Lawyers
in the legal battle
over Ground Zero
worker compensation
could bag up to half
of the billions
available to pay
9/11 recovery
workers for toxic
injuries.
Defense firms hired
by the city to fight
some 10,000 claims
have already raked
in close to $200
million, and about
$75 million has been
spent on
administrative
expenses.
Lawyers for the
workers -- who have
yet to be paid --
stand to reap 30
percent to 40
percent of all
settlements or
judgments,
based on
their retainer
agreements with
World Trade Center
responders.
How much money is up
for grabs is the big
question, now that
the first trials for
a dozen 9/11 workers
are set to start May
16 in Manhattan
federal court. The
two sides are in
secret, "intensive
discussions" that
Judge Alvin
Hellerstein hopes
will settle as many
cases as possible.
At stake is a $1
billion taxpayer
fund and as much as
$3 billion in
liability-insurance
coverage, which
includes the Port
Authority's $600
million and policies
held by WTC
contractors.
The WTC Captive
Insurance Co., a
nonprofit governed
by Mayor Bloomberg,
has managed a $1
billion fund. The
money was awarded by
Congress to pay
claims stemming from
the Ground Zero
cleanup.
The fund spent $275
million between 2004
and Dec. 31, 2009,
on defense lawyers
and administrative
costs, records
obtained by The Post
show.
At the same time,
the fund paid only a
total of $320,000 to
five workers with
minor injuries.
Workers are livid.
"How do you justify
earning $275 million
without a settlement
or trial?" asked
ex-NYPD Detective
John Walcott, who
battled leukemia
after working for
months at Ground
Zero and the Fresh
Kills landfill,
where debris was
shipped and sifted.
The WTC insurance
fund was down to
$923 million on Dec.
31, largely burning
through its
investment earnings
since 2004. Expenses
drained $28 million
in the last three
months of 2009
alone, records show.
But the fund
recently won a $200
million settlement
with city insurance
companies it had
sued to help cover
legal expenses. That
takes the total
available to about
$1.1 billion --
although costs keep
mounting.
Were that sum alone
distributed today,
it would mean an
average of about
$100,000 per worker,
many of whom have
suffered
debilitating
illnesses or died.
The lawyers say
they'll go after
untold billions in
liability insurance
held by the PA,
which owned the Twin
Towers, and by
construction
companies and the
barge operator who
transported rubble
to Fresh Kills.
Hellerstein has
ordered the
insurance policies
kept confidential.
Soaring stakes
Some 10,000 Ground
Zero workers are
suing for a pot of
money that could
reach $4 billion.
Where the cash comes
from and where it
goes:
IN
■ $2B in private
insurance policies
■ $1.1B in the
city-run WTC Captive
Insurance Co.,
funded by Congress
to pay the claims of
injured workers
■ $600M in Port
Authority insurance
OUT
■ $275M in the
Captive fund has
already been spent
on lawyers and
expenses
■ 30-40% percent in
fees will be taken
off the top of
settlements or
judgments by the
plaintiffs’ lawyers
susan.edelman@nypost.com
