Dear Mr. Feinberg - The 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund and Mediation

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by Kenneth Feinberg May 2004

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Presented as a plenary address to the joint conference of the International Academy of Mediators (IAM and the American College of Civil Trial Mediators ACCTM in New Orleans, May, 2004.

This is the featured plenary presentation from the IAM/ACCTM Conference in New Orleans, May 2004. Mr. Feinberg is the Special Master chosen by Attorney General John Ashcroft to administer the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund. This Fund offers victims of the attacks and their surviving family members an alternative to litigation. In this role, Mr. Feinberg is is responsible for administering the fund, managing all claims brought by the victims and their families, and disseminating all public information concerning the fund.

To view or listen to Mr. Feinberg's address online, find the appropriate link below.

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Mr. Feinberg's lecture focuses on his experiences as Special Master of the Victim's Compensation Fund. He explains his duties within the claims process and shared stories about his interaction with relatives and friends of victims of the attack and with survivors who were injured. Mr. Feinberg discussed the practical and emotional difficulties of running this "deceptively simple, but hideously complex" program and addressed issues such as:

• Should families of high-salary decedents receive more money than families of low-salary decedents, and if so, how much more?
• Should families of people who died on September 11 be treated differently from families of people who died during other attacks, such as the Oklahoma City bombing?
• If another similar attack happens, should Congress enact a similar Fund?

In addition, Mr. Feinberg explored several legal issues that arose from the way in which the fund was developed and executed. Mr. Feinberg explained how the statute enacted to establish the September 11 fund gave him authority to administer the fund, but gave little guidance as to who would be eligible as beneficiaries. Feinberg addressed his use of mediation and the state law from a victim's domicile to help him decide which relatives and friends could collect from the fund.

Biography

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Mr. Feinberg was appointed by the Attorney General of the United States to serve as the Special Master of the Federal September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001. In this capacity, he developed and promulgated the Regulations governing the administration of the Fund and administered all aspects of the program, including evaluating applications, determining appropriate compensation and disseminating awards.

Mr. Feinberg is an attorney and one of the nation's leading experts in mediation and alternative dispute resolution. He is the managing partner and founder of The Feinberg Group, LLP. Mr. Feinberg received his B.A. cum laude from the University of Massachusetts in 1967 and his J.D. from New York University School of Law in 1970, where he was Articles Editor of the Law Review. He was a Law Clerk for Chief Judge Stanley H. Fuld, New York State Court of Appeals from 1970 to 1972; Assistant United States Attorney, Southern District of New York from 1972 to 1975; Special Counsel, United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary from 1975 to 1980; Administrative Assistant to Senator Edward M. Kennedy from 1977 to 1979; Partner at Kaye, Scholer, Fierman, Hays & Handler from 1980 to 1993; and founded The Feinberg Group in 1993.

Mr. Feinberg has had a distinguished teaching career as Adjunct Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center, University of Pennsylvania Law School, New York University School of Law, the University of Virginia Law School and Columbia Law School.

Mr. Feinberg has been Court-Appointed Special Settlement Master, mediator and arbitrator in thousands of disputes involving such issues as mass torts, breach of contract, antitrust and civil RICO violations, civil fraud, product liability, insurance coverage, and various commercial and environmental matters. Mr. Feinberg was also one of three arbitrators selected to determine the fair market value of the original Zapruder film of the Kennedy assassination and was one of two arbitrators selected to determine the allocation of legal fees in the Holocaust slave labor litigation.

Mr. Feinberg was a member of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Human Radiation Experiments from 1994 to 1995; the Presidential Commission on Catastrophic Nuclear Accidents from 1989 to 1990 and the Carnegie Commission Task Force on Science and Technology in Judicial and Regulatory Decision Making from 1989 to 1993. He is currently a member of the National Judicial Panel, Center for Public Resources, and chaired the American Bar Association Special Committee on Mass Torts from 1988 to 1989. He is also an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association. He is listed in "Profiles in Power: The 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America" (National Law Journal, April 4, 1994; June 12, 2000) and was named "Lawyer of the Year" by the National Law Journal (December, 2004). He is the author of numerous articles and essays on mediation, mass torts and other matters.

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Website: www.feinberggroup.com

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