First Responders

Our client Fred Guttenberg lost his brother, a physician and first responder, who survived the collapse of the towers, only to succumb to 9/11 cancer years later. Shortly thereafter, Fred’s 14-year-old daughter Jaime was killed in the Parkland shooting. Through his terrible grief, Fred sought out the helpers that were all around him, and found […]

With the start of the new year comes a new and critically important deadline for all members of the 9/11 community: July 29, 2021. Ordinarily, claimants with 9/11-related illnesses – which include 68 different types of cancer and dozens of respiratory conditions – must register with the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund within two years of their […]

It has been more than 19 years since that terrible September morning. If we thought in 2001 that we understood the human toll of the September 11th attacks, the passage of years has driven home a devastating truth – 9/11 did not end on 9/11. The painful reality is that more people have now died […]

NYPD veteran John Ferreyra figured he could trust his longtime friend Gus Vila, a former police officer who had since become an attorney, and who handled Victim Compensation Fund (VCF) claims. After the 9/11 attacks, Officer Ferreyra spent 12 hour days for 2 months assisting in the rescue and recovery efforts at Ground Zero. He […]

It has been almost a year since the coronavirus first swept through the U.S., and although a vaccine appears to be on the horizon, the fact remains that the health crisis has taken a heavy toll on the 9/11 community. Hundreds of first responders and survivors have died of COVID-19. Hundreds more have contracted more-severe-than-usual […]

The 9/11 community’s health crisis has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic because first responders and survivors with compromised immune and respiratory systems are uniquely vulnerable to the disease. This crisis has placed an enormous emotional, physical, and financial burden on individuals and families, including responders, debris removal and construction workers, downtown office workers, residents, […]