9/11 Victim Compensation Fund Case Study

One of those situations that tragically did not have the same outcome as that of Roger Ebert was that of the 9/11 victim compensation fund. The 9/11 victim compensation fund was set up to help grieving families after the tragedy but, it unintentionally made it seem that the victims were not human but dollar signs. This was especially hard for Kenneth Feinberg ,the lawyer that was in charge of handling the funds. You get a clear understanding of how the system worked through the following quote, “On the morning of Jan. 18, about 70 family members file into the rows of crimson seats at the Norwalk, Conn., city hall auditorium. They listen quietly to special master Kenneth Feinberg, whom the government has entrusted with dispersing its money to

those most affected by the Sept. 11 tragedy. His first job is to persuade them to join the federal Victim Compensation Fund, … The main thrust: The government, for the first time ever, has agreed to write large checks to victims' families without any litigation. The checks will arrive within four months after a claim is filed--no legal fees, no agonizing 10-year lawsuit. But every award will be based on a cold calculus, much the way courts handle wrongful-death claims. That means different sums for different families. ... First, the government will estimate how much a victim would have earned over his or her lifetime ... That means a broker's family will qualify for a vastly higher award than a window washer's family. … Note that the lifetime earnings have been boosted by a flat $250,000 for ‘pain and suffering’--noneconomic losses, they are called.