Two Drinks with . . . the Man Who Compensated 9/11 Victims

“Do you think the 9/11 fund will be the lead of your obituary?” I asked Ken Feinberg.

Feinberg didn’t hesitate. “Without a doubt,” he replied in a Boston accent thicker than Ben Affleck’s in Good Will Hunting. “It was a historic event, unique in American history, and I was the center of attention concerning that fund, which has not been replicated since.”

The center of attention he most certainly was, and we’ll get to that shortly. But first, let me set the scene. It was 6 p.m.—cocktail hour. I was in my New York office, and Feinberg, an esteemed attorney specializing in mediation, was wearing a polo shirt in his summer place on Martha’s Vineyard. We have known each other for 30-odd years, so he was perfectly willing to go along with my request that he abide by the Two Drinks protocol and bring some wine to our Zoom interview. He poured himself a glass of sauvignon blanc. I poured a glass of cabernet. We toasted to our long acquaintanceship—dare I say, friendship—and then, between sips, got down to business.