By Tony Biasotti Friday, April 3, 2009



LOS ANGELES — Attorneys for more than 30 victims of the Sept. 12 Metrolink crash were in court together for the first time Friday as a judge began to lay down the rules for combining their cases into one multimillion-dollar case.

Lawsuits continue to stream in against Metrolink’s governing agency and Connex Railroad, the company that operated the passenger train that hit a freight car in Chatsworth, killing 25 people and injuring more than 100. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Peter Lichtman said he plans to consolidate all of the suits for the pre-trial phase, although not necessarily when the cases are tried.

A total of 25 plaintiffs’ attorneys and four defense lawyers crammed into Lichtman’s Westlake district courtroom, where they offered a preview of what some of the key pre-trial issues might be.

Jerry Ringler, one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, called the matter “a really clean liability case” in most regards but with a few “problematic” areas.

One will be the extent to which liability for the crash might be divided between Metrolink, Connex, and Connex’s parent company, Veolia Transportation.

Ringler said either Metrolink or Connex could be considered responsible for the actions of train engineer Robert Sanchez, who sent text messages and missed a red light just seconds before the crash. Sanchez died in the collision, along with 24 Metrolink passengers.

Connex and Metrolink are involved in a federal lawsuit that could settle that dispute.

Another major pre-trial issue will be a federal law that places a $200 million cap on total damages from a single train crash.

With all the deaths and injuries Sept. 12, the plaintiffs could easily seek more than double the $200 million limit, said Jerry Ringler, one of the victims’ attorneys.

“There’s no question the cap is an issue,” said Connex attorney Jeffrey Shohet. “There is a federal statute that limits damages to $200 million and that clearly applies to the defendants here. Our position is we’re involved in a $200 million case.”

Paul Kiesel, one of the plaintiffs’ lead attorneys, told Lichtman he will argue that the $200 million limit should not apply in this case. He did not elaborate.

“I’m sure he’ll provide something other than, ‘I object, because it hurts my case,’ ” Lichtman told Shohet.

The plaintiffs’ attorneys plan to disclose a preliminary total of the potential damages by June 1, Kiesel said. In that accounting, the victims and the amount their families might seek will be identified by numerical code rather than by name.

“From my perspective, before we try to challenge the cap, we want to ascertain the value of the claims,” Kiesel said. “They perceive this as a $200 million case and it may well be, if the claims only add up to $200 million.”

The Metrolink train was bound for Simi Valley when it slammed into a freight train, and 21 of those killed were from Ventura County.