From 9/11 to Orlando, Ken Feinberg’s Alter Ego in Compensating Victims
A program started by the New York Archdiocese in October to compensate sexual abuse victims — also administered by Feinberg,
and the template for the Brooklyn Diocese program — presented a different set of challenges.
J. Michael Reck, a lawyer for victims of sexual abuse by members of the clergy, said the awards available from the New York Archdiocese program “are significantly less than would be considered full justice in the court system.” Seven of his clients have received sums ranging from about $150,000 to $350,000, he said,
and he is still pursuing cases for about a dozen more.
His six-person law firm has achieved national renown — and a near monopoly — in the curious business of devising ways to compensate disaster victims.
By ROGER PARLOFFJUNE 23, 2017
When the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn unveiled a program on Thursday to compensate victims
of sexual abuse by its clergy, it chose a familiar name to oversee it: Kenneth R. Feinberg.
How do you handle a case — such as the Orlando shooting — in which the parents of several
victims who died didn’t want to acknowledge their children’s same-sex partners?