Honoring All the Victims of the Sept. 11th Terror Attacks Twenty-Five Years Later
In the days that followed the Sept. 11th terror attacks, residents of New York City gathered and grieved, creating makeshift memorials in their city that felt the full darkness of death. Some prayed. Others spread messages of love and peace during this unprecedented time of sorrow.
The horror and aftermath also unfolded in Washington, D.C., and in Pennsylvania as grief paralyzed our country.
Trial lawyers, including Corboy & Demetrio Co-founder Thomas Demetrio, who have devoted their lives to protecting victims, wanted to somehow help.
The American Association for Justice, then called the American Trial Lawyers Association, quickly formed Trial Lawyers Care® to advocate for the creation of a fund for the terror attack victims, which would provide financial aid to their surviving family members in need.
Trial Lawyers Care became the largest and most successful pro bono project in U.S. jurisprudence, with nearly 1,100 lawyers volunteering almost 900,000 hours to represent victims’ families in need, according to AAJ.
Thomas A. Demetrio, along with his brother, Michael, was proud to be one of those lawyers. In his more than 50 years of practicing law, Tom says his greatest career satisfaction comes, not from the $5 billion in verdicts and settlements his firm has obtained, but rather from his pro-bono work on behalf of victims of the Sept. 11th terror attacks.
“It gave me a great sense of pride in our country and in our profession, and I was thankful I had the ability to do that, so that’s always going to be number one for me,” Tom said.
It’s hard to believe a quarter of a century has passed since that unimaginable tragedy.
The lawyers and staff of Corboy & Demetrio pay tribute to those who died on Sept. 11, 2001, and the more than 9,000 people who later died from illness due to exposure to toxins from the burning towers.
With each passing year, may we keep the memory of all the victims close to our hearts.
#neverforget
