Mike Slack of Austin—based Slack & Davis (http://www.slackdavis.com/) was recently profiled in the venerable Texas Lawyer last month for his unique approach to resolving the litigation that surfaced after the Reno Air Races crash 18 months ago, which claimed the lives of spectators and caused numerous injuries.
Slack, a veteran aviation lawyer, recognized that there was a cap of the amount of funds that would be available to plaintiffs of $100 million. So he brought all the plaintiffs’ lawyers together and created a “claims resolution facility” to administer the funds that were available to the families of those injured or killed.
This produced a number of winners, including the insurance company, the Reno Air Races Association, and most importantly the plaintiffs since some of them would have been left out after the $100 million was exhausted through traditional litigation.
“The idea was to have something with certainty and had an advantage over the alternatives,” Slack told Texas Lawyer.
Slack also brought in Ken Feinberg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Feinberg) to help oversee the collaborative process. Feinberg was impressed with the concept, telling the newspaper:
“The creativity and ability of Slack and Michael McQuillen (opposing counsel) made my job much easier. They were on the same page from day one. It’s vastly preferable to arguing in the courtroom. Instead, the lawyers get together, they secure the services of an independent neutral, they work with a formula, fashioning a formula, and then the formula is implemented.”
