BY BEN L. KAUFMAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Racing to beat new limits on wrongful death awards in Ohio, lawyers Wednesday filed state and federal suits on behalf of a Procter & Gamble executive killed in the Jan. 9 Comair crash near Detroit.

Attorneys Lawrence Hawkins Jr. and Stanley M. Chesley filed complaints on behalf of Dexter C. Adams' family, seeking unspecified damages.

Comair refused comment, deferring to an attorney who did not respond to a request for a company comment on the two complaints.

Mr. Chesley said that the Adams family was the only one included in Wednesday's filings with the U.S. District Court and the Hamilton County Common Pleas Court because Mr. Adams, of Paddock Hills, was the sole Ohioan on the Embraer Brasilia 120 when it inexplicably dove into the ground during its landing approach.

Other victims may sue under wrongful death statutes in their home states, he said.

Mr. Chesley said Mr. Hawkins was an Adams family friend ''and he brought us into the case.''

The Chesley firm has won major awards and settlements in plane crashes and other fatal disasters around the world.

No law limits what Mr. Adams' family can seek for economic damages arising from the loss of income that Mr. Adams could have earned.

But if they had waited to file until Monday, a new Ohio law would have imposed a cap on such non-economic losses as sorrow and grief and loss of companionship and consortium.

The limit would have been $35,000 a year for the number of years Mr. Adams, 41, would have been expected to live had he not died in the crash.

Theresa Groh, a lawyer in the Chesley firm, said life expectancy tables indicated a black man Mr. Adams' age would probably live another 29 years.

On the other hand, wrongful death suits filed before Monday still allow juries to continue to award ''full and fair compensation'' for those same non-economic losses.

Defendants in the federal suit are Comair Holdings Inc., of Erlanger, Ky., and Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica, doing business as Embraer, the Brazilian based manufacturer of the plane. That case is in federal court because the Adamses and Comair Holdings are from different states.

The companion case is in Hamilton County court because the defendant in that suit, Comair Inc., is an Ohio corporation.

The cause remains under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Administration.

PROFILES OF VICTIMS
11 DAYS OF CRASH COVERAGE

Victims

First Officer
Kenneth Reece
Fort Wright, Ky.

Flight Attendant
Darinda Ogden Nilsen
Lexington, Ky.

PASSENGERS
Adams, Dexter
Cincinnati

Barrow, Gregory
Detroit

Bransford, Roger
Sandy Springs, Ga.

Brice, Arthur
Brookhaven, Miss.

Brownlee, Christine
Helena, Mont.

Brownlee, Scott
Helena, Mont.

Davis, Geoffrey
Detroit.

DeMarco, Maureen
Englewood, Colo.

Douchard, Greg
Wesson, Miss.

Felteau, Leo
Atlanta

Herman, Mark
Novi, Mich.

Jones, Betty Jean
Detroit

Jones, Charles
McComb, Miss.

McClain, Steven
Waterford, Mich.

Muskovitz, Teri
West Bloomfield, Mich.

Passariello, Kim
Lake Havasu, Ariz.

Raymond, Roy
Twin Falls, Id.

Raymond, Vernamarie
Twin Falls, Id.

Rosiak, Jennifer
Fairbanks, Alaska

Rosiak, Nicholas
Fairbanks, Alaska

Sharangpani, Arati
Holland, Mich.

Stearn, Richard
Whitmore Lake, Mich.

Takenami, Keita
Lexington, Ky.

Thomas, Douglas
Detroit.

Wansedel, Charles
Mount Clemens, Mich.

Zagar, Darlene
Danville, Ky.