Trial Magazine

On 9/11, the harsh reality of what happened hit me when the family down the block began an evening vigil for their daughter. She had worked in the Twin Towers. In the weeks that followed, I worked with Chris Placitella, then president of the New Jersey Association for Justice (NJAJ), and the NJAJ executive team to develop a state pro bono program to coordinate attorneys’ efforts from our state—this program became part of Trial Lawyers Care. As part of the program, AAJ members Bill Mauk, Richard Bieder, and I trained attorneys to handle 9/11 claims. My partners and I committed to help any family in need in the towns where we lived and where our office was located.

My firm ended up handling 12 claims—they ran the gamut from families of blue collar employees to a hedge fund CFO. I also succeeded in having the rights of the gay partner of one of the lost recognized. But what I remember most is representing my neighbors who had lost their daughter and ensuring their petition was a memorial to the person she had been.

One of the families we represented presented us with a beautiful lithograph of the steely eye of an eagle looking down. It adorns the wall of my firm’s conference room to remind us every day of the families we represented.

E. Drew Britcher is a cofounder of Britcher Leone in Glen Rock, N.J., and was on the TLC Board of Directors. He can be reached at drew@blrlaw.com.

Having offices in Detroit and northern Michigan, I volunteered for Trial Lawyers Care (TLC) to help Michigan families in the aftermath of 9/11. Some of my Michigan clients were parents of young adults who had been living in New York City working in the many offices and restaurants in the towers. In some instances, I helped parents and siblings identify fragments of their loved ones’ remains.

Through TLC, eventually I was able to obtain precious mementos—and in some instances, some ashes and some remains were returned to Michigan for burial. During this terrible time, I helped a few grieving families, but TLC did so much more. It organized over 1,000 trial lawyers who gave injured families hope.

For me, TLC will always be the memory of the tearful faces of parents for whom I was able to return the family photo album of the son they lost in the collapse of the South Tower.

Linda Miller Atkinson is of counsel at Atkinson Petruska Kozma Hart & Couture in Gaylord, Mich.