of its own fire code) would appear immeasurably greater. Earlier posts here.

Tags: Anheuser-Busch, Clear Channel, deep pocket, fires, Rhode Island, Rhode Island Station nightclub fire, taxpayers

Station nightclub fire: government defendants settle is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Deep pocket files: The Great White shakedown winds down

Ted Frank — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 12:50:11 +0000

Sealed Air makes polyethylene foam for packaging material. The Great White plaintiffs allege that polyethylene foam in the soundproofing was part of the reason the Rhode Island Station nightclub fire spread so fast, killing 100–though they have no evidence that Sealed Air manufactured the foam in the club, not to mention the fact that the packing foam was never intended to be used as building material. Not to worry: with joint and several liability in Rhode Island, Sealed Air faced billions of dollars of potential liability because all of the other deep pockets (dozens of defendants ranging from a radio station to four other foam manufacturers to Anheuser-Busch to the bus that transported the band to the concert to a television station that covered the fire) have settled, Sealed Air couldn’t risk being held even 1% liable, especially given that at a trial plaintiffs would have no incentive to blame empty-chair or empty-pocket or settling defendants. Sealed Air will pay $25 million in protection money. (AP; Providence Journal; TortsProf). The miscarriage of justice continues, but the remaining defendants are apparently judgment-proof.

Tags: deep pocket, fires, legal extortion, Rhode Island, Rhode Island Station nightclub fire, shotgun defendant selection

Deep pocket files: The Great White shakedown winds down is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Deep Pocket Files: beer defendants kick in $21 million in R.I. fire

Walter Olson — Sat, 31 May 2008 21:01:07 +0000

“Anheuser-Busch and a Cranston beer distributor have agreed to pay $21 million to settle lawsuits brought by survivors of a 2003 nightclub fire and relatives of the 100 people killed, according to court papers. The February 2003 fire at the Station nightclub in West Warwick began when pyrotechnics used by the rock band Great White ignited flammable soundproofing foam.” More than ninety defendants were sued, and the total of settlements has now topped $122 million from defendants “including Home Depot, which sold insulation used in the club, and Clear Channel Broadcasting, whose local rock radio station promoted the concert”. (“Rhode Island: New Settlement in Nightclub Fire”, AP/New York Times, May 24.)

Tags: Anheuser-Busch, beer and brewers, deep pocket, Rhode Island Station nightclub fire

Deep Pocket Files: beer defendants kick in $21 million in R.I. fire is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Foam firms offer $30m to settle Station lawsuits”

Walter Olson — Wed, 14 May 2008 19:03:15 +0000

The legal kitty for the Rhode Island nightclub fire now exceeds $100 million, bolstered by earlier settlements from such entities as Clear Channel Broadcasting and Home Depot, among at least 93 defendants in all. (Eric Tucker, AP/Boston Globe, May 13; earlier).

Tags: Clear Channel, product liability, Rhode Island, Rhode Island Station nightclub fire

“Foam firms offer $30m to settle Station lawsuits” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Deep pocket files: more settlements in Great White fire

Walter Olson — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 17:08:25 +0000

“Three more parties sued by victims of the [West Warwick, R.I.] Station nightclub fire have offered tentative settlements in the civil cases now pending in U.S. District Court.” Audio maker JBL, accused of including flammable foam in its speakers and amplifiers, is offering $815,000. “The other two parties offering to settle are ABC Bus Inc., and Superstar Services LLC, which provided bus transportation for the rock band Great White to The Station for its concert, as well as more than 25 kilograms of explosive fireworks material that the band carried on its road trip. Together they are offering $500,000.” (Tracy Breton, “3 more companies offer settlements in Station fire case”, Providence Journal, Mar. 27). Earlier: Feb. 2, etc.

Tags: deep pocket, Rhode Island Station nightclub fire

Deep pocket files: more settlements in Great White fire is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

March 1 roundup

Ted Frank — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 09:22:23 +0000

Oregon Supreme Court plays chicken with SCOTUS over $79.5 million punitive damages award in Williams v. Philip Morris case. [Sebok @ Findlaw; Krauss @ IBD; POL Feb. 1]
Speaking of punitive damages, I did a podcast on Exxon Shipping v. Baker. I can’t bear to listen to it, so let me know how I did. [Frank @ Fed Soc]
Arkansas case alleged legal sale of pseudoephedrine was “nuisance” because meth-makers would buy it; case dismissed. [Beck/Herrmann]. This is why I’ve stockpiled Sudafed.
Lawyers advertise for refinery explosion victims before fire goes out. [Hou Chron/TLR]
Connecticut Supreme Court: cat-attack victim can sue without showing past history of violence by animal. [On Point] Looking forward to comments from all the anti-reformers who claim to oppose reform because they’re against the abrogation of the common law.
Op-ed on the Great White fire deep pockets phenomenon. [SE Texas Record; earlier: Feb. 2]
“FISA lawsuits come from Twilight Zone.” [Hillyer @ Examiner]
Legislative action on various medical malpractice tweaking in Colorado, Hawaii, and Wyoming. [TortsProf]
Request for unemployment benefits: why fire me just because I asked staffers for a prostitute? [Des Moines Register]
“So much for seduction and romance; bring in the MBAs and lawyers.” [Mac Donald @ City Journal; contra Belle Lettre; contra contra Dank]
Where is the Canadian Brandeis standing up for free speech? [Kay @ National Post]
In defense of lobbying. [Krauthammer @ WaPo]

Tags: Arkansas, Canada, chasing clients, Colorado, common law, Connecticut, deep pocket, Exxon, Exxon Shipping v. Baker, FISA, free speech, Hawaii, Heather Mac Donald, lobbyists, Oregon, Philip Morris v. Williams, pseudoephedrine, public nuisance, punitive damages, regulation through litigation, Rhode Island Station nightclub fire, roundups, Ted Frank, tort reform, unemployment benefits, Wyoming

March 1 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

February 19 roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 00:05:56 +0000

Raising ticket revenue seems more important to NYC authorities than actually recovering stolen cars [Arnold Diaz/MyFoxNY video via Coyote]
Subpoena your Facebook page? They just might [Beck/Herrmann]
Rhode Island nightclub fire deep pockets, cont’d: concert sponsor Clear Channel agrees to pay Station victims $22 million, adding to other big settlements [ProJo; earlier]
Manhattan federal judge says “madness” of hard-fought commercial suit “presents a cautionary tale about the potential for advocates to obscure the issues and impose needless burdens on busy courts” [NYLJ]
Wooing Edwards and his voters? Hillary and Obama both tacking left on economics [Reuters/WaPo, WSJ, Chapman/Reason, WaPo editorial]
Sad: if you tell your employer that you’re away for 144 days on jury duty, you actually need to be, like, away on jury duty [ABA Journal]
New at Point of Law: Florida “three-strikes” keeps the doctor away; court dismisses alien-hiring RICO suit against Tyson (and more); Novak on telecom FISA immunity; fortunes in asbestos law; Ted on Avandia and Vioxx litigation; new Levy/Mellor book nominates Supreme Court’s twelve worst decisions; and much more;
U.K.: “Lawyers forced to repay millions taken from sick miners’ compensation” [Times Online]
Outside law firm defends Seattle against police-misconduct claims: is critics’ beef that they bill a lot, or that they’re pretty good at beating suits? [Post-Intelligencer]
Cincinnati NAACP is campaigning against red-light cameras [Enquirer]
Omit a peripheral defendant, get sued for legal malpractice [six years ago on Overlawyered]

Tags: asbestos, Avandia, Barack Obama, Cincinnati, Clear Channel, deep pocket, Facebook, FISA, NYC, red light cameras, Rhode Island, Rhode Island Station nightclub fire, roundups, Seattle, telecom immunity, Vioxx

February 19 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Deep Pockets File: Great White fire

Ted Frank — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 16:40:57 +0000

Innocent bystanders have paid the bulk of settlements to date in the catastrophic fire caused by Great White’s pyrotechnic display that killed 100 people at The Station nightclub in Providence, Rhode Island. The latest victims are a television station, WPRI, and a cameraman who will contribute $30 million to a settlement fund: WPRI’s Brian Butler is accused of impeding the crowd’s exit through the front door, though Butler’s contemporaneous account suggests that he probably saved some lives at the time. “Dozens of defendants remain, including … Anheuser-Busch Inc., which sold beer at the concert; and Clear Channel Communications, which owns a Providence radio station which ran advertisements promoting the show.” (Andrea Estes, “Tentative deal set in R.I. fire case”, Boston Globe, Feb. 2; “Tentative $30 Million Settlement in Club Fire”, AP/NY Times, Feb. 2). Earlier: Feb. 2006 and Nov. 2 (Home Depot pays $5M for failure to warn, though their foam is different than the foam that caught on fire).

Tags: Anheuser-Busch, Clear Channel, deep pocket, fires, Rhode Island, Rhode Island Station nightclub fire

Deep Pockets File: Great White fire is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

November 2 roundup

Ted Frank — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 11:35:37 +0000

Curlin gets 400 new owners, as the Kentucky fen-phen plaintiffs ripped off by their attorneys get the right to seize Shirley Cunningham Jr. and William Gallion’s 20% share of the Preakness Stakes winner. [AP/NYT; earlier]
As Lerach pleads guilty, LA Times editorial defends class action abuses, incorrectly says that the PSLRA fixed everything and that Lerach didn’t act illegally after it was passed. [LA Times]
That $10.9 million verdict against the Westboro Baptist Church was “not about the money.” [Reuters] Really, now, this case imposing bankrupting damages for a protest on a public sidewalk is appalling. Granted: Phelps is bigoted scum, and rude bigoted scum at that. But Albert Snyder’s claimed physical injury is that the protest exacerbated his diabetes: what sort of junk science is that? NB that Snyder was not even aware of the protest at the funeral until he watched it on television. Why not liability for the news program? Even those happy to see the anti-gay bigotry of the WBC punished should take pause: Snyder testified at length that the protest upset him particularly because his son was not gay.
Overlawyered favorite Willie Gary (Apr. 29, Oct. 2004), on the hook for $28,000/month in child support for love child. [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]
Deep-pocket search in Great White fire case. [Childs]
Lawsuit over which school 9-year-old can play football for. [Tulsa World (via TMQ G. Easterbrook)] Worse, the judge rewarded the plaintiff by second-guessing the league decision. [Tulsa World]
It only takes ten months of legal proceedings for Cal-Berkeley to evict trespassers squatting on university property. [SF Gate]
Don’t hold your breath: who’s watching the trial lawyers? [Examiner]

Tags: Atlanta, Bill Lerach, Curlin, deep pocket, fen-phen, junk science, Kentucky, Kentucky fen-phen settlement fraud, not about the money, Rhode Island Station nightclub fire, roundups, Willie Gary

November 2 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

September 10 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 00:12:23 +0000

All-New England edition:

Massachusetts bar-exam flunker drops suit over gay-marriage question [Boston Herald, OnPointNews; see Jul. 7]
“We cannot get rail service between Nashua and Boston because a cap on liability may be unconstitutional in New Hampshire thanks to the trial lawyers” [letter in Nashua Telegraph; earlier news story]
Whodunit? Everyone, as in a certain Christie novel: Rhode Island nightclub fire lawsuits name 93 different defendants [New York Times; see Feb. 16, 2006]
Update: skull-fragment-keeping officer Callahan departs the Norwalk, Ct. police force [Created Things; earlier Jan. 23 and Jun. 21]

Tags: Connecticut, fires, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, police, railroads, Rhode Island, Rhode Island Station nightclub fire, roundups, shotgun defendant selection

September 10 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system