Chris Placitella Joins PLI’s Pursuing Justice Podcast to Discuss Trial Lawyers Care and 9/11

This year, around the anniversary of September 11, Chris Placitella joined Linda Lipsen and Leo Boyle on the Practicing Law Institute’s (PLI) podcast Pursuing Justice: The Pro Bono Files to talk about Trial Lawyers Care. The episode looks back at how the nation’s trial lawyers organized in the days after the attacks to make sure victims and their families had a voice, and free legal help, when they needed it most.

Linda Lipsen is the President and CEO of the American Association for Justice (AAJ) and was its chief lobbyist in 2001, when the organization was known as ATLA. Leo Boyle, a Boston trial lawyer, was the association’s president at the time. Chris, a shareholder at Cohen, Placitella, Roth & Goslee, was then president of the New Jersey Association for Justice and a board member of AAJ.

You can listen to the full episode on PLI’s website, watch the complete clip series on YouTube, or see PLI’s clip of the conversation on LinkedIn.

What Is Trial Lawyers Care?

Trial Lawyers Care is a pro bono program of the American Association for Justice. It was formed in 2001 after the September 11 terrorist attacks, and it organized nearly 1,100 volunteer lawyers who provided free legal help to victims and families filing claims with the federal September 11th Victim Compensation Fund.

As the episode explains, the fund gave families a choice: file a claim, or keep the right to sue. Making that decision, then documenting each family’s losses and presenting them to the fund, required experienced lawyers. Trial Lawyers Care made sure families could get that help without paying for it.

Chris Placitella’s Memories of September 11

Chris told listeners that on the morning of September 11 he was in his office in Woodbridge, New Jersey, with a clear view of the towers. After someone ran in to say a tower had been struck, he turned to the window. “It felt like seconds later, I physically saw the plane hit the second tower,” he said.

Chris was also serving on his local school board, and many people in his town worked in the towers. He described an urgent call with the board as members realized some children would go home that day to parents who would not be there. They arranged crisis counselors for the students, and Chris drove to the schools to be with the families as news came in.

Within hours, he was in touch with Linda and Leo. The next day, he was on a train to Washington, D.C.

Putting Families First

One of the first steps the trial lawyers took, Chris recalled, was to call for a moratorium on 9/11 lawsuits. “We did not want to focus on people who are filing lawsuits,” he said. “We wanted to focus on what are we going to do to help with these families.”

He remembered how quickly the legal community came together around that goal. Plaintiff’s lawyers, defense lawyers, and government lawyers all joined in, and in Chris’s words, “everyone saw this as a patriotic mission to protect these families.”

Linda and Leo described the work in Washington that followed. Within about 10 days, AAJ’s team helped make sure the federal legislation passed after the attacks included the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, and the association’s executive committee voted unanimously to represent families for free. Leo noted that the fund ultimately paid a total of about $7 billion to 9/11 families.

Chris Placitella’s Role in Trial Lawyers Care

Chris was a member of Trial Lawyers Care and helped organize the national pro bono effort that provided free legal assistance to families who lost loved ones on September 11.

In the episode, he spoke about one group of clients in particular: a group of New Jersey women who became known as the Jersey Girls. Two of them lived in his town, and their children were among the students he visited on September 11.

Chris described how these women organized their community, reaching out to grieving neighbors they had never met and staying with them until they found the strength to move forward. “I learned so much about the strength of a mother through those women to protect their families,” he said.

He also reflected on what that work taught him about his profession. “Sometimes we’re the bridge in people’s lives,” he said, describing how a trial lawyer can stand beside someone at the most important point in their life.

Looking back on the volunteers who gave their time, Chris called it “the worst of mankind and the best of mankind, all at the same time.”

The Legacy of Trial Lawyers Care

Trial Lawyers Care continues today. Chris explained that its work “did not stop with 9-11.” Trial Lawyers Care is working with Tunnel to Towers, an organization that came out of the attacks and builds homes for first responders and veterans. Together, they are working to provide homes for homeless veterans in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey.

Linda added that the program has also helped with disaster relief, including making sure people affected by the Maui fires had lawyers to represent them. It supports charitable work across the country, and an active committee is ready to respond when it is called on.

Asked to sum up the effort in a sentence, Chris said September 11 represents “not only the worst of humankind, but the best.” He called it “the last time I can actually recall where politics didn’t matter, that everyone rose together as a community,” and said Trial Lawyers Care “is emblematic of the heart of a trial lawyer.”

A Firm Built on Pursuing Justice

Trial Lawyers Care reflects the same commitment that has shaped Chris’s career and the work of Cohen, Placitella, Roth & Goslee. For decades, our attorneys have championed people harmed by events they did not cause and could not control, from workers exposed to asbestos to families affected by dangerous drugs and defective products.

Chris has served as lead counsel in many landmark mass tort cases, and he was recently inducted into the Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame. You can learn more about his work in his attorney bio.

At CPR&G, we take on, and win, the fights that others think cannot be won. Whether the harm comes from a corporation, a careless driver, or a medical provider, we investigate thoroughly and advocate for the people we represent.

If you or a loved one has been harmed by someone else’s actions, contact Cohen, Placitella, Roth & Goslee today for a free consultation. Call us at (888) 324-7683 or contact us online. We work on a contingency fee basis. You pay nothing unless we recover compensation for you.

Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. If you or a loved one has been injured, contact an experienced personal injury attorney to discuss your specific situation. Cohen, Placitella, Roth & Goslee, P.C. serves clients in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and, with qualified co-counsel, represents clients throughout the United States.