To coincide with the 20th anniversary of the attacks on September 11, 2001, Netflix released a new movie called "Worth". It is a dramatization of the story behind the 9/11 victims compensation fund, which was administered by Ken Feinberg.
I recently watched the movie and I recommend it. It is not a thriller, nor a courtroom drama, but it does a good job of showing the every day inner workings of torts lawyers trying to figure out how to manage the type of compromise it takes to evaluate claims fairly. And in a case like the 9/11 fund everything was amplified and more difficult. I don't know how much of the movie was accurate or how much was exaggerated from dramatic purposes, but I can say that the scenes where the lawyers meet with grieving and angry clients are true to life, as any plaintiffs' lawyer will tell you.
Victims compensation fund are not perfect, and we can argue whether they are even fair given how the lawyers calculate compensation, but I think the movie is worth watching (excuse the pun).
In addition, if you have 20 minutes, take a look at Ken Feinberg himself talking about compensation funds in this short talk.
Finally, just a few days ago Feinberg was interviewed for a podcast. You can listen to the interview by clicking on the play button below or by going here.
In both the talk and the recent interview Feinberg explains why he thinks that victims compensation funds are not a good idea as an alternative to litigation and should not be used generally in the future.
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