OneOrlando Fund should be dispersed to victims in next 2 months, attorney says

Attorney consults to disperse millions donated to Pulse shootings victims

ORLANDO, Fla. – Attorney Kenneth Feinberg has been called on after numerous tragedies.

He served as the special master for the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001, the claims administrator for the One Fund Boston, the Virginia Tech Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund, the Aurora Victim Relief Fund and for the BP Oil Spill Claims Administration as the compensation fund administrator.

He is now consulting with the city of Orlando to disperse the $9.5 million donated to the victims of the Pulse shootings.

"The real difficult part is dealing with very emotional victims and their survivors," Feinberg told News 6 investigator Louis Bolden.

With his experience, Feinberg said the process of setting up and dispersing funds is not difficult.

"I think money in Orlando should be distributed to eligible victims and their families no later than 45-60 days from now," he said.

Feinberg said first a decision has to be made on how much of the money will be allocated to the 49 people who died, and then to the 53 who were injured.

"Usually what we do is all lives are equal, so if there's, say $7 million available to the families of those who died, each of the 49 families would get 1/49th, pro rota a distribution of that amount," he said.

Another formula is used to determine how much money goes to those injured, according to Feinberg. He wants the family members of the victims to know he is working quickly.

"I don't think any aspect of this program is time consuming or bureaucratic. It is speed driven," Feinberg said. "Let's get the money out the door as fast as we can, but in a responsible transparent manner."

Next week, Feinberg plans to have a draft protocol available to the public with the rules, qualifications and calculations of the program, he said.

Feinberg plans to have town hall meetings in the next couple of weeks to get the public's input about how the money should be dispersed.

That information will be taken into consideration when drafting the final rules that will govern the program, Feinberg said.


About the Author:

Emmy Award-winning reporter Louis Bolden joined the News 6 team in September of 2001 and hasn't gotten a moment's rest since. Louis has been a General Assignment Reporter for News 6 and Weekend Morning Anchor. He joined the Special Projects/Investigative Unit in 2014.

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