Trial Magazine

On Feb. 20, 2003, a catastrophic fire at the Station nightclub in West Warwick, R.I., killed 100 people and injured more than 200 ­others. In May, 14 years after the fire, 500 survivors, family members, and community leaders honored those who were lost by coming together at the opening of the Station Fire Memorial Park, which was built on the site of the fire. In addition to multiple gardens and a courtyard, the one-acre park includes stone monuments inscribed with the names and birth dates of each person who died.

The fourth deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history, former Rhode Island Governor Don Carcieri described the station fire as the “state’s worst tragedy.”

AAJ member and Rhode Island attorney Mark Mandell explained, “Rhode Island is a small state; there aren’t that many degrees of separation among its residents, and the fire just devastated Rhode Island and people from surrounding states as well.”

Mandell’s firm, Mandell, Schwartz & Boisclair, teamed up with other plaintiff firms to lead the litigation in the civil case on behalf of the victims and their families. The litigation resulted in a recovery of more than $176 million divided among 306 plaintiffs.

In an August 2013 Trial article, Mandell and partner Yvette Boisclair shared some of the important lessons from the case and how they can be applied to other complex, multiparty, mass tort cases involving nightclubs and similar premises. Their biggest takeaway was realizing the value of approaching their proof development in small, incremental steps. They formed working committees with the other plaintiff firms—in addition to being colead counsel, Mandell served as chair of the committees responsible for plaintiffs’ discovery, settlement, and examination of the highly flammable polyurethane foam used to soundproof the club’s walls. They also hired close to 20 experts to investigate the science and circumstances surrounding the fire.

The firm decided to take on the case to help provide closure for the victims and their families, which they couldn’t receive from criminal prosecution. The fire forever changed their lives; in a positive way, so did the lawsuit.

The opening of the memorial park is another step toward closure. ­Spearheaded by the Station Fire Memorial Foundation and Gina Russo, a client of Mandell’s who lost her fiancé and suffered severe injuries in the fire, the memorial park involved more than a decade of ­planning and difficult ­fundraising. But just like in the litigation, several groups came together to support the cause. The memorial park now serves as a beautiful place to remember those who were lost.