By MATT CHANDLER
Buffalo Law Journal

It's been more than a week since Continental Airlines Flight 3407 fell from the sky, but it will take months, maybe years, for the families of the 50 people who died to confront the harsh reality of the damage caused by the disaster.

Stephen Foley, a personal-injury attorney who's a partner in Paul William Beltz PC, is representing the family of Douglas Wielinski, the Clarence Center man who died when the aircraft crashed into his home.

His wife, Karen, and daughter Jill managed to escape the burning wreckage; now they must deal with the reality of losing not only their husband and father, Foley said, but their worldly possessions.

"There are so many basic issues this family is facing," he said. "They have nothing to go back to, and they have to try and figure out: How do we rebuild our lives?"

He said any litigation is secondary to assisting his clients as they deal with issues of housing, life insurance and immediate financial needs.

"I didn't run down and file a lawsuit against the airline," Foley said, "Right now, we are going to completely stay out of the way and let the experts do their jobs. This is a unique situation, and our concern is with this family and making sure we offer them the legal help they need."

Others who lost loved ones in the crash have been gathering in Clarence at an undisclosed family-assistance center. Bob Saltzman, chairman of the New York State Bar Association's Mass Disaster Response Committee, has been onsite since shortly after the crash to assist people with legal questions. Saltzman said his team has fielded hundreds of inquiries from family members in need of assistance.

"It has been a myriad of issues that we have seen, from families needing to know how to get a death certificate to people with immigration issues who don't have a U.S. passport and need to get into the country to attend a memorial service or funeral," he said.

Saltzman said his group also is working to keep predatory lawyers away from victims' relatives during this emotional time. Federal law prohibits lawyers from contacting victims or their families within 45 days of an accident. While Saltzman acknowledged that such solicitation does happen after disasters, he hasn't seen any issues arise in Clarence.

"The security here has been very tight, and we have been vigilant in watching out for the families," he said.

Once investigators have completed their work at the crash site, there are likely to be dozens of wrongful-death suits filed. Steve Barnes, a partner in Cellino and Barnes PC who also is a licensed pilot, explained the process in place for addressing such cases.

"Typically, there is an MDL (multi-district litigation) set up and a federal judge is assigned to oversee the cases," Barnes said.

In wrongful-death cases involving this type of air disaster, he said, plaintiffs' families are entitled to not only pecuniary losses (loss of future earnings), but also compensation for what he called the "pre-impact terror of, in all likelihood, knowing you are going to die."

Barnes said typically, once the facts are known, both sides will meet and, often, work out settlements before trial. However, with the official investigation to determine the cause of the crash expected to last at least a year, reaching a legal resolution for the families will likely be a slow process. Though lawyers are prohibited from initiating any contact with victims' families, the families are allowed to seek legal representation immediately after a disaster such as the crash of Flight 3407. Barnes said his firm has been contacted by families of some of the crash victims, though as of now, it isn't representing any of them.

As the Wielinski family prepares to bury their husband and father, Foley said they are in no position to speak about the events of last week.

Instead, his office released a statement on their behalf that read, in part: "Karen Wielinski and her family would like to express their sincere gratitude to the entire Western New York community for its concern and support during this difficult time ... They would also like to offer their most sincere condolences to all those family and friends who lost loved ones on Flight 3407."