The events of 9/11 and theories about those events have occupied a prominent place in our culture. As someone who was there in the aftermath, as a rescuer with the Red Cross, I have enduring memories of what is was like to be just north of Ground Zero in eery silence, and to see the faces of dozens of widows of FDNY firefighters who had given their lives to save others. A few weeks later, as I walked through New York City with my daughter, still in stunned silence, we walked past all the “Have You Seen” posters that were still up. By then, we knew that those posters would never result in joyous reunions, but no one had the heart to take the posters down.
I realize that thedarkoverlord does not care about any of the above. They are only interested in getting lots and lots of internet money, as they have repeatedly informed me and the public over the past 2+ years. But it matters to me. And so one of the documents that they provided from their cache of hacked documents about 9/11 just stopped me cold, because it reminded me how uncaring aspects of the settlement and subrogation litigation could be.
In a confidential letter to Condon & Forsyth, LLP, who were the attorneys for Flight 11 defendants, Kreindler & Kreindler (attorneys for plaintiffs), discuss documentation that they will provide for the wrongful death/personal injury case. That documentation, as outlined in their March 14, 2005 letter, would include:
Income tax returns (at least 3 years);
birth certificates of decedents, survivors, and heirs;
marriage certificates;
death certificates;
decedent’s education certificates and degrees;
employer provided benefits (including fringe benefits) documentation;
pension plan documentation;
medical examiner reports;
personal health/medical documentation;
divorce degrees; if any
I don’t know how much other documentation was to also be provided, as I only have the first page of the correspondence, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were more document types listed on the next page of that letter, too.
So this is how the worth of our lives is to be calculated in the event of a wrongful death or personal injury case? Not by whether we’ve done good in the world or had hopes and dreams that will never be realized, or we have left behind shattered families. But by a list of data types that bean-counters and lawyers can agree upon?
I wonder how the families of the 9/11 victims feel seeing these types of cold negotiations for settlement. It must have been brutal for them if they knew.
As I said yesterday, thedarkoverlord’s cache of documents related to 9/11 will probably show us some of the underside of subrogation litigation and government investigations that we would not otherwise see. History buffs may welcome the release while the companies involved may shudder.
Update of January 3: Thedarkoverlord released more files last night, and the full document from Kreindler & Kreindler was included in that batch. As I had commented, there could be more types of data in their list, and there was: Page 2 of the document listed three other types of information on the dead or injured:
documentation or narrative details concerning lost household services and other extraordinary circumstances;
any other materials or information counsel may want you to consider to fairly evaluate their case including the identity of the persons who are entitled to share any award, settlement, or verdict; and<
with respect to “ground victims”, the best estimate of their location oat the time of death.
And of course, all materials were to be kept strictly confidential. But were they, or years later, did they wind up in the hands of thedarkoverlord? So far, I have not seen any sensitive victim records in the materials that the hackers have released, but they have a lot more in their possession.