While the city and lawyers for 10,000 9/11 first responders have worked out a $657 million settlement, a federal judge wants to review the deal's details first. While his approval isn't needed, Judge Alvin Hellerstein wants some plaintiffs to testify at a "fairness hearing"—and he's also considering cutting the legal fees.
Currently, legal fees are set at 30% of the settlement, which means $200 million in legal fees—and a possible windfall for two lawyers, Marc Bern and Paul Napoli, who represent over 9,000 of the plaintiffs. The settlement, which would offer as much as $2 million to responders sickened at the World Trade Center or as little as $3,200, must be approved by 95% of the plaintiffs.
Bern told the Post, "By far, the calls are running positive. The clients are quite relieved that an end is in sight," but the responder-plaintiffs the NY Times spoke to seemed less positive. While one was glad that "the city finally acknowledges that 9/11 diseases do exist and that people are suffering," another commented, "A couple thousand dollars for all the years of pain and suffering, it’s just a drop in the bucket."
