They have won hundreds of millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements on behalf of thousands of accident victims, many of them catastrophically injured. They have been lead counsel in several multi-plaintiff litigations. Mr. Barasch and his colleagues take special pride in the work they have done on behalf of injured New York City firefighters, winning landmark decisions that have shaped the law on their behalf. After helping scores of firefighters receive awards in their individual cases, the firm was thrust into the legal problems of those killed and injured in the World Trade Center attacks, representing the families of dozens of firefighters killed, as well as over 1,000 first responders who sustained permanent respiratory illnesses from the toxic dust at the WTC site.

Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein appointed Mr. Barasch as liaison counsel on behalf of all rescue workers injured or killed, and he worked closely with Kenneth Feinberg, the Special Master of the Victim Compensation Fund, to expand the rules of the Air Transportation Safety and Systems Stabilization Act. When the VCF closed in 2004, the firm fought to reopen it because many clients continued to be diagnosed with new illnesses caused by the toxic dust, and/or they were found disabled after they had received an award for a non-disabling injury.

In January 2011 President Obama signed the Zadroga Act into law, named in honor of the firm's client, NYPD Detective Jimmy Zadroga, who died of pulmonary disease in 2006 caused by WTC toxins. As a result, $2.4 billion has been made available for medical care and $2.7 billion has been set aside for compensation to those whose health has gotten worse since 2003. Mr. Barasch and his colleagues currently represent more than 5,000 sick first responders and residents."

John went through years of surgeries and innumerable hours of therapy; as well as extensive hospital stays and mounting medical expenses. Once out of the hospital, John made it his mission to alleviate the Heroes of 9/11 from the burdens he experienced and created the FealGood Foundation. The foundation assists First Responders and others who have been physically or mentally injured as a result of their rescue, recovery and clean-up efforts at the WTC site. John has helped pass 19 pieces of legislation in DC, NYS, NJ and Michigan. Through his organization, he has donated $10 million over the last 20 years, built a memorial and donated a kidney.

Frank retired from IBM in 2005 after a career of nearly 33 years. He held a variety of sales and executive positions including Global Client Director and Vice President, Alliances in the Computer Services Industry. Following his retirement from IBM, he established Fetchet Consulting LLC which helped firms with their route-to-market and distribution strategies.

Frank resides in New Canaan, CT with Mary, his wife of more than 50 years. He graduated from Youngstown State University and was an IBM Certified Client Director, having participated in the Harvard Executive Program. Frank and Mary have three sons, Wes, Chris - and Brad, who perished at the age of 24 on 9/11.

Her unique background as a mother of a victim along with 29 years of expertise as a clinical social worker, influenced VOICES creation of a new paradigm in providing long-term support services that promote mental health care and resilience. Using social work practices, she developed a wide array of innovative programs that provide continuity of care and promote resilience in the lives of those impacted. VOICES has served tens-of-thousands of victims’ families, survivors, responders, and families of those who have died of 9/11-related illnesses.

Ms. Fetchet is equally committed to leveraging VOICES over two decades of expertise to assist communities in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from other tragedies. Working collaboratively with public-private partnerships in the United States and abroad, she shares lessons learned, provides training and conducts research. More recently she is creating VOICES Community Preparedness Training, A Victim-Centered Approach to Prepare for, Respond to, and Recover from Tragedy, a two-day training for community stakeholders that will be launched in September, 2023.

A strong advocate for victims’ rights and mental health care for victims’ families, responders and survivors, Ms. Fetchet provides a unique perspective on the long-term needs of those impacted by tragedy. As an advocate for public policy reforms to make the country safer, she was instrumental in advocating for the establishment of the 9/11 Commission which led to sweeping government intelligence reforms and testified on five occasions before the United States Congress and the 9/11 Commission. Ms. Fetchet has served on dozens of advisory boards including the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, INVICTM, the Family Steering Committee for the Establishment of the 9/11 Commission, and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

Ms. Fetchet is a co-author of several publications based on research findings from, “Investigating the Long-term Impact of Bereavement due to Terrorism.” As a pioneer in preparing communities, she led the creation of Preparing for After: How to Help Victims of Mass Violence and VOICES of Experience: Helping Communities Heal After Traumatic Events.

A 1994 graduate of Columbia University School of Social Work (CUSSW), Ms. Fetchet has received numerous awards for her work, including the induction into the Hall of Fame at Columbia University School of Social Work, ABC News Person of the Year, and NBC News Making a Difference.

She attends hearings at the Naval Base, Guantanamo Bay Cuba and joins 9/11 families in litigation and legislative efforts seeking accountability and justice for victims of terrorism. She publishes in 9/11 community forums, social media platforms, Substack, and her website at www.worldtradewidow.com, and is currently writing a memoir.

Robert represents more than 6,600 family members and survivors of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He is co-liaison counsel and an active member of the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee for Personal Injury and Death Claims in In re Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001, seeking to expose and bankrupt the alleged financiers and supporters of al Qaeda. Robert also played a central role in In re September 11th Litigation, involving more than 50 personal injury and wrongful death clients against the aviation and aviation security industries for their alleged failure to detect and prevent the 9/11 attacks.

Robert has also represented terrorism victims in litigation against Arab Bank for allegedly supporting Hamas.

After serving on the law faculty at Rutgers University-Camden and the University of California Hastings College of the Law, she became the 14th president of Mills College, the first women’s college west of the Rockies. In 2022, she was appointed chair of the independent Military Justice Review Panel, chartered by Congress to review and assess the operation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. She served on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine study group that issued a landmark 2018 report on sexual harassment and on the Response Systems Panel, which made recommendations for improving the U.S. military's investigation, prosecution, and adjudication of sexual assault in 2014.

A recipient of the U.S. Department of Defense Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service and the CalVet Trailblazer Award from the California Department of Veteran Affairs, she is a member of American Law Institute and the Council on Foreign Relations and holds degrees in engineering, law, and history from Duke, Yale, and Penn.

Colleen co-founded September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, an organization twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. She currently serves as the Co-chair of the group's Rule of Law Committee. Colleen has traveled numerous times to attend the pre-trial hearings of the 9/11 accused at Guantanamo.

Colleen is a family nurse practitioner specializing in Adolescent Medicine. Additionally, she has a Masters in International Relations from the City College of New York.

He has handled cases arising from crashes involving major commercial airlines and was appointed by the Federal Court as a member of the Plaintiffs’ Committee in the litigation arising out of the crash of Swissair Flight 111. He has also been appointed by the Federal Court as a member of the Plaintiffs Committee for liability arising out of the September 11 attacks. Subsequent to the terrorist attacks, Mr. Kushlefsky established himself as one of the Nation’s leading experts on the September 11 Victims’ Compensation Fund, representing more than 120 families in the VCF.

She continues to assist the 9/11 community, helping them enroll for medical and mental health services that are available for those who qualify, including a variety of compensation programs. Additionally, Ms. Landau serves as VOICES representative at external events and forums, coordinating partnerships with nonprofits, various service providers, and community stakeholders.

Stephanie co-presents with Voices Founder and Director, Mary Fetchet in providing summary overviews of the “Preparing for After” and other trainings and is helping to develop the revised Voices Center Preparedness Training curriculum, comprised of over 20 hours of training modules for community stakeholders. Over the past 18 years, Stephanie has provided thousands of hours of case management services to assist 9/11 families, survivors, and responders in accessing resources and support services.

As project manager for the 9/11 Living Memorial Project, Stephanie conducted hundreds of workshops in communities throughout the tri-state area and Washington, D.C. Her team met with over 1,600 families to create tributes to their loved ones in the 9/11 Living Memorial Project resulting in over 87,000 photographs that VOICES donated to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum. In addition to meeting with victims’ family members, she implemented the program to collect survivor and responder stories and other firsthand accounts and compiled data for over 1,000 memorials.

Ms. Landau’s responsibilities also include the management of VOICES high school and college internship programs. She continues to participate in other 9/11-related events such as 9/11 Memorial & Museum Community Nights, special exhibit openings and anniversary services.

After his transition to the private sector, Matt became a busy and talented medical malpractice defense attorney, successfully handling a large caseload, assisting at numerous jury trials including the questioning of witnesses, and obtaining numerous favorable decisions granting motions for summary judgment or procedural dismissals to Matt’s clients in complicated medical malpractice actions brought by some of New York City’s best plaintiff’s attorneys. At the same firm, he added the defense of multi-state pharmaceutical and medical device cases to his resumé, working on all of the above simultaneously.

Matt then became senior litigation counsel at another large New York firm. There, his earlier background as both a police officer and certified paramedic made him a natural fit to develop the firm’s nascent practice in the representation of first responders in 9/11-related matters. Before graduating law school, Matt had been a New York City police officer assigned to Manhattan North, Queens North and to the Deputy Commissioner of Legal Matters. In the latter position, he had served as a liaison between the NYPD and other city, state and federal agencies in high profile cases. Prior to and during his NYPD career, and even during the early years of his legal career, he continued to work as a paramedic in Westchester County and New York City. On September 11, 2001, shortly after the initial attacks on the Towers, he had instinctively reported for duty to Ground Zero as a volunteer first responder from his job at the Second Circuit federal appeals court several blocks away.

Several years after the dust and smoke from that tragic day was thought by most to have cleared, but when it actually became apparent that first responders and many others involved in the rescue, recovery and clean-up work at Ground Zero were falling ill with various diseases at young ages, Matt joined forces with some of the country’s best legal and political advocates to feverishly lobby for the passage of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010, affording benefits and compensation to ill and injured first responders and civilian survivors through the creation of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, administered by the U.S. Department of Justice. Matt and other dedicated advocates of the crucial legislation successfully redoubled their efforts and, in 2015, and then again in 2019, got Congress to reauthorize the Zadroga Act. He has dedicated himself to fighting for the cause of the September 11th first responders and civilian survivors for as long as the need may exist.

Matt joined the firm in 2016 and became a principal partner in 2019. Continuing to work as a 9/11 advocate, he has obtained millions of dollars in awards from the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, administered by the U.S. Department of Justice, for first responders (including not only police officers and firefighters, but also construction and iron workers, sanitation workers, civilian volunteers and many others) in their subsequent role as victims and survivors of the terrible, medical aftermath of those devastating events. Matt also spends considerable time and effort (on a pro bono basis) informing first responders and qualifying civilian survivors about the World Trade Center Health Program (administered by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), and getting them enrolled as participants. This enables their health to be monitored regularly, at no cost to them, by doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals specializing in occupational and environmental illnesses, often providing for the earliest possible medical intervention to address a 9/11-related disease.

In addition to his diverse litigation and 9/11-related work at the firm, Matt serves as a town prosecutor for the Town of Mamaroneck. During law school, he was appointed as a student assistant district attorney in the New York County (Manhattan) District Attorney’s Office, where he prosecuted domestic violence cases. He was also selected as a student intern by the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, where he worked with federal prosecutors on terrorism cases. He is dedicated to his family and church, is an active member of his Parish, and holds board member positions on a school foundation and various youth sports organizations, for which he also coaches. He is admitted to practice law before the courts of the State of New York, Commonwealth of Massachusetts and District of Columbia, and before the United States District Courts for the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of New York and the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

John won New York Press Club Awards in 2025 and 2019 for his coverage of the Sept. 11 case and was a Finalist for Best News Reporting in 2021 by the Society of Professional Journalists’ New York Chapter (The Deadline Club). His forthcoming book on the 9/11 case and the military commissions, America’s Trial, is set for release in Summer 2025.

Before joining Lawdragon, John reported for the Los Angeles Daily Journal, where he was named a “Print Journalist of the Year Finalist” by the Los Angeles Press Club from 2003 to 2005, won two “Best Magazine Feature” awards, and earned a “Best News Feature, Runner Up” distinction for his story on the legal-defense efforts for accused terrorists Zacarias Moussaoui and Yaser Hamdi.

His international reporting has taken him to South Africa, The Hague, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, and Rwanda to examine how post-conflict societies pursue accountability for war crimes and human rights abuses. He holds an MA in human rights studies from New York University and a BA from Colby College.

On September 11, 2001, Jay’s brother Glenn J. Winuk, an attorney, volunteer firefighter and EMT, was killed in the line of duty at the World Trade Center. Inspired by his brother’s devotion to community service and courageous actions, Jay joined David Paine in 2002 as co-founder in helping to build the 9/11 Day Observance initiative. He has become a passionate advocate for volunteering and national service.

Jay is a frequent public speaker and a leading national voice about volunteerism, charitable service, terrorism, individual empowerment and his own experience as the brother of a murdered 9/11 first responder. His work, commentary and personal story have been featured in major news media reports, documentaries and books throughout the nation and world. Jay was a featured speaker at the nationally televised ServiceNation “Presidential Candidates Forum” at Columbia University, representing the 9/11 family community and delivering his remarks just prior to those of candidates U.S. Senators Barack Obama and John McCain.

Since co-founding MyGoodDeed, Jay has spoken about charitable service and volunteerism before dozens of audiences – including at national conferences, corporate and annual meetings, press conferences with national legislative leaders, charitable events, on Capitol Hill, at colleges and high schools and more. Opinion pieces and articles Jay has written about these themes have been published by numerous media outlets and organizations, including CNN.com, Yahoo News, the National Constitution Center, Gannett Newspapers, McClatchy, Maria Shriver.com, the HandsOn Network, The Record and the United States Department of State, which invited Jay to write a piece for its publication, “Resilience After Terrorism,” which was distributed to all U.S. embassies around the world in 2011.

In June 2011, Jay received from President George H.W. Bush and the Points of Light Institute the “Daily Point of Light Award” for “creating meaningful change in communities across America” and “helping to shape a better tomorrow for our nation.” In September 2008, Jay and David received the “President’s Call to Service Award” from The White House, one of the nation’s highest civilian service honors. In December 2011, Jay received the “Most Inspiring Person of the Year” Award” from Beliefnet, the largest online resource for inspiration and spirituality. In September 2011, he and David were awarded the “Teammates in the Community Award” by the New York Mets and the Citi Foundation for their work promoting service and volunteerism.

In recognition of his work in the national service sector, and as a tribute to his late brother Glenn, Jay was invited by U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to be her guest at President George W. Bush’s final “State of the Union” address on January 28, 2008. Upon the killing of terrorist Osama Bin Laden by the U.S. military in May 2011, Jay was invited by the White House to be among a select group of 9/11 family members to meet privately with President Barack Obama.

In association with his late brother’s law firm, Holland & Knight, Jay directs the Glenn J. Winuk Humanitarian Fund, which provides scholarships to college students demonstrating a record of community service and makes other charitable grants.

In addition to his leadership role for MyGoodDeed, Jay serves as president of Winuk Communications, Inc., the public relations agency he founded in 1994. He has won numerous national public relations awards, including Silver and Bronze Anvils from the Public Relations Society of America, the industry’s highest honors, and has provided PR support to many of the nation’s leading corporations, nonprofits and other organizations. Previously, Jay was an executive at Burson-Marsteller and Golin/Harris, two of the nation’s top 10 PR firms, and served as director of public relations for Radio City Productions, the nation’s leading live entertainment company. He also was a partner and managing director of Dirty Water Integrated, a branding/advertising/PR agency. Over the years, Jay’s clients have included the NFL Alumni Association, The Coca-Cola Company, General Foods, the city of Berlin, Pfizer, Kreindler & Kreindler, a Journey for 9/11, Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, Citibank, Clear Channel Entertainment, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Robert K. Futterman & Associates and many others. Jay began his career in the nonprofit sector, serving as the director of public relations for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston. He earned a master’s degree in public relations from Boston University and a B.A. degree in communications from the State University of New York at Oneonta.