34 the philadelphia lawyer fall 2021

Remembrances of 9/11 and the Lost Souls I Represented

By Charles Schleifer

Photo by Axel Houmadi on Unsplash

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I’ve not written of this before although I was interviewed for an article that appeared in The Legal Intelligencer many years ago. As I sit here writing my thoughts, I know that the survivors of the lost people I rep-resentedarefilledonceagainwiththoughtsof their loved ones. It’s been a while since I have spoken to any of them, and I hope that the years passed have at least helped to ease their pain. This is my story of my time with them.

IwassittingatmydeskinmyofficeonSpruce Street, prepar-ing for a meeting with a client when I firstheard of the attack. Subsequently, I, along with everyone else at thefirm,spenttherestof the morning and early afternoon glued to our television in the conference room. Of course, I cancelled the client meeting. I recall when the second tower was hit and the scope of the tragedy and what it meant began to sink in. Every-one remembers where they were and what they were doing. Of this, I am quite sure. For the first fewmonths that followed, Icould not help but notice how our coun-try rallied and united, kind of like when a family member is diagnosed with a serious disease. Quarrels are forgotten and people come together. Back then, everyone was suddenly more accepting of each other, more friendly, more willing to help. Kind-ness everywhere. No one cared which party represented their ideals. We were all Amer-icans, and we were all wounded.

Withinthefirstcoupleofmonths,Iwaspersonally consumed with the helplessness of watching others suffer and pitch in to help at Ground Zero while my life seemed to be pretty good. I wanted to do something

to help, but I did not know what to do. It was too late to volunteer at Ground Zero andIwastoooldtojointhefighttoseekout those who hit us so hard. I remem-ber how I feltwhen I first saw the emaildescribing how the American Trial Law-yersinconjunctionwiththeNewYorkTrialLawyers had formed an organization called Trial Lawyers Care (TLC). Their mission was to provide pro bono legal services for thebenefitof the injured survivorsor thefamilies of those who died. Our country,

through a then-united Congress had written into law the Victims Compensation Fund (VCF). Those who applied surrendered the right to file lawsuits against the airports,the airlines, the cities, etc., and in return they could be compensated based on a fair measure of economic loss and a small mea-sure of pain and suffering, most agreeing how impossible it was to determine which victims suffered more than others. It was a huge task.Our nation’s finestmediator,Kenneth Feinberg, accepted the appoint-ment to head the effort and serve as medi-ator/arbitrator.Theclaimspouredin.Law-yers were needed. Lawyers who wanted to help through the TLC were required to waive all rights to fees in exchange for the privilege of representing these souls. Count mein!

I contacted the organization and offered

my services. I was told they were having some difficulties with an individual whoselflessly was running an organization inBrooklyn that provided community for a number of Jewish Immigrants from Russia, Ukraine, Syria and others. Thismanwasinsistent that his people needed an expe-rienced attorney who understood personal injuryclaims,nottheinexperiencedpeoplewho this community had previously met with. I seemed to have the credentials he was hoping for, with 20 years of experience (at that time) as a trial lawyer in Philadel-phia. I took Amtrak to New York and met with this man and his wife. They both felt personally devastated by the loss of seven members of their community. I said that I would be happy to meet with and represent one. He arranged for me to meet with the family of Faina R. at his apartment on Park

Avenue the following week. When I got there, I learned that the other families wanted to meet with me as well. They were all there. One of these individuals was not interested in the Victims Compensation Fund. He was devas-tated by the loss of both his wife and daughter. He wanted to institute suit instead. In accor-

dance with my agreement with the TLC, I had to decline. The other six families all requested that I take their case. I pondered “HowcouldItellanyofthesepeoplethatI had a busy practice and that I was only theretoacceptonecase?”Ileftthatnightwith six clients, actually a total of 21 survi-vor claims, all for the six people that I will never meet. I wanted to hear their stories and I like to think that they felt some com-fort with me. I mean, really, how could I say no to any of them?

For the next two years, I spent a lot of time in New York meeting with the fam-ilies, attempting to gather records from companies that either no longer existed or were dealing with their own internal tur-moil, and slowly became their friend. A fewmemoriesofmy times inNewYork:The Ritz Carlton on Central Park South

A s the nat ion reached the 20th anniversary of the day that so shook us a l l , I paused to re- l ive the very personal experience of this t ragedy and

the days and years that fol lowed. I would l ike to share those memories .

“ “The claims poured in. Lawyers were needed. Lawyers who wanted to help through the TLC were required to waive all rights to fees in exchange for the privilege of representing these souls.”

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learned of my representation and offered me a great room each time at an incredi-bly reduced rate. They also provided me with a private meeting place adjacent totheirbar/restaurant,soIcouldconductmymany client meetings. Interestingly, the only person that I ever saw in this space was actor Kelsey Grammer, who was pri-vately (semi) meeting with some producer. I’m not sure he knew why I was there as my people marched in every half hour to see me. During one of my trips, I visited the pavilion at the Ground Zero site that had been set up for viewing. When I got there, I explained of the families that I represented, the six who perished in the Towers. I was ushered to a separate, very up-close area that overlooked the incredibly large crater of mangled steel. I was told that this area was otherwise reserved only for families ofthelostaswellasfirefightersandpolicewho were visiting from all over the coun-try. This was about three or four months after the attack. I have an overwhelming memory of the gentle weeping. Not a dry eye on the deck. I left there feeling much closer to my clients and my mission.

After about a year of gathering infor-mation, filling out forms and organizingstories, the cases were ready for adjudi-cation. The VCF, under Feinberg, offered twooptionstotheclaimants.Thefirstwasrelativelysimple–justfilethepaperworkand wait for the award. I’m not sure how much of a difference it made in the even-tual outcomes, but I was certain that the people I had gotten to know needed a more encapsulating measure of closure. Filing papers was not going to get it done. They all wanted hearings in front of Feinberg so they could tell the story of their loss. The hearings were scheduled over a few weeks, and they all got the opportunity to speak, many with the help of a Russian or Ara-bic translator. The experience was over-whelmingand fulfilling at the same time.

One of my clients was the father of a young accountant. The family had escaped Syria only a few years prior. They were very much alone. The remaining brother spoke of his deceased brother (Eli). His father interrupted in Arabic to apologize to Fein-bergandsaid“Pleaseexcusewhatmysonhassaid.Myson,Eli,isnotdead.”Icouldfeel the hair on my neck begin to rise. Fein-berg turned to me and said with a very puz-zledlook“Mr.Schleifer,isthisanissue?”“No”, I explained, “Everyone is dealingwiththislossdifferently.”Ihadpreviouslybeen told that whenever the phone rang and, when answered, no one spoke on the other dialing side, the father was sure that it was Eli. No remains of Eli were ever found. In fact, no remains of any of my cli-ents were ever found. They did recover the mostlymeltedemployeeidentificationcardof Inna B, That was it. I want you now to know something about, as I remember, the sixsoulsthatInevergottomeet:

Gennady B.Hewas34.Heleftbehindhis beautiful wife, Jolanta and a 7 year-old son, Michael. He was working on the 94thfloorofTowerOne,whereheworkedas a travel counselor for American Express. He was about to be promoted when the day came.

Inna B. Inna worked for Cantor Fitz-gerald atOneWTC,Shewas 43 and leftbehind her husband, Vladimir and her 12 year-old son, Boris.

Faina R. Faina was working for Accenture at theWTC. She was 45 andwas born in Moscow. I spent many hours with her husband, Yuriy and two wonderful children, Alex and Elena.

Aleksander I. He and his wife, Anna, immigrated from Siberia in 2000. On Sep-tember11,hewasjust23andshewas20.

He was a computer programming whiz, already earning a high salary at a sister company of Cantor Fitzgerald. I remem-ber that Anna went back to school after the tragedy and was hoping for a career in counseling or psychology.

Eli C. As I previously described, Eli immigrated from Syria with his parents and brother,Victor.Hewasjust23andhadjustreceived a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Long Island University.He had but a three-month employment his-tory with the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance when his life was cut short.

Lyudmila K. Shewas 46 years old.SheleftbehindFelix,whohadsignificanthealth issues to deal with and three chil-dren, Robert, Barry and Lawrence. She was working as a team leader for Accenture when the planes hit.

To this day, I maintain my files andphotos of the families. My memories of the time I spent with them remain close to my heart. I did make a conscious deci-sion not to encourage continuing our rela-tionship afterward as I felt it best that they have the opportunity to move on with their lives without me being a constant reminder of how their world was rocked that clear and sunny day. I like to think that they are doing well but I am certain that the terrible sadness of the day will stay with them for-ever.

Charles Schleifer is a shareholder at Hag-gerty, Goldberg, Schleifer & Kupersmith, P.C.

“To this day, I maintain my files and photos of the families. My memories of the time I spent with them remain close to my heart.

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