The following report is courtesy of Tracy Breton from Projo.com:

Lawyers representing victims of the Station nightclub fire are asking a federal judge to set up a timetable for reviewing the proposed settlements that have been offered by the dozens of parties sued by those who lost loved ones or suffered injuries in the 2003 blaze.

In papers filed yesterday afternoon in U.S. District Court, lawyers for the fire victims asked Senior U.S. District Judge Ronald R. Lagueux to establish scheduling orders so their clients can get money from the proposed settlements as quickly as possible.

They say that by Oct. 15, they would like to submit for the court’s review a grid for distribution of the settlement proceeds that has been created by Duke University law Prof. Francis E. McGovern, whom Lagueux has appointed as special master in the fire case.

Lawyers for the fire victims say it is important to speed up the settlement review process because many of the fire victims are facing “critical, indeed critical, financial needs.” Each month of delay in finalizing the proposed settlement agreements means that there will be a “loss of substantial interest” that could be accruing on the settlement funds, they assert.

On Monday, lawyers for the fire victims finalized the last of a raft of tentative settlement agreements that have been reached in the mass tort case –– all of which must be approved by each of the fire victims and by Lagueux. All together, more than $176 million has been offered to those hurt or who lost family members in the fire.

The fire killed 100 people and injured more than 200 others. It began when sparks from fireworks set off by the rock band GREAT WHITE ignited highly flammable polyurethane foam that the owners of the club had installed as soundproofing.

The wood-frame building on Cowesett Avenue in West Warwick was a deathtrap, awash in building and fire-code violations, when it filled with flames and toxic smoke the night of Feb. 20, 2003, according to prosecutors and the victims’ lawyers. The overcrowded club became engulfed within three minutes; many of those who died were caught in a stampede for the door. The nightclub had no sprinklers.

Read more here.