re: #41 tradewind

Speaking of lawyers and settlements, it looks like the lawyers in the 9/11 WTC workers suit are slashing their lawyer fees to get the settlement authorized by the courts.

In the letter to Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who is presiding over the case, lawyers with Worby Groner Edelman & Napoli Bern volunteered to relinquish $85 million of their anticipated $200 million payday – a third of the proposed $657 million settlement.

Hellerstein, along with thousands of the victims, excoriated the lawyers back in March after they reached a deal to net a third of the total payout. Hellerstein rejected the settlement because he believed the lawyers would get too much at the victims’ expense – a move some city attorneys believed transgressed his judicial bounds.

That was all part of a settlement worked out between the lawyers representing ground zero workers and the City of New York. If it is approved, the money would be set aside and disbursed along the lines of the Victim Compensation Fund depending on the severity of ailments and disabilities - and the total of the Fund will depend on how many within the class action approve.