Shave ’em closer: Lawyers for WTC responders need to cut their fees even more
The New York Daily News - EDITORIAL - May 30, 2010
Lawyers representing 10,000 World Trade Center rescue and recovery workers have offered to cut their legal fees by $85 million. They have millions more to go. Calculations based on numbers provided to Manhattan Federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein indicate that even after shaving off the $85 mil, the attorneys would snag somewhere between $150 million and $180 million. That's way too much to take from Ground Zero responders whose shares of a proposed settlement could average as little as $40,000 to $60,000 each. Envisioning an enormous payday, the lead attorneys in the case, a firm called Worby Groner Edelman & Napoli Bern, signed up sickened 9/11 workers when few others paid any mind to their epidemic illnesses. Retainer agreements set the legal fees at 33% of any recoveries. However standard such a slice is in your run-of-the-mill negligence suit, this high-volume litigation is anything but routine. The claimants are owed as much compensation as possible - and the settlement on the table would wrap things up on a mass-production basis. Hellerstein is defending the interests of the responders against their own lawyers. The attorneys took great umbrage at his suggestion of overbilling, but their top man, Paul Napoli, came around to offering to accept 25% and forgo substantial additional monies. This remains well above the 15% Hellerstein had cited as a benchmark in other Trade Center-related cases. At that level, the lawyers would still be swimming in well over $100 million. Even that borders on the indecent. Hellerstein is fighting the good fight. He must keep up the pressure on every legal, uh, eagle involved in the matter, including those who are draining an insurance pool controlled by the city and other defendants. Never mind boilerplate agreements or standard operating procedures, it's time for the lawyers to do what is right. They seek justice, don't they?
MLK said: "Injustice Anywhere is a Threat to Justice Everywhere"
End Corruption in the Courts!
Court employee, judge or citizen - Report Corruption in any Court Today !! As of June 15, 2016, we've received over 142,500 tips...KEEP THEM COMING !! Email: CorruptCourts@gmail.com
Most Read Stories
- Tembeckjian's Corrupt Judicial 'Ethics' Commission Out of Control
- As NY Judges' Pay Fiasco Grows, Judicial 'Ethics' Chief Enjoys Public-Paid Perks
- New York Judges Disgraced Again
- Wall Street Journal: When our Trusted Officials Lie
- Massive Attorney Conflict in Madoff Scam
- FBI Probes Threats on Federal Witnesses in New York Ethics Scandal
- Federal Judge: "But you destroyed the faith of the people in their government."
- Attorney Gives New Meaning to Oral Argument
- Wannabe Judge Attorney Writes About Ethical Dilemmas SHE Failed to Report
- 3 Judges Covered Crony's 9/11 Donation Fraud
- Former NY State Chief Court Clerk Sues Judges in Federal Court
- Concealing the Truth at the Attorney Ethics Committee
- NY Ethics Scandal Tied to International Espionage Scheme
- Westchester Surrogate's Court's Dastardly Deeds
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Blog Archive
-
▼
2010
(270)
-
▼
May
(21)
- Lawyer, Executive Charged With Stealing $60 Million
- Lawyer accused Of Trying To Blackmail Ex-Lover Int...
- Daily News EDITORIAL On Greedy 9/11 Lawyers
- Former New York Senator Gets 7 Years for Corruption
- The Big National Problem: Oversight Conflicts
- Make This Judge Chief Judge of New York
- A "Judges' Union" in New York?
- 'Outsider' To Run For Governor, Wil Clean Up Corru...
- Good Attempt to Mend Truth, Justice and the BigLaw...
- Short Circuiting Justice
- Federal Magistrate Scoffs at Higher Court, Continu...
- From Coast to Coast, Judicial Corruption Stinks
- PJ Prudenti: Lawyer Ethics Guided By Core Principles
- Explanation of Non-Existent Attorney Ethics: Misse...
- More Manipulation of New York State 'Justice'
- Attorney General Cuomo Sues Attorney Nicolia
- 'Gamblin' Bronx Judge Is Back
- NY Surrogate Calls for Shifting of Power
- The Washington Post: Judges and Conflicts
- NY Lawyer Sues NY Judge On $500,000.00 Loan
- America's Big Law Firms Know How to Buy Results
-
▼
May
(21)
See Video of Senator John L. Sampson's 1st Hearing on Court 'Ethics' Corruption
The first hearing, held in Albany on June 8, 2009 hearing is on two videos:
Video of 1st Hearing on Court 'Ethics' Corruption
The June 8, 2009 hearing is on two videos:
Posts
7 comments:
When you think of greed, you think of lawyers. When you think of lawyers, you think of greed. The problem with our country is that it is run by lawyers.
Come on New York Daily News. Put the lawyers faces on the front page!!!
The lawyers get MORE money than the victims..There's something WRONG with that picture!!
Oh, wait a minute, aren't these the same lawyers (Napoli & Burns) that were involved with the Phen-FEN case? I smell something very fishy here!!!
Attorneys such as Bernadette E. Lupinetti, Esq. from Goshen New York County of Orange are using theie position to sell children in child custody cases for porn and pedophilia reasons. Do you thing this type of instestinal obstruction care about anything else? Andy if you win the governor seat are you planning to officially make child porn and pedophilia legal in the State of New York? Is this the way you will continue protecting your friends such as the Lupinettis?
The average is between 40-60K
They do not think to much of thier clients do they. Are the lawyers going to spend the rest of thier lives with the health problems?
Ae the lawyers going to have trouble breathing and unable to walk up a flight of stairs?
Those people are dying and need help for Md and living expenses.
That is not much compensation for thier lives but a lot of compensation for the lawyers.
I see it; I know it. They scavenge the dead and wounded, all under the eye of the head vulture with a black robe hiding his black feathers. Ambulance chasers, maggots, leaches, vultures all picking on the bones of the dead or injured; how much is left before their satiated. Who'll benefit most if the Gulf spill continues? A Harvard vulture is in charge.
Suprised? Come on these families are perfect pickins for dirty rotten lawyers and judges to rip off. Think of it, most of the families have no father, dead or coughing up his lungs and barely able to breath, you can rob him every which way. Like a vet at Walter Reed let them wallow in their shit and while they are down down down, give them nothing and take everything, you know steal from the fireman's children, those Bush sent into buildings knowing the precise time the implosion would happen and sending them in to their grave to make it look good. I guess all that is left is to rape their wives and children, oops I best not give the pedophilic attorneys, politicians, prosecutors and judges any ideas.
I hear Proskauer is involved heavy in 9.11, Schnell and Krane and all the moblawyers.
Post a Comment