Compensation: 9-11-01

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Professor Jeffrey E. Thomas

9-16-02
Compensatory Damages Forbes.com
The attacks on Sept. 11 killed 3,053 people from 78 countries, all of whose families are entitled to compensation averaging $1.5 million from a fund set up by the U.S. government. This opened a door. In May the House of Representatives voted to include the 12 American victims of the bombing of the U.S. embassy in Kenya in 1998.

8-16-02
More Than 600 Sept. 11 Victims' Families Sue Saudi Princes, Banks Associated Press
Some 600 family members of Sept. 11 victims filed a trillion-dollar federal lawsuit Thursday against Saudi officials, banks and charities, charging they financed Osama bin Laden's network and the attacks on New York and Washington, D.C. The complaint, filed electronically in U.S. District Court in D.C., charges the defendants with racketeering, wrongful death, negligence and conspiracy.

8-8-02
Family of 9/11 Victim Accepts $1.04 Million in U.S. Compensation New York Times
The family of a financial services employee from New York City who died on Sept. 11 has become the first to acknowledge accepting an award from the federal Victim Compensation Fund.

8-8-02
Saying No to Free 9/11 Aid, Many Families Hire Lawyers   New York Times
Many relatives of victims who were killed on Sept. 11 have turned down free legal advice offered by lawyers because of delays, confusion, and cynical perceptions.

5-3-02
Terrorist Acts Insurance Policy Sparks Dispute   New York Law Journal
The owner of the Condé Nast building at Four Times Square in New York won a temporary stay on Thursday that prevents the building's mortgage holder from collecting millions of dollars to pay for a terrorism insurance policy. The appellate court's order came hours after a Manhattan judge authorized the mortgage holder to seize $3.2 million in rent collected by the building owner to pay a one-year premium on a terrorism policy.

4-30-02    New York Times
Senate Takes Up Terrorism Insurance Again
Lawmakers have reached a consensus on the need to revive federal legislation that would put most of the burden of paying for a major terrorist attack on the government.

3-29-02
A New Approach to Making Terrorists Pay  Legal Times
Victims of terrorism have long sought ways to make countries pay for sponsoring such violence. The difficulty has not been in winning court judgments, but in collecting from rogue governments. Now, two victims' families are taking a novel approach, arguing that they should be handed $5.4 million that the government of Iran won in a California civil suit against a U.S.-based defense contractor.

3-19-02
Survivors Sue in Attempt to Bankrupt Terrorists The Associated Press 
Seven women who lost men close to them in the Sept. 11 World Trade Center attack are attempting to bankrupt terrorists and their supporters by targeting their seized assets. The women have named Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida network in their action and are seeking to have the suit certified as a class action that would eventually include all victims of the New York , Pentagon and Pennsylvania plane crashes.

3-18-02
Tortageddon  The American Lawyer
The cataclysmic events of Sept. 11 spurred Congress to do in 11 days what it had refused to do throughout 30 years of asbestos litigation: create a no-fault administrative alternative to the tort system. With the unveiling of the Victims Compensation Fund, and the ensuing outcry from the plaintiffs' bar, we're about to find out whether this bold, new alternative really works. The stakes, says Roger Parloff, couldn't be higher.

3-15-02
9-11 Victim Fund to Consider Nonwage Work  ABA Journal @ Report
The National Organization for Women praises the use of tables based on men’s salaries for determining victim compensation awards.

3-11-02
Lawyers Take Over Ground Zero  The National Law Journal
Now that the U.S. Department of Justice has issued final rules for compensating the families of Sept. 11 victims, the time for litigating is here. Lawyers predict that most families will choose the federal compensation program, but some will take their chances in court on recoveries that may be difficult to collect. And others, unhappy with either option, may go to court to try to get the whole system scrapped.

2-26-02
U.S. Airlines Await Insurance Decision  Forbes.com
With the Federal Aviation Administration program for war-risk insurance possibly being extended beyond its deadline of March 20, the insurance industry says it's time for the government to step out of the insurance business, at least when it comes to the aviation industry.

2-6-02
Fair Compensation The National Law Journal
Despite the understandable emotion surrounding the process, the primary goal of the special master and the Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund, says NOW's Martha Davis, should be to compensate victims of the attacks as fairly as possible. An approach that undervalues household services and caregiving, and perpetuates sex and race discrimination, falls short of this goal and flies in the face of America's most cherished value of equality.

1-30-02
Cracks in the Plaintiff Bar's Solidarity New Jersey Law Journal
The day after the Sept. 11 attacks, the American Trial Lawyers of America declared that plaintiffs' lawyers should band together, and called for a moratorium on civil suits. The fellowship didn't last long. Attorneys are now arguing over which is the right road for survivors to take: filing a claim with the federal Victims Compensation Fund or preserving their right to sue. And claimants are wondering which lawyers' advice to take.

12-21-01
Insurer Shield in Terror Costs Dies in Senate  New York Times
Congress abandoned efforts today to protect the insurance industry from losses in any future terrorist attacks when the Senate failed to bring a measure to the floor in the final hours of the session.

12-21-01
Victims' Fund Likely to Pay Average of $1.6 Million Each  New York Times
The overseer of the federal fund set up for the families of those killed or injured in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks estimated today that the fund could cost taxpayers as much as $6 billion and would provide tax-free awards, on average, of approximately $1.65 million for the families of those who died in the attacks.

12-03-01
House backs insurance cover for terrorist acts
Legislation to help make insurance cover for terrorism acts available to US businesses moved a step closer when it cleared the House of Representatives. The House bill is part of a broad political effort to help businesses find cover in the wake of the September 11 attacks.....more

11-30-01
Bill Text: Terrorism Risk Protection Act / HTML 
The text of HR 3210 plus Committee Report.
GPO's PDF version of this bill is the bill as the GPO published it on December 3, 2001

11-30-01
When Bombs Miss the Mark
Legal Times
Two cases filed in Washington, D.C., federal courts are forcing the judiciary to face awkward questions. Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue attorney Stephen Brogan represents the owner of the Sudanese manufacturing plant bombed by U.S. forces in 1998. Brogan's client says U.S. intelligence erred, and the government should pay for the damage. Can the government be made liable for hitting the wrong targets in its hunt for terrorists?

11-13-01 
The American Lawyer
A New Tort Truce? Not Really   The very day the moratorium on Sept. 11 lawsuits was announced, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America's legislative liaison, Linda Lipson, heard disturbing news: The airlines were already lobbying Congress for an industry bailout that would shield carriers from liability. Leo Boyle, ATLA's head, couldn't believe it. The industry was trying to limit the rights of victims before their identities were even known?

11-09-01 
Senate Panel Approves Democrats' Economic Stimulus Bill; Health Insurance Provisions Likely to Spur Floor Debate

New York Times
Suit Contends Lost Millions Weren't 'Lost'
Three executives of a currency firm with offices in the twin towers plotted to cover up $105 million that was missing from the firm, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday.

House Panel Approves Bill to Aid Insurance Industry  A House committee voted to promise insurers billions of dollars in loans in the event of any large terrorist attacks next year

11-08-01
The New York Times
Suit Contends Lost Millions Weren't 'Lost'
Three executives of a currency firm with offices in the twin towers plotted to cover up $105 million that was missing from the firm, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday.

The New York Times
House Panel Approves Bill to Aid Insurance Industry  A House committee voted to promise insurers billions of dollars in loans in the event of any large terrorist attacks next year

11-07-01
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Office of the Attorney General
28 CFR Part 104,CIV 104P; AG Order No, 
RIN: 1105-AA79

September 11^th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001
Notice of inquiry and advance notice of rulemaking for comment.  (The regulations proposed by the DOJ to assist their processing of claims arising out of the 9/11 aircraft crashes for death or physical injury.)

(www.usdoj.gov/victimcompensation/civil_01.htm)

11-06-01
NPR
Special Master
The government began taking public comments today on a new fund to compensate victims of the Sept. 11 attacks. The fund is scheduled to begin Dec. 21. NPR's Tovia Smith reports on the delicate job that will be that of the "special master" - the person who oversees the fund for the government. (4:00) Listen with Real Audio from NPR

11-01-01
Kansas City Business Journal
Missouri Insurance Department prevents insurer from selling, renewing policies