It is a distant but indelible memory now. It was September 12, 2001. My law firm colleagues and I were sitting in our offices quietly. No planes were flying anywhere. ATLA’s president, Leo Boyle, scheduled an emergency conference call. He asked a question I will never forget: What can ATLA do to help?

Those of us participating in the call knew we were in uncharted waters. Like people all over the country, we were still in shock from the events of the previous day, yet Leo had the presence of mind to ask this important question. After talking it over, we made what we believed was the right decision. We called for a moratorium on lawsuits arising from the terrorist attacks. In a press release, we said:

Today, we must enter a period of national unity that should set us on a course of comfort, care, and respect for the privacy and anguish of the families who have experienced this national tragedy in the most personal of ways. It should also be a course of renewal and resolve, where American ideals continue as our true guideposts and national security is pursued with vigor and purpose.

We, as a nation, must speak at this hour with a single voice, a voice of compassion for the victims and a voice of authority to those who would tear down our society.

For this reason, for the first time in our history, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, in this time of national crisis, urges a moratorium on civil lawsuits that might arise out of these awful events.

Rapid response

When, in the days that followed, the airlines and Congress began crafting immunity protections for that industry, ATLA insisted on the simultaneous creation of a fund that would quickly compensate those who lost their loved ones that day.

The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, the most generous compensation program since Medicare was enacted in the 1960s, came from the minds of a few compassionate members of Congress, their staff, and trial lawyers who really cared. The idea led to the creation of Trial Lawyers Care, an ambitious program through which ATLA lawyers would provide pro bono legal services to families eligible to file claims with the fund.

The response was immediate and gratifying. Trial lawyer associations in New York, New Jersey, and other states offered help and recruited their members to represent claimants. Leo Boyle and former ATLA president Larry Stewart—another driving force behind Trial Lawyers Care—met with Kenneth Feinberg, the special master appointed to administer the fund, to develop procedures that would best serve these families.

When I visited the offices of Trial Lawyers Care several months ago, I was struck by the altruistic and caring attitude of the entire staff. Every time they help a family find security and move toward healing, it is a victory. Many of the pro bono lawyers who responded to represent more than 1,700 families have said the experience marks the pinnacle of their careers.

A test of character

In those first few days after the September 11 attacks, ATLA made a promise. By this June, all the families who chose to file claims with the fund will have received a decision about their compensation, and the fund will cease to exist.

Then, the promise made will be a promise kept.

Many people helped ATLA keep its vow, but these are a few who made special contributions: Richard Bieder, Trial Lawyers Care’s current president; Bill Mauk, who left his law practice in Idaho for six months to help launch the program in New York; Steve Peskin, who made the project his passion; the dynamic Drew Britcher; and many on the ATLA and Trial Lawyers Care staffs.

If ATLA’s spirit, character, strength, and instincts were ever truly tested, it was in those first days after the attacks. When people you meet ask you what the trial bar is really about, tell them about Trial Lawyers Care: It embodies what is in the soul of every trial lawyer in America.

This Fourth of July, at a special event during our annual convention in Boston, we will honor the families who suffered devastating losses on 9/11, and we will recognize the efforts of the many people who helped them in their time of need. We can be proud that ATLA and its members played a historic role in America’s response to the tragedy and made a profound difference in so many lives.

And to think it all began with Leo Boyle asking, "What can we do?"

Thank you, Leo. And thank you to every member of the trial bar who stepped forward to help the families of September 11.

David S. Casey Jr.