Special master in Station fire cases dies at 75

PROVIDENCE — In many senses Duke University law Prof. Francis E. McGovern could be considered the father of alternative dispute resolution in America, but in Rhode Island he played a sensitive and special role as the special master who brokered the settlement for the 300-plus victims of the Station nightclub fire.

McGovern died Feb. 14 after a fall at his home in Marin County, California, according to an announcement by the Duke University School of Law. He was 75.

“I don’t think, without his help, it would have gotten resolved when it did,” said Gina Russo, a survivor of the Feb. 20, 2003, blaze that killed 100 people and left 200 more injured.

McGovern had built a reputation as a skilled and much sought special master in complex cases when Senior U.S. District Court Judge Ronald R. Lagueux appointed him to the Station fire litigation in 2007. He had helped resolve the DDT toxic exposure litigation, the Dalkon Shield intrauterine device litigation and the silicone breast implant cases. He also assisted in developing a reparations system for people, businesses and government entities affected by the Iraq war.

“He’s a beautiful man,” Providence lawyer Mark Mandell, who represented more than 100 victims of the Station fire. Mandell recalled buying McGovern a coffee and newspapers before taking him to the site of the fire on Cowesett Avenue in West Warwick so he could see it first hand.

As special master, McGovern met with each of the victims and their families, reviewed their medical records and work history prior to the deadly fire, to assess each person’s situation, losses and physical and psychic suffering. He then devised a point system for awarding damages to distribute the settlements of the lawsuits stemming from the fire. McGovern donated his services.

“He wasn’t afraid to look at us. … We were very used to people not being able to look at us,” said Russo, who suffered near fatal smoke inhalation and third- and fourth-degree burns.

Russo lost her fiancé, Alfred ''Freddy" Crisostomi, in the fire.

A mother of two young sons at the time, Russo had to be placed in a medically-induced coma for 11 weeks. She has undergone more than 120 surgeries.

Russo’s injuries require that she wear a wig the rest of her life, something that upset her terribly at the time.

“He said, `I can’t change that for you,’” Russo said, but he assured her he would make sure she always had something beautiful in the aftermath. Russo is now the president of the Station Fire Memorial Foundation.

A pyrotechnic display set off by the heavy metal band Great White sparked the fire that quickly spread to highly flammable foam installed on the walls and ceiling by club owners Michael and Jeffrey Derderian as soundproofing. The wood-frame building was awash in building and fire-code violations, when it filled with flames and toxic smoke, according to state prosecutors and the victims’ lawyers. The club, which was overcrowded and had no sprinklers, became engulfed within three minutes; many of those who died were caught in a stampede for the door.

More than 300 people who suffered injuries or lost loved ones in the fire filed civil lawsuits seeking damages.

McGovern designed the system that distributed $176 million in settlement funds to 310 people to resolve their claims against a host of entities.

“What an awful, awful loss to the world. He definitely will be greatly missed,” Russo said of the soft-spoken McGovern.

More recently McGovern was serving as one of three special masters helping to resolve the thousands of lawsuits brought by cities and states against opioid manufacturers, distributors, and others.

kmulvane@providencejournal.com

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