Susan M. Holden - Press
Susan Holden, Chair of the Special Master Panel for the 35W Bridge Victim's Compensation Fund, along with Steven Kirsch and Mike Tewksbury, spent the last three months hearing testimony from the victims of the Interstate 35W bridge collapse on August 1, 2007. That process has now been completed and the three experienced personal injury lawyers now must decide how to distribute $36.6 Million among the victims.
Panel of Special Masters Wrap Up Hearings With I-35W Bridge Collapse Victims
By Debra O'Connor
doconnor@pioneerpress.com
Updated: 1/28/2009
Victims of the Interstate 35W bridge collapse finished telling their stories to a special panel this week, but their pain continues as they wait to hear how funds set aside to help them will be distributed. Still, many say the process has helped them heal.
In the past three months, a panel of "special masters" — chairwoman Susan Holden, Steven Kirsch and Mike Tewksbury — have immersed themselves in the lives of people who were profoundly affected by the Aug. 1, 2007, bridge collapse. The three experienced personal injury lawyers were appointed to evaluate each victim's circumstances and divide $36.6 million among 179 claims.
For example, they heard from Garrett Ebling, a 34-year-old communications specialist from Plymouth, who was injured from his eye sockets to his ankles after a 60-foot nosedive into the Mississippi River. Ebling is still physically banged up and seeing a mental health counselor. When he scheduled his hearing with the panel, he asked for a full hour with all three members.
"I wanted to make sure everyone had the chance to hear what I had to say," Ebling said. And for the panel's part, "they truly wanted to hear the stories."
Although each victim had the option to be heard by the full panel, many preferred to speak to only one member. Even so, each panelist has read everything victims and their lawyers submitted, and all three members have discussed each case. The hearings wrapped up Tuesday.
To better understand the victims' personal stories, panel members first learned about the impact of post-traumatic stress disorder from expert Dr. Bessel van der Kolk of Boston University.
He helped them understand why some victims feel they need to devise escape routes from movie theaters, why some won't park in a ramp for fear it will crumble beneath them, and why a 7-year-old every day asks the bus driver: "Sir, is this bus safe?"
"You can no longer depend on things being solid and secure, so you start questioning everything," Tewksbury said. "They get in an elevator and it jostles and their heart starts racing and their palms start sweating."
Many victims had said the physical trauma of the bridge collapse wasn't nearly as bad as the emotional suffering, Kirsch said.
"The emotional part has destroyed several families," he said. "Some of the stories are absolutely gut-wrenching."
The special masters have heard from victims who have withdrawn from their spouses and children. Some no longer attend church or hang out at their social clubs because even now the first question on everybody's lips is about the bridge collapse. Their friends and relatives are trying to be kind and supportive, Tewksbury said, but "it rekindles the difficulties."
Talking directly to the special masters has been helpful emotionally for his 22 clients, lawyer Jim Schwebel said.
"It's been a very healthy thing for them to explain and discuss some of their losses," he said. "They wouldn't want someone making a decision on what they've suffered and what they've lost without that person having a chance to eyeball them and talk to them. That will create a feeling with them that at least some justice has been received."
To create the least intimidating, yet still businesslike, atmosphere possible, the hearings have taken place in small conference rooms rather than courtrooms. Panel members have worn their everyday work clothes rather than robes. There was no cross-examination; although almost all the victims were represented by lawyers, the tone was kept low-key.
"The lawyer should just shut up and let the victim talk," said Chris Messerly, who leads a 20-firm consortium that is representing 123 victims without charge.
The special masters said they expect the total of what they think the victims deserve will be larger than the $36.6 million allotted by the state.
"Obviously they have a tremendous challenge ahead of them," Ebling said of the panel. "I can't imagine trying to divide a finite amount of money. I feel confident in their abilities to make a just and a wise decision in terms of allocating the funds."
Settlement Details
The bridge victim compensation law stipulates two funds. One is $24 million for claims such as personal injury, property loss, pain and suffering, and death. No one can get more than $400,000 from this fund. The other fund of $12.6 million will go to victims whose medical expenses, income loss or reduced future earning capacity exceed $400,000.
- Settlement offers must be made by Feb. 28 and accepted or rejected by mid-April. Victims who accept the offers must waive the right to sue the state of Minnesota, the city of Minneapolis and the University of Minnesota. Any victims who reject offers will be competing for a total of $1 million, the per-event cap in existing law that was waived for the bridge collapse. Sen. Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park, a sponsor of last year's victim compensation bill, this week introduced a bill that would permanently eliminate that cap.
- The state's financial position was much stronger in 2008 than it is this year, as the Legislature is wrestling with a projected $4.85 billion budget shortfall. Lawyers and lawmakers have expressed relief that the compensation legislation was considered last year, as it would be a much tougher sell now.
- Some of lawyer Jim Schwebel's clients already are suing an engineering firm and a construction company for breach of contract and negligence. Lawyer Chris Messerly, who leads a 20-firm pro bono consortium, said he also expects to file suits.
