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Susan M. Holden
Susan M. Holden, a partner in the firm, has distinguished herself representing injured people. Her career accomplishments include several million-dollar recoveries for her clients.

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Fairness, compassion come into play as panel divides $36.6 million for I-35W bridge victims

St. Paul Pioneer Press
By Debra O’Connor

Pollee Chit, of Mendota Heights, holds tightly to her daughter Alexandra Petry, 4, crying quietly as officials orate about the I-35W bridge disaster and its consequences at a press conference Monday, September 15, 2008 at the south end of the northbound lane of the newly completed I-35W bridge. Pollee's mother Vera Peck and brother Richard Chit were killed when the bridge collapsed. (PIONEER PRESS:JOHN DOMAN)

While contractors finish the new Interstate 35W bridge, set to open Thursday, dozens of victims of the Aug. 1, 2007, bridge collapse are still working to get their lives back on track. Last spring, the Legislature appropriated millions to help do just that. But lawmakers didn't specify how much each victim should get. They left those decisions in the hands of three Twin Cities personal injury lawyers: Susan Holden, Steven Kirsch and Mike Tewksbury.

Chosen from 35 applicants, the three were appointed "special masters" by then-Minnesota Chief Justice Russell Anderson. The title is the same as that held by Kenneth Feinberg, who administered the federal Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 stemming from attacks on New York and Washington. While Feinberg had a fund of more than $7 billion, the Minnesota panel will be working with $36.6 million.

The Legislature arrived at the figure after weeks of contentious hearings. The money is vastly more than the $1 million per incident allowed by then-existing state law, but many choices will be needed to apportion the $36.6 million among the families of the 13 who died, plus the 150 or so who were injured.

The three panel members have decades of experience and a depth of expertise in what state law requires and allows for personal injury claims. They have represented plaintiffs hurt in auto accidents to slips in puddles. They've also defended parties, such as contractors, accused of wrongdoing in personal injury lawsuits. And they've acted as mediator or arbitrator in hundreds of cases.

But this is different from past cases. Bridge victims are not alleging the state of Minnesota was at fault for their injuries — indeed, to receive any money, each must sign a waiver and agree not to sue the state.

"There's no adversary here," Kirsch said. "That's why we had to build into the claim form" the kinds of questions that ordinarily would come up on cross-examination.
As for hearings, "We want to make this very user-friendly. We want to come up with an atmosphere that is least upsetting," he said. That's why, rather than using a courtroom, panel members will have hearings in their firms' conference rooms.

As part of the process, victims fill out a detailed claim form, due by Oct. 15. Each victim can have his or her claim heard by one special master or all three. They also can submit to the panel any other information — letters, videos, photographs.

"It's a very strong need for people to be able to tell their story," Holden said. "It's important to have a full and complete understanding of what they've been through."

Most of the victims have lawyers who have agreed to work for no fee, and they will not take a percentage of what the victims are awarded. The lawyers have been gathering information from doctors and employers.

"This is by far the greatest period of intense work," said Chris Messerly, who heads a 20-firm pro bono consortium. "This, for many, will be their one shot at justice."

To help school the special masters in problems specific to the bridge collapse victims, Messerly's firm, Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi, is bringing in an international expert on post-traumatic stress disorder and has suggested a separate hearing for the children and adults on the Waite House school bus that fell during the bridge collapse. The special masters will study each claim to determine how much to appropriate to each victim.

As part of the victims compensation fund, the first $24 million to be assigned can include all manner of claims for damages, such as personal injury, property loss, pain and suffering or death. From this fund, no survivor can receive more than $400,000. The remaining amount is for higher payments to victims whose medical expenses, income loss or reduced future earning capacity exceeds $400,000.

Victims will receive their award offers by Feb. 28 and have 45 days to accept or reject them. Negotiations are not permitted.

In addition to the panel's work thus far to set up the claims process, the three special masters expect their duties to keep them busy full time for five more months, Holden said. The panel members will receive $700,000 for their work; that will cover some of their expenses but not nearly all, they said.

Holden sees the appointment as an opportunity to do meaningful public service for people whose lives have been changed forever by the bridge collapse.

"Out of the chaos and tragedy of what happened," she said, "this money can help them live with the consequences.”