Long Island Personal Injury Lawyer - Wrongful Death

The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund: ten years later

Edward Nitkewicz — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 15:08:35 GMT

The terrorist attack of September 11^thwas the most traumatic assault on our nation since the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Americans would unfortunately bear witness to the destruction that a deadly assault on our country could produce. The collective patriotism that arose in the immediate aftermath of the attacks would be a first for a new generation of Americans who will never forget where they were on 9/11.

For many, the days following the attacks brought a considerable amount of soul searching. The gap between “wanting” to help and “ability” to help was different for each of us. We Americans wanted to dig through the rubble for survivors; we wanted to tend to the injured; and we wanted to find and capture the perpetrators of the horrific acts of terror. However, most of us were not firefighters, or doctors, or welders, or heavy machine operators, or crime scene experts.

It was during the days after 9/11 when I questioned my chosen profession. Until that time, I found representing individuals injured by the negligence of others rewarding. I was proud of the fact that I would be an advocate for the rights of those who did not have the financial support enjoyed by insurance companies, corporations and municipalities. I was unbowed by those who would use deplorable terms like “ambulance chaser.” However, advocacy skills were not required on September 11^th and the days thereafter. The country needed tradespersons and rescue workers, and apparently not attorneys.

Months later, the September 11^th Victim Compensation Fund was created by an act of Congress to compensate the victims of the 9/11 attacks, their estates and their families for their loss. Kenneth Feinberg was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as Special Master of the Fund. Any family or injured person making a claim to the Fund would irrevocably waive their right to sue the government and airlines involved in the tragic attacks.

Like many others, I knew individuals who lost their lives on 9/11. My college football roommate was Tom Haskell, a firefighter from Seaford. Both Tom and his younger brother Tim, also a firefighter, perished when the towers of the World Trade Center collapsed. The younger brother of my best friend in high school, Patrick Lyons, was a firefighter captured on film that morning as he bravely geared up and ran into the burning buildings of the World Trade Center. His remains were never recovered.

I was asked by the wives of Tom and Patrick to investigate the newly unveiled Victim’s Compensation Fund. I was just starting my own law practice at the time but volunteered to learn everything I could about the Fund and how it worked. I attended several “Town Hall Meetings” where Mr. Feinberg would come to address the families of victims on Staten Island and Long Island. I engaged in lively debate with him on behalf of the firefighters I was now representing. Determining what life insurance or other benefits would be offset by the Fund was a significant legal issue. Projecting through economists the future earnings of each claimant or victim was a tedious but important task. Assembling “simple applications” was in fact an arduous task that called upon my skills as a trial attorney and resulted in three 250 page/35 exhibit trial notebooks for each applicant.

As time quickly passed, I was requested to take on additional claimants. At one Town Hall meeting, Special Master Feinberg himself invited attendees to seek me out if they required counsel who understood the Fund and its procedures. In addition to the Haskell and Lyons families, I was asked to represent the families of firefighters Christopher Sullivan, Andrew Jordan, John Viggiano, II, Michael Kiefer, David Halderman, Kenneth Watson, and George Cain. I was honored to do so and like many of my colleagues, I did on a pro bono basis.

After I filed all nine claims, I received what at first I thought was a “prank” call. “Ed, a Mr. Kenneth Feinberg on line 1.” In fact, Special Master Feinberg learned that I had agreed to represent the families of several firefighters on a pro bono basis and called me personally to offer to personally serve as the hearing officer to my clients. True to his commitment, Mr. Feinberg flew to New York and in one day met with each of my client-families, listened to their stories with compassion and empathy, and evaluated the evidence submitted. Awards were thereafter rendered that fairly compensated the families of the brave firefighters who lost their lives on that fateful day.

The founding partner of the Sanders Law Firm also took on the representation on a pro bono basis the claims of victims who lost their lives at the World Trade Center on 9/11. Stanley J. Sanders spent over a year preparing for the hearings and was able to obtain awards totaling over $20 million dollars for the families he represented.

Over 1000 lawyers who were members of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America joined together to form Trial Lawyers Care, a non-profit organization of attorneys dedicated to providing free legal help to families filing claims with the Victim’s Compensation Fund. Both Stanley J. Sanders and I were proud members of Trial Lawyers Care.

Like Stanley and many of the other lawyers of Trial Lawyers Care, I have remained close to the wonderful people I stood beside during those difficult hearings. The compensation awarded to each family helped them to start rebuilding their lives in the aftermath of the death of their fathers, their husbands, their sons and their brothers. They have all expressed gratitude for my commitment to their claims and to their families.

Serving as an attorney for the families of the brave firefighters of 9/11 is a source of personal and professional pride for me, for Stanley J. Sanders and for all the attorneys who volunteered to help at our countries’ time of need. I was never happier to be a plaintiff’s personal injury attorney then I was at the conclusion of the 9/11 Fund claims.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Edward Nitkewicz

The Letter & Spirit of the Law: The Right to Bury One's Dead

Jim Forde — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 07:58:00 GMT

For thousands of years, the expectation and right that humankind should be permitted to bury its dead and honor their memory without interference has been recognized by civilizations everywhere. Indeed, one of the most moving passages in ancient literature comes to us from Homer's Iliad, which describes the pain and anguish experienced by King Priam when he is deprived of the body of his warrior son Hector, slain in revenge by the wrathful Achilles.

On December 15, 2008, RGGL will be arguing the appeal of a case where a New York hospital callously disposed of the remains of a premature fetus, despite the fact that the parents had made it known that they wanted to make burial arrangements for their daughter, whom they named "Destiny." Not only were the parents devout Catholics, but the baby's father was also a Chief of the Ibo Tribe in his native Africa. According to the family's tribal beliefs, clippings of the baby's hair and fingernails had to be transported to their Tribal Burial Ground, or the child's spirit would be doomed to wander the earth forever----never at peace. To this date, the whereabouts of the infant's remains are unknown.

After a jury trial before Justice Hutcherson, where the hospital took the position that they could do whatever it chose to do with the child's remains because of low birth weight, a Brooklyn jury award total damages to the parents of $2,000,000 for their emotional harm caused by the loss of their right to bury and honor their daughter ( such harm being called "loss of sepulchre.")

The hospital is now appealing that verdict, claiming that New York State does not recognize the right to bury one's dead in such circumstances, and that the jury's verdict was excessive.

Before the trial took place, the attorneys for the hospital had made the same argument regarding "loss of sepulchre" to another judge in Brooklyn under the facts of this case. We look forward to proving them wrong once again.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Jim Forde

Wrongful Death Suit in Staten Island Ferry Crash Settled for $8.7M

Chrissie Cole — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:29:00 GMT

The widow of a man killed in the 2003 Staten Island Ferry crash settled her wrongful death claim against New York City for $8.7 million.

The settlement is the highest wrongful death payout in the ferry crash responsible for killing at least 10 passengers and injuring 42 others, many critically.

John Healy was killed in 2003 when the ferry crashed into the dock at full speed. The boat’s pilot was on painkillers and suffering from fatigue at the time of the accident. He pleaded guilty to negligent manslaughter and lying to investigators. He has been sentenced to 18 months in prison.

The city’s ferry director was sentenced to one year in prison after pleading guilty to negligent manslaughter and admitting he failed to enforce a safety rule.

If you or a family member was injured in the Staten Island ferry accident on October 15, 2003, it may be important to contact an attorney who can help you protect your legal rights. Please keep in mind that there may be time limits within which you must commence suit.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chrissie Cole