Staten Island Injury Law : New York Personal Injury Lawyer & Attorney : Frank Dito : Decker, Decker, Dito & Internicola Law Firm : Traffic Accidents, Transportation Safety

Picking up yesterday's Staten Island Advance, I still cant believe what I read. The article, Backers of 9/11 Health Bill Optimistic, seemed to relay some good news to the thousands of sick and suffering workers waiting for medical care and compensation for their injuries. The bill is named after James Zadroga, a New York City detective who died at the age of 36 from a rare respiratory illness his family contends that he contracted during the World Trade Center cleanup. The bill has been stalled in congress while both sides of the aisle work out how to pay for it, with costs estimated to be $6.2 billion over 10 years.

What shocked me was a quote by Senator Kristin Gillibrand that "We are on the verge of a Christmas miracle", making reference to the possibility that there may be enough votes to pass this bill. How can anyone equate the passing of the bill with a miracle, regardless of the season? Since when has doing the right thing become a miracle? Are we at such a time in our society?  This bill will help those who are sick and dying from rare cancers and diseases, those who rushed to help without question at a time when this country was shaken to its foundations.

I read about a funeral of a first responder who recently died from a rare nasal cancer that literally ate his face. His wife and 3 children have lost their husband, father and friend. Besides the physical and emotional relationship that has been lost, what about the financial support that he provided? Who is going to replace that? When we needed the first responders in our time of need, they came and they stayed, despite all the lies told by the EPA about the air being safe to breathe. When their families need us in their time of need, where do we stand? Can we walk away or as Americans, do we do what's right?

Today on the radio I heard one commentator state that the real beneficiary of the Zadroga Bill would be trial lawyers. The ignorance shown in that statement is the root cause of the delay in passing the bill. In 2001, hundreds of lawyers lined up to do what they could to help, organizing Trial Lawyers Care, which provided free legal services to those families applying to the Victim's Compensation Fund. I recovered over $2.5 million for the young widow of a worker killed in the terrorist attack. I am proud to say I did so pro bono, despite the considerable time and effort that the Application required, attending each meeting with my client and helping her through to a new life. Pass the bill - people are dying - and relieve some of their suffering by letting them know that their families will be taken care of after their gone.

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Today is the deadline for 9/11 first responders to accept a settlement offer proposed by the City of New York and the attorneys for the approximately 10,000 injured emergency workers. The settlement, estimated at $815 million, must be approved by 95% of the first responders that have filed claims for their injuries caused by exposure to the toxic cloud that they worked in immediately after the collapse of the World Trade Center Towers.

Workers, depending on the severity of their illness, will receive just a few thousand dollars or up to millions for those most seriously ill. A large portion of the settlement will be apportioned to attorneys fees and expenses. The law firms involved spent enormous amounts of money and without their efforts, no settlement would have been forthcoming. Their legal fees are not the problem.

The proposed settlement, once facing an uphill battle for approval, increased its chances with the House of Representatives passing of the Zadroga Health Care Bill in September. The Zadroga Bill, if passed by the Senate, will re-open the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund (VCF) and provide medical benefits to those who suffered illness from exposure. The reopening of the VCF would provide the first responders with a chance to recover money for the pain and suffering that they have endured.

Since the senate will not vote on the Zadroga Bill until they return from the mid-term elections, how can any one person be expected to agree to a settlement without actually knowing what they will receive? No one has guaranteed the passage of the Zadroga Bill once the senate reconvenes so why put a deadline of today for those to settle? Haven't they suffered enough?  Faced with the pressure of wondering what their exposure will mean in the long-term, if they will even live to see their grandchildren, the government (I include the City and Federal government under that umbrella) is now forcing the first responders to make a choice - settle now for a limited amount of money with the promise of "maybe" more benefits. If they agree to settle and the Zadroga Bill doesn't pass, will the settlement money be enough for their future health care and lost wages? That answer is a simple "NO." 

Basically, the government has asked the emergency workers to "trust it." This is from the same government that told the responders repeatedly that the air was fine and safe to breathe. Now they are falling ill and dying in ever increasing numbers. "Trust me" they ask now - my father always taught me to walk away from a "deal" like that offered by someone who has burnt you before. Fool me once . . . We all know how that ends.

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A federal judge has ruled that the attorneys representing thousands of 9/11 First Responders must justify charging their clients interest rates of 6 to 18% on loans that were taken out to help finance their cases. The attorneys took out the loans to help finance the 6-years of litigation that brought about the proposed settlement.

In complex litigation cases, where there are literally thousands of potential claimants, it is common for a law firm to obtain financing to help them prosecute the cases. The New York law firms involved in this suit brought claims on behalf of 10,700 ground zero workers against the City of New York. Although the cases involved a common cause of an injury, exposure to toxins, each plaintiff was required to prove his or her own injury or illness. This required the law firms to obtain medical records of over 10,000 individuals, index them and have them reviewed by a nurse, all the while being charged $.75 per copied page by the medical providers, pursuant to New York State law.

As the case was brought on a contingent fee retainer, the law firms couldn't look to the plaintiffs for any money to help prosecute their own cases. The amount of work involved with over 10,000 individual claimants was extraordinary and the law firms took out loans to help them finance the litigation. It is ethical for an attorney to charge for interest payments if the clients consent in advance. However, the retainer signed by the Ground Zero Workers mentions possible financing but does not specify any amount or rate. Since the interest rate was in some cases as high as 18%, many legal experts believe that the rate should have been specifically disclosed in advance. The actual costs of this litigation were enormous and no one, not the City, the State or the Federal government stepped in.

How does this affect those involved? You will be surprised to learn how much. New York City Police Department Emergency Services Unit Sergeant John Boesch worked more than 600 hours at the World Trade Center site, clearing rubble and searching for survivors. He received an offer to settle of $3,250, the amount that would be awarded to all 9/11 workers who show no illness. After expenses, he would receive $1,322.00, approximately 40% of the total recovery. The law firm received as a legal fee $440.60, less than half of the usual recovery in such cases. The remaining money went to actual expenses to bring the case forward. As this litigation sought to stem thousands of individual cases being brought against the City of New York, one would think that the City, State and Federal governments would do their parts to help lower the payout. However, the courts still charged each plaintiff $255 for court filing fees and more for the use of the court's on-line systems. Interest alone for Boesch's case amounted to over $579, more than the law firm's recovery.

When people first read about the "lawyer's fees" involved, their first reaction is going to be a negative comment about the lawyers. I think the proper comments should be about our government. Congress refused to pass any laws to help compensate the 9/11 Worker's who have suffered these toxic illnesses. The City didn't come to the workers aide. Instead, they dragged the plaintiffs through 6 years of litigation, all the while causing time and money to be wasted. Without these law firms willing to take on millions of dollars of risk, with no guarantee of recovery, where would the Ground Zero workers be now? As Kenneth Feinberg said, take this settlement as it is "preferable to any wishful, unrealistic alternative." Without the lawyers, you could imagine where the workers would be. The government lied to these workers and told them the air was safe. Now they are saying "blame the lawyers", and again refusing to take responsibility.

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A recent report brings to light the waste of money that has occurred in the reconstruction of the Goethal's Bridge administration and maintenance complex. In these cash-strapped economic times, the cost of the Port Authority construction project ballooned from $17.9 million to $28 million. The 56% increase in the cost was blamed on a work stoppage necessary when numerous Port Authority worker's complained of exposure to toxins.

The move was not contemplated as the Port Authority tried to save money, at the worker's expense, by leaving them to work at the facility while construction went on around them. The construction was necessary to upgrade the building's HVAC and replacement of the fire alarm system and sprinklers. The areas under construction were blocked off by plastic tarps and fans, but worker's still complained that their uniforms would have dust all over them just from walking down a hallway.

More than 12 Port Authority workers have already filed workers' compensation claims for respiratory illness caused by their exposure to asbestos, lead and other toxic substances released into the air during the construction. About 80 civilian and police employees work out of the facility, which means that there is the potential for many more claims to be filed. Many employees feel that the Port Authority put money ahead of their safety, a charge with the Port Authority denies. Unfortunately, in this current economic climate, the risk to employees is no longer going to be at the forefront of any conversation. It is all too clear that the Port Authority tried to cut corners in this project and placed its workers in a position of danger, unnecessarily exposing them to potentially life-threatening diseases. Ultimately, the true cost of this project won't be known for many years to come.

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A bill to provide September 11 first responders with compensation and medical treatment has failed to pass the House of Representatives. The bill would have provided up to $7.4 billion dollars for free health care and lost wages for those that were sickened by the dust and ash inhaled at the World Trade Center site. Instead, the approximately 10,000 workers that helped clean up the WTC site are only left to look to the $713 million dollar settlement recently negotiated by lawyers for those suffering illness, but has yet to be approved by the victims.

The proposed settlement would pay out large sums of money only to those police officers, firefighters and construction workers who have developed severe respiratory problems and other illnesses from inhaling the dust at the WTC site. The settlement was approved by a federal court Judge after he urged the lawyers to reduce their legal fees to sweeten the pot. The worker's still have not approved of the terms of the settlement.

Kenneth Feinberg, the former administrator of the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund, has come to Staten Island recently to urge the workers to approve the settlement. As I represented survivor's of the World Trade Center collapse in the Victim's Compensation Fund, I attended numerous meetings at which Mr. Feinberg spoke. At those meetings, his pleas now echo the same: its the only game in town. Take the settlement. As a lawyer, I am used to the "strong-arm" tactics and see it as part of the game. As a citizen who watched those towers collapse, I am offended that after asking thousands of our countrymen to work in a caustic cloud of ash and dust, we are now trying to settle their claims for pennies on the dollar. The government already made deals with the unions to protect auto workers, who don't suffer from any rash of occupational diseases, but they apparently feel that it was money better spent. Day and night, the first responders searched for any signs of the living, then the dead and then cleaned up what was destroyed so we could rebuild, stronger then ever. We asked for their help, now they are asking for ours. We need to ensure the future of our first responders and their families by reaching a fair settlement, under inflated from the lack of federal payments.

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