Lawyers don't foresee suits against NIU

Amid threatened lawsuits and proposed settlements in the Virginia Tech shootings, attorneys said Tuesday such legal battles don't seem to be brewing over last month's killings at Northern Illinois University.

Circumstances surrounding the NIU rampage that left five students dead differ starkly from those at Virginia Tech, where a gunman killed 32 people, noted Kathleen Zellner, a Chicago attorney who has won several high-profile lawsuits.

For starters, she said, there's no indication of glaring shortcomings in NIU's security response.

"In the absence of that, I don't see the viability of a suit here," said Zellner, who recently won a $15.5 million award for a couple who accused sheriff's deputies of fabricating evidence in the slaying of their daughter, Riley Fox. "If somebody came to me -- and no one has -- without evidence of negligence, I wouldn't take the case."

No lawsuits have been filed yet in the Virginia Tech case, but at least 20 families have filed notice they may sue. No lawsuits nor notices have been filed in the NIU shootings, state and school officials said.

Attorneys would have been hotly pursing NIU lawsuits weeks ago if they thought they could win one, said attorney Michael Helfand, who monitors Chicago's legal scene for an online lawyers referral service.

"They would be soliciting the business through runners, and there would be motions to file for evidence, for videos," he said. "None of that has happened."

But in such a litigious society as the United States, Helfand added, a lawsuit is always a possibility.

"Anyone can sue anyone if they really want to," he said. "It could happen in this case. But it would be unusual."

At Virginia Tech, questions arose immediately about how authorities responded to the shootings.

The gunman shot his first two victims in a dormitory about 7 a.m. April 16, but the university did not send an e-mail alert until more than two hours later -- just before the shooter killed 30 others in a classroom building across campus. Some families fault the university for not warning those on campus sooner that a gunman may be loose.

NIU's response Feb. 14 received little criticism, in part because the shooting began and ended so quickly.

The NIU gunman opened fire in a crowed lecture hall before turning a gun on himself. Police entered the hall just minutes after the shooting began to find the gunman dead.

Before authorities could confirm the gunman acted alone and was dead, NIU launched its emergency alert system -- a carefully rehearsed plan developed after the Virginia Tech shootings. They sent out e-mails and posted messages on Web sites to notify students a possible gunman was on campus and that they needed to find a safe area.

The mental health histories of both gunmen have raised questions for authorities about whether better access to state records and more stringent reporting requirements for patients who display violent, suicidal or threatening behavior might have prevented the bloodbaths.

But while the Virginia Tech gunman was a current student, the NIU gunman was a former student there. That would put a greater burden on anyone trying to prove any responsibility for predicting or preventing his rampage lay with NIU.

"In intervening third-party actions, it's difficult to shift the blame from the perpetrator to the university or employees," Zellner said. "If he (went to school) on campus and there were reported threats, you'd have something to work with."

State authorities in Virginia have taken steps to pre-empt lawsuits.

They have offered representatives of those killed $100,000 each and the chance to question the governor and university officials if they give up the right to sue state government, according to a copy of the proposal obtained this week by The Associated Press.

There doesn't appear to be talk about a similar settlement in NIU's case.

"We have not had any such discussions," NIU spokeswoman Melanie Magara said Tuesday.

She referred other questions to the school's legal department. Messages left at the office were not returned Tuesday afternoon.