Gathers Trial Date Expected to Be Set by Judge Today : Lawsuit: A voluntary settlement conference is scheduled for Friday.

After 20 months of legal haggling and halfhearted attempts at settlement, the multimillion-dollar lawsuits brought by the estate and family of Hank Gathers are ready for trial.

An early trial date is expected to be set this morning in Los Angeles Superior Court in Torrance by Judge Gary Hastings in the case involving the death of Gathers, a star basketball player at Loyola Marymount who collapsed March 4, 1990, at Gersten Pavilion while playing in a postseason tournament game and died less than two hours later.

An autopsy listed the cause of death as a heart disorder, but members of Gathers’ family and representatives of his estate assert that Gathers would not have died had his condition been properly treated.

The wrongful death suits were announced within weeks of Gathers’ death against 14 defendants, including Loyola, some of its employees, former Loyola coach Paul Westhead, and Drs. Vernon Hattori and Michael Mellman, Gathers’ cardiologist and internist, respectively. The plaintiffs contend that the defendants in some way played a part in Gathers’ death either by negligence before he died, at courtside in the moments before his death or by concealing information to keep Gathers in the starting lineup.

Mellman, the team doctor for several Southland sports organizations including the Dodgers, Kings and Lakers, was recently brought to the forefront because he is Magic Johnson’s doctor.

The two suits--one for $32 million filed on behalf of Gathers’ mother, Lucille, brothers Derrick and Charles and an aunt, Carole Livingston; and the other of an unspecified amount on behalf of Gathers’ 8-year-old son, Aaron Crump--have since been combined and pared down. But the number of attorneys and insurance companies involved have multiplied--there are 10 firms--a factor that has kept the convoluted case from even nearing settlement.

Hastings is expected to set a trial date for within four to six months, but could set one as soon as 90 days because a minor--Gathers’ son--is a plaintiff. The law allows a minor to benefit from a trial six to nine months from the time the case is ready, and Hastings, who had previously set a trial date for September of this year, contends that the attorneys have already used up the time.

Nevertheless, efforts to settle the case will continue Friday in a voluntary settlement conference before retired judge Jack Trotter. In the past few months, there have been two conferences and multiple phone conversations, but an early trial date may expedite a compromise among the attorneys. It could cost the defendants up to $1 million to depose expert witnesses before trial.

“Once the time clock is running, it puts pressure to approach the settlement seriously,” said Mike Montgomery, an attorney for Loyola.

Westhead, however, has refused to be represented in the negotiations. His attorney, Richie Phillips, said Westhead will not settle “under any circumstances” or allow anyone to pay money to settle on his behalf.

“I want total 100% vindication for Paul,” Phillips said from his office in Philadelphia.

The position of Westhead, who is in his second season as coach of the Denver Nuggets, could become the deciding factor in whether a settlement is reached. The 14 defendants do not have to settle as a unit, and the estate case, for example, could be settled apart from Lucille Gathers’ claims.

However, if all parties but Westhead reach agreement, the only options would be for the plaintiffs to litigate the case solely against him or to dismiss the case against him, the latter seeming unlikely because Westhead is a key defendant.

To further complicate matters, Phillips filed a $1-million defamation of character suit on behalf of Westhead against Bruce Fagel, the Gathers’ family attorney. Westhead alleges that Fagel publicly made false allegations about his connection to Gathers’ death. Phillips said he will also see that case through to trial and will not dismiss it as part of a compromise.

“It’s an interesting side event that Westhead and Phillips may affect the rest of the defendants and whether or not the case can be resolved,” Fagel said. “The family has no burning desire to carry the case on to the bitter end. Lucille doesn’t want to go to court, but she is prepared to. Westhead has more control over this case than Lucille.”

The majority of the attorneys involved said they are doubtful that a settlement can be reached. But C. Snyder Patin, the attorney for Hattori, the cardiologist who treated Gathers, says that even though his client is innocent a jury trial may present a risk.

“If you were trying the case before 12 medical scientists, the verdict would be 12-0 for the defense,” Patin said. “But with lay people and the complexity of the medical testimony, they may be more inclined to sympathy, and that of course factors into the equation to settle the case short of trial.”

The defendants suffered a significant setback when they lost a motion seeking to deny Lucille Gathers the right to sue for wrongful death. They claimed that Lucille was not being supported by her son at the time of his death, a requirement in wrongful death cases. The defendants took the motion on petition to the California Supreme Court, which refused to hear the case.

One of the claims on behalf of the estate is for restitution of a $1-million disability insurance policy Gathers purchased before his senior year at Loyola. Martin Krimsky, the estate’s attorney, contends that Gathers was disabled and should not have been permitted to play. “If he would have been properly treated he would have survived and would have been disabled. After one year, Hank would have received $1 million,” said Krimsky, who practices in Philadelphia.

Meanwhile, Aaron Crump, who was 6 when his father died, continues to live with his mother, Marva, in the Raymond Rosen projects in Philadelphia, around the corner from his grandmother, Lucille. But Aaron and Lucille have benefited from selling the story rights of Gathers’ life for a made-for-television film, “The Final Shot: The Hank Gathers Story,” which will air during the NCAA Final Four. The rights fee, $75,000, was split among Aaron, Lucille and Bo Kimble, who Fagel said gave a portion of his fee back to Lucille.

But Crump apparently lost out on the Hank Gathers’ fund that was started by Loyola in the days after Gathers’ death. The fund dried up quickly after Lucille Gathers announced the lawsuit, but she did receive about $10,000 in contributions that had already come in. Crump’s representatives say he did not receive any of that money.

There have been several changes at Loyola since Gathers’ death. Westhead left the school after the 1990 season to become head coach of the Nuggets, marking his return to the NBA since the 1982-83 season, when he coached the Chicago Bulls. Chip Schaefer, Loyola’s trainer, took a job as trainer of the Bulls. Father James N. Loughran, Loyola’s president, resigned earlier this year to pursue other interests.

There is one thing that has remained the same at Loyola. The banner proclaiming Gersten Pavilion, “HANK’S HOUSE” still hangs to the left of the scoreboard. The sign, which was donated by Loyola’s varsity teams after Gathers’ death, was stolen this time last year. It was found about five weeks later by a groundskeeper, lying on the ground close to the gym, folded up.