The Legal Community’s Response to 9/11 – By President Matthew Diller

Twenty-five years after 9/11, some 40 percent of Americans are too young to remember the events firsthand, while many of us remember that day, and the days after, all too well. For all of us, it’s an appropriate time to look back, to honor those we lost.

On that day, 2,753 people were killed in New York City, 184 at the Pentagon, and 40 in Pennsylvania. Those who lost their lives at the World Trade Center included 344 firefighters and 71 law enforcement personnel.

Five members of the New York City Bar Association and one former staff member were killed at the World Trade Center: Kirsten Cristoff, Matthew Leonard, Charles Austin McCrann, John M. Moran, Joanna Vidal, and David Weiss. Four of them worked at the World Trade Center. Joanna Vidal was attending a meeting at Windows on the World. John Moran was a battalion commander in the New York City Fire Department. We remember and cherish those we lost.

Like so many, I lost a dear friend that day.

Livelihoods were instantly devastated: 430,000 lost jobs, $2.8 billion in lost wages, and 18,000 small businesses destroyed or forced to relocate. In the months and years that followed, many suffered devastating illnesses stemming from the toxic fumes they inhaled that day and in the period that followed.

We must not forget the long tail of the aftermath, with Muslim and other communities subjected to hate crimes and government harassment, surveillance and detention.

But for now, let’s focus on the extraordinary response of the New York City legal community immediately following the attacks and find some solace and inspiration in the role the legal community played in responding to the crisis.

Keep in mind that the city was in a state not only of shock but of confusion, beginning with that uncertain 17-minute interval between the first and second strikes on the World Trade Center. Was the first crash an accident involving a small plane? When the second plane hit, there was no question that it was a planned attack. Were more attacks coming?

Thousands of lawyers put aside the shock and trauma of the attack, rolled up their sleeves and got to work. The City Bar became a coordinating hub for legal service providers across the city, and after the City Bar Fund announced its first training session, the response would become lore: a line of volunteers from the packed Meeting Hall stretched down the stairs, across the lobby, out the door, down the block and around the corner. Then-Chief Judge Judith Kaye said, “To think that all those people had come in response to a request of lawyers for volunteer services to help people in need. I just had never seen anything like it…. It was just dazzling, breathtaking to see all those people.”

While the World Wide Web was in its early stages at the turn of the century, lawyers made the most of the available technology. The City Bar’s Legal Referral Service handled volunteer intake through its hotline and, working with iLawyer, customized its online case referral service for 9/11 relief efforts. Pro Bono Net, then a fledgling startup, posted trainings and clinics, stored frequently used documents, and provided a message board for volunteers to collaborate online. LawHelp, launched the previous year as a collaboration among organizations, including the City Bar, to help low-income New Yorkers, provided information to victims of the attacks and their families, and to “indirect victims” like immigrant communities.

The legal needs were daunting and varied, spanning issues related to wills and estates, death certificates, Social Security, state and federal aid, life and health insurance, family law, taxes, immigration, and unemployment. It was clearly unworkable to require families to find multiple lawyers and repeat their stories multiple times. Instead, the City Bar Fund devised a holistic approach: a facilitator/issue-spotting model, training volunteers, providing them with expert mentors, and matching them with families to assess needs. It was likened to a “family doctor” model, which had the added benefit of providing traumatized families with a sense of stability and support.

Families were searching for loved ones, and it was clear that many would never be found. Laws on the books said three years were required before a death certificate application could be filed for a missing person, which was untenable in a crisis of this magnitude. Because the average age of the victims was around 40, many families had no estate planning, no wills, and no access to bank accounts or life insurance benefits. The answer was the “Expedited Death Certificate Assistance Project,” a collaboration among the City’s Law Department, the state courts, the Governor’s and Mayor’s offices, the City’s Chief Medical Examiner, and City Bar committees. The result was a special process to apply for a missing-person death certificate within 10 days.

The legal community benefited from extraordinary leadership during this crisis, including by City Bar President Evan Davis, who on September 14, 2001 said, “Adversity almost always has a counterpoint. From scandal comes reform. From disease comes medical advance. The tragedy with which we are coping has revealed the bar’s deepest character, and that character is admirable.”

The horrific acts of 9/11 were met by New York’s legal community with acts of solidarity, compassion, kindness and tremendous skill. The strength of character shown by the legal community – and by all kinds of New Yorkers – was remarkable and has stayed with me through the years.

Our profession continues to attract a high proportion of people with admirable character who seek to use their talent and energy to help others. At its best, legal training equips them to lead lives that reflect the goodwill and love of justice that brought them to the profession.  Lawyers work with clients who depend on their advice and assistance for things that are critical in their lives. Carrying that responsibility and helping clients deal with adversity affects the lawyer, as well as clients. It builds character and resilience.

Twenty-five years later, it is important to reflect on and appreciate the accomplishments of the thousands of lawyers who rallied to support, counsel, and advocate for victims of 9/11. As they did then, we should roll up our sleeves to help those in crisis today, and confront whatever crises may lie ahead, bringing the same commitment to service, as well as the energy, passion, creativity, and collaboration that made their efforts so effective.

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Additional Resources

Listen to or Watch the 44th Street Podcast, hosted by City Bar President Matthew Diller, in which he speaks with three lawyers who were leaders of the legal response to 9/11: Anthony Crowell, Maria Imperial, and Janet Sabel. They share stories from their work on the City Bar’s role as a coordinating hub for volunteers and legal service providers across the city, the family assistance center at Pier 94, the innovative use of the internet to expand outreach, and the triage system built at the Metropolitan Detention Center. They also reflect on the emotional toll of the work and what it taught them about the profession’s capacity to show up and collaborate when needed.

Read “Public Service in a Time of Crisis: A Report and Retrospective on the Legal Community’s Response to the Events of September 11, 2001,” published in 2004 in the Fordham Urban Law Journal.

See previous submissions to our 9/11 Commemoration Message Board, where colleagues have shared memories and reflections on the day and its enduring impact. Add your own using the yellow button in the bottom right corner.

We also encourage you to attend The 25th Anniversary of 9/11: A Conversation with Kenneth R. Feinberg at the City Bar on Wednesday, September 23, in which First Special Master Kenneth R. Feinberg will discuss the aftermath of 9/11, including the creation of the Victim Compensation Fund, and take questions from the audience.