Kenneth Feinberg has served as special master following nearly all of America’s crises in which compensation funds have been established. From the recent Virginia Tech shooting, to fixing salaries for corporate executives whose companies took bailout money, to the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, Feinberg tacked successfully each difficult task. Like many lawyers, he worked for the September 11th fund pro bono. Along with many fellow trial lawyers, I had the great privilege of representing pro bono several claimants to the September 11th fund, all of them families who lost a loved one at the Pentagon. Even though I procured millions of dollars for the families and received zero fees, I think I may have gotten more from the process than my clients. I knew several people who died on 9/11, and for months thereafter I felt as though I had to take some action other than following the President’s advice and continuing with my daily routine as if nothing happened. Serving the Victims Compensation Fund was a life-changing experience for me, and I can personally attest to the fact that my clients were better served by the Fund than if they had opted out of the Fund and filed a lawsuit.
This is why I believed in the wake of the oil spill that the time was right for another massive pro bono effort to assist claimant navigate the complicated claims process that will be created to distribute the $20 billion oil spill compensation fund. Mr. Feinberg was quoted in the Washington Post saying, "there’s no reason for individuals affected by the massive Gulf of Mexico spill to file lawsuits – at least not yet." He urged claimants to see how much the fund would be able to pay them before filing suit. Based upon past experience with Mr. Feinberg, I think trial lawyers representing spill victims owe it to their clients to do just that- wait and see how much the fund can compensate them before suing.
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