Trial Date Set for Gathers Lawsuits : Loyola: Attorneys say a meeting might be held in December to discuss settlement.

A trial date of Sept. 3, 1991, was set by a Los Angeles County Superior judge Thursday for hearing lawsuits related to the death of Hank Gathers.

Gathers, a basketball player at Loyola Marymount University, died last spring of cardiomyopathy, a heart disorder, shortly after he was stricken during a game.

Attorneys representing 14 defendants and six plaintiffs, including Gathers’ estate, appeared before Judge Gary Hastings in a Southwest District Court in Torrance for a status conference of two multimillion-dollar suits, which were filed separately in April and June on behalf of Gathers’ family and his estate and son. The suits have since been consolidated and will be tried as one.

Gathers collapsed March 4 while playing in a West Coast Conference tournament game and was pronounced dead 1 hour 40 minutes later. The suits, filed against then-Loyola Coach Paul Westhead, Loyola Marymount and 12 other defendants, claim that Gathers died because of negligence by doctors and school employees.

There have been no settlement discussions since the suits were filed, although attorneys say a meeting may be held in December.

“There has been some discussion of a voluntary settlement conference before the end of the year,” said Wayne Boehle, the attorney who represents Loyola and its employees. “It would be presided over by a third party, who would have no power to act but would help try to settle the case.”

Bruce Fagel, who represents Gathers’ mother, Lucille, brothers Derrick and Charles and an aunt, Carol Livingston, agreed that there is a chance the conference will be held during the second week of December but said he wouldn’t bet on that happening.

“The bottom line is, this case should settle but may not because the defendants cannot get their act together,” Fagel said. “The university wants the doctors to pay, but the doctors have limited liability. The university has unlimited liability. Then there are six different law firms and that is difficult to coordinate.

“My clients do not want a trial but will go if they have to.”

Fagel’s suit, for $32.5 million, was filed April 20. The second suit, for an unspecified figure, was filed June 8 by Philadelphia attorney Martin Krimsky on behalf of Gathers’ estate and Aaron Crump, Gathers’ 6-year-old son who lives in Philadelphia with his mother, Marva Crump.

“If this case goes to trial it will be a long, complicated case because there are so many issues,” Fagel said.

Meanwhile, attorneys for the defendants continue to file for the dismissal of specific causes of actions listed in the complaints. Last month a commissioner tossed out two causes of action and sent others back to Krimsky and Fagel for revision. Fagel has amended his complaint and refiled.

“To put it simply, the motions that we have filed since are to take a lot of the water out of the complaint and get it down to what can easily be issues that need to be decided by a jury,” Boehle said. “If they can be reduced, we will end up with just the wrongful-death action.”