An attorney representing the parents of Cameron Chana expects the family of the other deceased person involved in the May 30 double-decker bus accident to file a similar lawsuit within the next two weeks.

Robert Bingle, an attorney from Corboy and Demetrio law firm in Chicago, also said the discovery process, where both parties involved in the lawsuit examine the facts of the case to prepare for trial, could take a year to two years to complete. A trial could not happen until that process takes place.

He said the family of Justin Sleezer would have filed a similar lawsuit Friday but still had to finish the legal paperwork associated with the complaint.

“We will be consorting with them,” Bingle said.

Bingle filed the lawsuit Friday under the Wrongful Death Act after Chana, a former Eastern student, and Sleezer died as result of head injuries while riding on a double-decker tour bus that traveled underneath the Interstate 57 overpass bridge along Illinois Route 16.

The lawsuit was filed against Lincoln Springs Resort in Charleston; the Graywood Foundation-Enterprises, which insured the bus and owns Lincoln Springs; Augustine Oruwari, owner of Graywood; and John Protz, who drove the double-decker bus.

The lawsuit alleges that all defendants were negligent in some form, including a failure to provide verbal warnings about possible safety hazards and failure to adequately train drivers who operate the bus.

The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of monetary damages.

Bingle said neither party has discussed a possible settlement so far.

He said his office has hired experts to examine the bus and overpass as they prepare for a possible trial.

Bingle said people traveling on the bus were allowed to walk freely on the second deck without any warning or order to sit during the entire trip. Chana and Sleezer traveled to Lake Shelbyville as part of a private social outing.

Bingle said the bus driver took an alternative route that avoided the overpass on the way to Lake Shelbyville, but decided to travel along Illinois Route 16 on the way back to Charleston after a request to eat at the McDonald’s in Mattoon was made.

“That bus should never have been there,” he said.

Bingle said the resort company and bus driver had the responsibility to tell the passengers that the bus was going to travel underneath the overpass and would not clear it with the proper amount of space.

He said Chana was kneeling on the bottom of a chair, talking to a friend when the accident happened.

“No one told them what they were doing was wrong,” Bingle said.

David Kirsch, chief operations officer for Lincoln Springs Resort, declined to comment about the lawsuit. Officials at Graywood also declined comment.

Stephen Di Benedetto can be reached at 581-7942 or sdibenedetto@eiu.edu.