9-11 emergency workers to receive enhanced insurance settlement

The WTC Captive Insurance Company and lawyers for about 10,000 rescue and recovery workers who suffered injuries or died while working at ‘Ground Zero’ when the World Trade Centre towers collapsed in New York on Sept. 11, 2001 have agreed to add $125 million to a settlement offer first made in March 2010.
A judge of the United States District Court, Southern District Court of New York sent the two sides back to the drawing board in March 2010, after rejecting an initial settlement offer in the range of between $575 million and $657 million.
The new settlement offer adds at least $125 million to the pot, making the final settlement between $625 million and $713 million.
The new settlement offer will be presented for input at an open, public hearing on June 23, 2010, after which time the court will rule on the fairness of the offer.
The additional funds come from the following three sources:
•under the terms of the agreement, the WTC Captive Insurance Company will kick in an extra $50 million at a minimum (up to a maximum of $55 million).
•lawyers for the injured workers will kick in more than $50 million, the result of volunteering to reduce their fees from 33% to 25%.
•an additional $25 million will come from the waiver of certain compensation liens by the City and its WTC workers compensation insurer.