(Newswire.net — April 22, 2013) Scottsdale, AZ — As news on the Boston Marathon bombings start to thin down with the arrest of a suspect and the downing of another, the public can now heave a sigh of relief—except for the victims and their families.
For the families of the 3 killed and the 170 injured—most of them with amputations—how they will be compensated is still uncertain. While state and city officials announced Tuesday the founding of One Fund Boston, a central funding arrangement to provide compensation for the victims, questions as to how much money victims will receive and when will they receive it remains to be answered. Reports say Boston-based insurer John Hancock have contributed $1 million seed money while Boston law firm Goodwin Procter will oversee the distribution through One Fund Boston.
Lawyer Marc Bern, who represented thousands of workers affected by illnesses and personal injury related to the World Trade Centre joint attacks, commented that a fund is “the easiest, the fairest and the quickest way to go.”
However, such arrangements usually carry along waiving the right to sue others for even more compensation later, especially for prolonged treatments and unforeseen losses.
“If you take the money, do you give up your right to litigate against the city of Boston or the marathon association? Who’s eligible?” Kenneth Feinberg, the Washington attorney who administered the distribution of funds for victims of the 9/11 attacks and the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings, pointed out.
Additional issues also hound such arrangements. Disputes may arise, such as those in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing wherein victims are still fighting over personal injury claims with the Oklahoma City Community Foundation which oversees the fund. Fraud risks are also an issue, as bogus websites were quickly put up by con artists to collect money from unwitting donors. Computing how much compensation each victim should receive is also a tedious process.
Can victims claim insurance against organizers of the marathon? Yes, the victims can pursue litigation against the Boston Athletic Association for personal injury, but their ability to pay any injury settlement depends mostly on whether their insurance policy covers terrorism-related incidents or acts. It will also depend on an official pronouncement by the U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew that the bombing was indeed, an act of terrorism, according to the federal government’s Terrorism Risk Insurance Program. The capture of one of the suspects may just hold the key to that declaration.
Either way, it helps to have the assistance of a personal injury lawyer on one’s side in handling claims against acts of terrorism and violence. An injury lawyer is able to push for the amount of compensation one is entitled to and to ensure that such is received in the shortest possible time and, when push comes to shove, pursue litigation on behalf of a victim and his family.