One 9/11 Family's Brave Effort to Expose Airline Culpability

[kpete]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/11/nyregion/11family.html?_r=1

Michael and Mary Bavis, the brother and mother of Mark Bavis, who died in the Sept. 11 attacks, at a memorial in the Boston Public Garden on Thursday.
By BENJAMIN WEISER
Published: September 10, 2010

In the nine years since Sept. 11, 2001, the legal claims for people who were injured or killed in the attacks have almost entirely been resolved. Thousands of victims and families entered a special compensation fund created by Congress and were paid more than $7 billion; a much smaller group chose to file lawsuits, which have been settled over time for about $500 million.

All, that is, but one.

The holdout is the family of Mark Bavis, a passenger on United Airlines Flight 175, the second plane to strike the World Trade Center. Ever since the family filed suit in 2002, it has spurned efforts to negotiate, despite settlement attempts and a court mediation session.

They recognize that they could have obtained a quicker resolution by settling; they say the case is not about money. They say they want to prove in a public courtroom what they and their lawyers believe was a case of gross negligence by United and other defendants that allowed the hijackers to board Flight 175 and the attacks to occur.