^{The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001}

Captions | Facts | Case

Captions:

Application of the Estate of Battalion Chief Thomas Haskell

Application of the Estate of Lieutenant Christopher P. Sullivan

Application of the Estate of Lieutenant Patrick Lyons

Application of the Estate of Lieutenant David Halderman

Application of the Estate of Firefighter John T. Vigiano

Application of the Estate of Firefighter Andrew B. Jordan

Application of the Estate of Firefighter Michael Vernon Kiefer

Application of the Estate of Firefighter Kenneth T. Watson

Application of the Estate of Firefighter George C. Cain

Facts:

September 11th 2001 was the worst day our generation of Americans has known. Edward Nitkewicz lost a Wagner College classmate, his younger brother, and the younger brother of a high school friend. They were all New York City Firefighters reported missing in the disaster at the World Trade Center.

 

Many attorneys watching the images on the television throughout the week, wondered if there was any way they could pitch in and assist the rescue efforts. The circumstances called for the skills of iron workers, medical personnel, and rescue workers including volunteer firefighters forming “bucket brigades.” There was no readily apparent need for the skills of trial attorneys.

 

On September 22, 2001, the Federal Government created the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 (“the Fund”). The purpose of the Fund was “to provide compensation to any individual (or relatives of a deceased individual) who was physically injured or killed as a result of the terrorist-related aircraft crashes of September 11, 2001.”

 

In connection with the passage of the unprecedented statute, “Trial Lawyers Care” was created by the American Trial Lawyers Association. Trial Lawyers Care, Inc. is a non-profit corporation set up by volunteer trial lawyers across the nation to provide free legal services to the September 11th terrorist attack victims who were eligible to make claims under the federal September 11th Victim Compensation Fund.”

 

Edward Nitkewicz immediately joined Trial Lawyers Care. His work as a volunteer lawyer through Trial Lawyers Care has been among his most personally satisfying work.

 

 

---

Case:

 

Applying to the Fund was originally to be as easy as filling out a mere “application.” The final application process required economic analysis, supporting documentation for all aspects of the claim and over fifty exhibits for each application. For each estate, tax returns, wage information, pension projections and benefit data were obtained. Comprehensive evaluations and reports were obtained from a forensic economist for each firefighter.

 

The Special Master of the Fund was the Honorable Kenneth R. Feinberg. Upon learning that Nitkewicz & McMahon had volunteered to represent the above estates pro bono, Mr. Feinberg agreed to fly to New York to personally serve as hearing examiner to the cases then filed by the firm.

 

As a result of the work of Nitkewicz & McMahon, LLP, substantial compensatory awards were issued to the families of nine hero firefighters of the FDNY.

After the conclusion of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001, Special Master Feinberg published a book about his experiences, “What is Life Worth? The Unprecedented Effort to Compensate the Victims of 9/11." The book included the testimony from two of our clients, parents of our brave firefighters.