City's Counsel Certifies Eligible Plaintiff's List for 9/11 Settlement

NEW YORK, Oct. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Attorneys for the City of New York and its contractors today filed their certification of the list of eligible plaintiffs for the settlement of the In re: World Trade Center Disaster Site Litigations pending before the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.  This certification is an important step forward that was required by the terms of the Amended Settlement Process Agreement bringing the long-fought litigation one step closer to an ending for these defendants.   Plaintiffs' Liaison Counsel Paul Napoli said: "We are extremely happy to hear that the City's counsel has certified the eligible plaintiff's list, bringing us one step closer to finalization of the Settlement.  Those people on the list will benefit from the settlement as long as they return their signed releases by the November 8 deadline." 

At a conference held on October 5 to discuss the status of the Settlement and of other negotiations with defendants for additional settlements, Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein said of the settlement: "I think this is a good deal, and if we get more settlements, it will be a better deal.  People have to realize that the alternatives are very tough.  This is not an easy litigation.  There are potent defenses.  There's a lot of work that needs to be done.  There's a high risk in a trial. There are appeals.  It's going to be very hard for people to make recoveries in the cases.  I'm not saying it's not  possible.  Of course it's possible, but the efforts will be huge and the risks will be high.  And this is a fair deal.  I think it's a fair deal.  People look at their injuries and they look at their recoveries and some of them may feel I'm not recovering enough. No one recovers enough.  These are difficult physical and mental injuries that people have to experience and feel that they should be paid for it.  Some of them feel that way, but this is a settlement, a settlement of disputed issues, a settlement where no one is giving up claims or defenses.  And the prospect of gaining immediate certain recovery versus the uncertainty of risk and expense and confusion and difficulty and prolongation of an injured life it seems to me the balance is clear that people should come in.  Of course, they have to make this decision for themselves.  But we have this November 8 date, and people have to make these decisions for themselves and do the right thing for themselves because, as I look on it, it seems to me that the choice is rather clear."

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SOURCE Worby Groner Edelman & Napoli Bern, LLP