Lawyers in 9/11 case embody America
By Ryan Spencer | Mar. 21, 2010The class-action lawsuit against the city of New York concerning the ground zero response and cleanup effort suffered another setback last week. U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein handed down a decision stating the lawsuit’s roughly $600 million settlement, filed on behalf of about more than 10,000 ailing first responders and workers who searched for survivors and cleared the wreckage after the Sept. 11 attacks, would be inadequate. He went further to delineate the settlement’s convoluted compensation allotment system and grossly excessive attorney fees as reasons for his recommendation to restructure the settlement. Hellerstein maintained the compensation paled in comparison to the effort displayed, hazardous conditions endured and compensation truly deserved by the plaintiffs, whom he made a point to refer to as heroes.
