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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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Susan M. Holden - Press

What's suffering worth?

Attorney to decide on bridge victims

MINNEAPOLIS - Susan Holden built a legal career as an attorney trying to get everything she could for people hurt in car accidents or by defective products.

Now the Backus native has to divide up $36.6 million among more than 180 people whose lives were damaged by the Interstate 35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis. It's an unprecedented state response to the Aug. 1 disaster, even if victims' attorneys say it's too small.

"If there is not enough money to go around, then we have to come up with a fair way to distribute what is there," Holden said. "That is going to be no small challenge."

Holden, 47, a former president of the Minnesota State Bar Association, heads a panel that has until Feb. 28 to make compensation offers to bridge victims. She and two other personal injury attorneys - Steven Kirsch and Michael Tewksbury - were picked for the panel by former Supreme Court Chief Justice Russell Anderson.

The offers will be final - no appeals. Victims have 45 days to accept or decline. Few seem likely to decline, given that Minnesota's liability under state law is limited to $1 million for the entire incident.

There have been other government responses to major tragedies, most notably the federal Sept. 11 compensation fund that distributed more than $7 billion among more than 5,500 victims of the 2001 attacks. But that fund had an unlimited amount of money authorized by Congress.

That wasn't the case in Minnesota, which makes the job more difficult, said Ken Feinberg, the attorney who ran the Sept. 11 fund.

"I didn't have this situation where one claimant said, 'You're giving me less because you're giving more to him - why?"' Feinberg said. "Here the committee's going to have to divide up a finite amount of compensation. That's a tough assignment."

Holden - who said she often functions as a buffer between the legal system and the emotions of clients facing enormous losses - jumped into her new assignment as soon as she was tapped in late May. She proofread letterhead earlier this week and is working on a Web site where victims can download claim forms and find answers to their questions about the compensation process.

The panel is also working on the release form victims will have to sign if they accept a settlement and give up their right to sue the state and other government entities in Minnesota.

Attorneys who have been on the other side of car accident and product liability cases described Holden as professional, prepared and polite.

Paul Godfrey, who represents Illinois Farmers Insurance Co., said Holden is able to make her clients understand when to take a reasonable offer, even when they hoped to get more. He said that skill will come in handy as Holden makes decisions about bridge victim compensation.

"If there's anyone who can do it, she'll be able to explain to people, 'Maybe this isn't perfect but this is the best we can do,"' Godfrey said. "All she can do is be fair about it and splitting it up."

Chris Messerly, an attorney with a pro bono coalition representing more than 100 bridge victims, said Holden is an "outstanding" choice to lead a bridge compensation panel that will face unwelcome choices.

"There's not enough money in this fund to fully compensate everyone," Messerly said. "What they're going to have to do is get all the claims in and take a look and decide how to prorate it, so to speak."

Messerly said he and other victims' lawyers have been scrambling to make sure their clients see their doctors so they can submit full medical documentation by the Oct. 15 claim deadline. They're rushing to make sure they get all the paperwork in on time.

Between Oct. 15 and the end of January, Holden and her team plan to listen to victims tell their stories in private hearings. In February, they will look at all the claims and decide how much to offer each person.

The panel can offer each victim up to $400,000 - including compensation for pain, suffering and emotional distress - from a $24 million account.