By MATT CHANDLER
Buffalo Law Journal

Hugh Russ III has been the lead attorney for his firm, Hodgson Russ LLP, as it represents families of five victims of the Feb. 12 crash of Continental Airlines Flight 3407 in Clarence Center.

Last week, that role expanded considerably.

In a meeting of the attorneys representing victims' families, Russ was chosen to serve as the liaison counsel for the group. In that role, he will act as the primary spokesman for the plaintiffs and will handle administrative duties as the various lawsuits move forward.

To date, Russ said, families of approximately 35 of the crash victims are being represented by 20 different law firms, and of those, about 15 have filed lawsuits in connection with the crash.

"We expect another 15 lawsuits to be filed within the next week or so," he said.

Pilot Marvin Renslow and co-pilot Rebecca Shaw, who have been criticized for their actions leading up to the crash, were both employees of Colgan Air Inc., the regional airline that operated the flight on Continental's behalf. Russ said their families have not filed any wrongful-death suits as of Thursday.

"It is anticipated that they will be represented and that they will file an action against Bombardier, the manufacturer," he said. "They can't sue Colgan directly because they were employees."

As for the remaining suits, Russ said he expects that the individual suits will be consolidated into an MDL (multi-district litigation), which he hopes will then be forwarded to the U.S. District Court in Buffalo, where Hon. William Skretny can preside over the discovery phase of litigation and the determination of liability.

Russ said he has heard rumors that Colgan Air and its insurance carrier may be interested in settling the lawsuits.

"I've been telling our clients that resolution in the cases is probably two or three years away," he said.

In the meantime, Russ said he will embrace his new role to coordinate the efforts on behalf of the victims' families.

"I'm very honored to have been chosen for this role, because there are some incredible attorneys involved, both locally and nationally, but more importantly, I am really looking forward to being the voice of the families," he said. "I don't think we can do enough to keep these cases in the public eye. The ultimate goal of every family I have spoken with is not so much to recover money, but to ensure changes are made in the airline industry and this kind of tragedy never happens again."