Pictured above: Michael Keaton and Stanley Tucci from the film, Worth.

Chancellor Kumble R. Subbaswamy will sit down for a virtual fireside chat with Kenneth Feinberg '67, '02H, author of the memoir What Is Life Worth?: The Unprecedented Effort to Compensate the Victims of 9/11, and his business partner, Camille Biros.

Feinberg is one of the nation’s leading lawyers, specializing in mediation and alternative dispute resolution. He and Biros have helped to administer the response to some of the most complex public crises in recent American history, including Agent Orange, executive compensation following the 2008 financial crisis, the BP Deepwater Horizon Gulf oil spill, the Boston Marathon bombings, and, notably, the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund.

Feinberg's book was adapted into the recently released Netflix film Worth, starring Michael Keaton as Feinberg and Amy Ryan as Biros. 

In the film, Feinberg and Biros are appointed by Congress to lead the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund and allocate financial resources to the victims of the tragedy. They find themselves facing the impossible task of determining the worth of a life to help the families who suffered incalculable losses. When Feinberg locks horns with Charles Wolf (Stanley Tucci), a community organizer mourning the death of his wife, his initial cynicism turns to compassion as he begins to learn the true human costs of the tragedy.

In their discussion with Chancellor Subbaswamy, Feinberg, and Biros will talk about:

• How reparations work and how they should be allocated;
• Feinberg and Biros’ perspectives on the 9/11 attacks, 20 years later;
• What the process was like as Feinberg’s book was adapted for a Netflix film

No cost to attend.

Presenters

Kenneth R. Feinberg is one of the Nation’s leading experts in alternative dispute resolution, having served as Special Master of the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, the Department of Justice Victims of State-Sponsored Terrorism Fund, the Department of Justice Boeing 737 Max Crash Victim Beneficiaries Compensation Fund, the Department of the Treasury’s TARP Executive Compensation Program and the Treasury’s Private Multiemployer Pension Reform program. He was also Special Settlement Master of the Agent Orange Victim Compensation Program. In 2010, Mr. Feinberg was appointed by the Obama Administration to oversee compensation of victims of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Most recently, he has served as Administrator of the New York State Dioceses’ Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Funds, the One Orlando Fund, the GM Ignition Switch Compensation Program, and One Fund Boston Compensation Program arising out of the Boston Marathon bombings. He is currently the Court-appointed Settlement Master in the Fiat/Chrysler Diesel Emissions class action litigation in San Francisco. He has been appointed mediator and arbitrator in thousands of complex disputes over the past 35 years.

Camille S. Biros is currently the Director of Claims Administration at The Law Offices of Kenneth R. Feinberg, PC. She develops, designs, implements and supervises claims administration/settlement programs, including development of criteria, guidelines for eligibility, evaluation, scoring, payment and reporting of submitted claims and claim determinations. She is the Fund Administrator for the Archdiocese of New York, Brooklyn Diocese of New York, and Rockville Centre Diocese of New York as well as other numerous Catholic Dioceses in the States of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, California and Colorado under the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program.

Join our online book club, Read UMass, to read What is Life Worth? and participate in tailored discussions starting October 15. Learn more. 

Date & Location