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World Trade Center Litigation

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Legal News

  • World Trade Center Settlement Gets Backing Needed to Take Effect
    – New York Law Journal
    (November 22, 2010) Enough plaintiffs have accepted a massive settlement of claims alleging respiratory and other health problems from the post-9/11 response and cleanup at the World Trade Center site to seal the deal. Read more…

  • 10,563 Ground Zero 9/11 Workers Agree On $625 Million Settlement
    – Medical News Today
    (November 21, 2010) 10,563 ground zero workers who inhaled toxic dust and risked health consequences have agreed on a $625 settlement and ceased suing - the amount could go as high as $815 million.
    Read more…

  • 9/11 Health Deal Gets OK
    – The Wall Street Journal
    (November 20, 2010) More than 95% of Ground Zero workers agreed to accept a settlement of long-running litigation over respiratory diseases and other injuries suffered in recovery operations following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack.
    Read more…

  • Deal settles most lawsuits over WTC toxic dust
    – The Associated Press (AP)
    (November 19, 2010) A deal reached by New York City and workers exposed to toxic dust that blanketed ground zero after Sept. 11 will resolve an overwhelming majority of the lawsuits over the city's failure to provide protective equipment to the responders. Read more…

  • Ground Zero workers exposed to toxic dust take pay deal
    – BBC
    (November 19, 2010) Thousands of workers exposed to toxic dust after the 2001 terror attacks in New York have accepted a legal settlement and ceased litigation. Read more…

  • Lawyers: Sickened 9/11 Workers Reach Settlement Deal With City
    – NY1
    (November 19, 2010) By Friday, more than 10,000 people who became ill from working conditions at the World Trade Center site following the September 11th terrorist attacks had accepted a settlement deal with the city. Read more…

     

WTC Settlement Frequently Asked Questions

Timetable

When will I be paid?

Many clients have been calling to ask when they can expect to receive their settlement payments.  We have submitted your signed settlement papers to the Allocation Neutral, but we  are subject to the work of the Allocation Neutral who is diligently working to review your claim documents and approve each plaintiff’s settlement award.  Your attorneys do not have the power to make this aspect of the process move any faster once it is in the Neutral’s hands. Once the Allocation Neutral has approved your claim, the WTC Captive Insurance Company, Inc. (“the Captive”) will then wire the money to your attorneys and your attorneys’ office will issue your check(s).

If you are a Worby Groner Edelman and Napoli Bern, LLP client, you will receive a text message or e-mail advising you that a deficiency exists.  If there is a deficiency in your file, the Captive will not pay your settlement until the deficiency is cured.  If you receive notice of such a deficiency, you need to call our office immediately so that we can get the missing or correct information from you to cure the deficiency. 

  1. Q: When will I be paid?
  2. A. The Settlement Process Agreement (SPA) requires the Allocation Neutral to make several payments over the course of the next several months as follows:
    1. Initial payments of $3,250 to Tiers 1-4 (of plaintiffs in 21 MC 100) will be made by the later of 20 days after the SPA becomes effective or when the Allocation Neutral approves that each plaintiff’s claim satisfies various requirements

      We expect that these initial payments will start in the last week of January and we estimate that they will take until sometime in February to be completed to all plaintiffs. From this payment of $3,250, for Tier 1, all expenses and attorney fees and liens will be deducted from this payment and each Tier 1 plaintiff will receive the remaining amount (the “net share”) as previously described in letters sent to you with your settlement papers.  For clients in Tiers 2-4, your remaining share of the attorneys fees and expenses will be deducted based upon a formula devised by the Neutral and approved by the Court.

    2. The next or "accelerated" payments to 21 MC 100 plaintiffs in Tiers 2 ($4,250) and 3 ($7,750) will begin at the later of 25 days after the SPA becomes effective or upon approval by the Allocation Neutral. 
       
      Pursuant to the Settlement Process Agreement, the Allocation Neutral has until April 15, 2011 to make initial payments. Therefore, the Neutral is delayed in making these payments. However, if you received a determination notice from the Allocation Neutral and have returned your waiver, but are still waiting for your accelerated payment, please note that your second payment will be expedited. The Allocation Neutral estimated that these accelerated payments would be made in ten days from the date your waiver was received but may need additional time to issue the funds. Therefore, while the Neutral may take more than ten days to issue your money, your payment will received within a more expedited time frame than it would be if you did not sign the waiver.
    3. After the initial payment to Tier 4 plaintiffs, the Allocation Neutral will make  two additional payments: the Interim payment and Final payment.
      1. Interim payment: Once the Neutral has established final scores for 40% of the Tier 4 plaintiffs, 40% of the projected total award will be sent out to those plaintiffs for whom the Neutral has determined a final score.  We believe that it will take at least several months for the Neutral to reach this point and for the first Tier 4 Interim payments to start flowing.
      2. Final payments will be sent out after the Neutral has finished reviewing all Tier 4 claims and after all appeals have been completed.  It is estimated that this will be completed in 2011.

    4. Miscellaneous Payments:

    1. Those plaintiffs who are entitled to a Permanent Disability Fund (“PDF”)  award will receive that payment after the Neutral has reviewed all PDF applications.  This process is expected to take several months.
    2. Awards for settlements with the Port Authority and the other settling defendants such as the Fresh Kills defendants will start after the opt-in threshold is achieved with those defendants, since those settlement agreements are each separate from the SPA reached with the Captive on behalf of the City of New York and its contractors.

The Final Settlement Agreement Effective Date is January 5, 2011.

©2008 Napoli Bern LLP, All Rights Reserved, Reproduced with Permission
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