State prepares to sue over bridge failure
Legal team aims to recoup money
PROVIDENCE — It’s “open season” on anyone responsible for the failure of the Washington Bridge.
That’s the message from two new lawyers, Max Wistow and Jonathan Savage, who have been hired by Governor Dan McKee to pursue a potential lawsuit against contractors or any other parties. The goal is to recoup money for the state.
At a news conference announcing the legal team Friday morning, Wistow said one of his conditions was that there would be “no limit on the defendants” that can be sued.
“If someone is at fault, it would be open season,” Wistow said. “The chips are going to fall where they may.”
Wistow’s name is familiar to Rhode Islanders because he recouped roughly $50 million for the state in the lawsuit over Curt Schilling’s defunct video game company 38 Studios, which left Rhode Island taxpayers holding the bag when it failed.
The hiring of the legal team comes after McKee promised a “day of reckoning” back in March for anyone responsible for the failure of the bridge, which was shut down abruptly in December due to a “critical failure.” The Interstate 195 bridge, which takes drivers westbound to Providence from the East Bay, now needs to be demolished and rebuilt, with a reopening date sometime in 2026.
“Any responsible parties will be held fully accountable,” McKee said.
The lawyers will be reimbursed on an ongoing basis for their out-of-pocket expenses during the legal process, according to the engagement agreement, and will also get 16„ percent of any damages recouped by the potential lawsuit.
It’s not yet clear if accountability will come for any state officials who were responsible for maintaining the bridge, including Department of Transportation director Peter Alviti, who was not in attendance at the press conference. McKee said that’s because the work to repair the bridge is being kept separate from the legal process.
“If people had information that they didn’t provide ... of course there’s going to be accountability,” McKee said of state employees.
Wistow said if the legal team finds that Alviti did anything wrong, they would report that.
“It looks like this has been going on for a long time, and it looks like maybe DOT has some responsibility, but that’s on the surface,” Wistow said. “We really don’t know the details.”
The top priority for the new lawyers will be to review the yetto-be-completed forensic analysis of the “root causes” of the bridge failure. The analysis, which is being conducted by engineering consultants firm Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, was expected to be released last week but has now been delayed.
There’s no timeline yet on when the potential lawsuit could be filed. McKee said a thorough review is needed.
Attorney General Peter Neronha, whose role involves representing the state in litigation, said Thursday that McKee declined his offer to help with the legal case. Responding to that on Friday, McKee said he had thanked Neronha for his offer at the time he made it last month, but defended the choice to hire a private legal team.
“We’re following precedent that’s already been established out of our office,” McKee said. “I am taking a leading role in this effort in terms of the Washington Bridge and everything to do with the Washington Bridge.”
He added that the new legal team will use “every asset” possible in their efforts, including Neronha.
The lawsuit comes as the McKee administration is also working to hire contractors to demolish and reconstruct the bridge.
It’s unclear if the contractors that were undertaking a nowcanceled renovation project on the bridge could be hired to build the new one, or if they could be among the parties held responsible for the failure.
“Clearly that’s the reason that we’re going out to a competitive bid process,” McKee said, rather than just using the existing contractors.
The DOT is also working on adding additional lanes on the separate, eastbound bridge, which is still open and now carrying traffic in both directions.