25 Years That Still Feel Like Yesterday

September 11, 2026 |

Our Firm

I remember 9/11 like it was yesterday. I was volunteering as a poll watcher in the Bronx on New York’s primary day. I remember the police who were assigned to the polling place starting to get radio calls and then advising us that a plane had hit one of the towers. We were living in lower Manhattan, my daughter Olivia Belluck was 1 and was out for a morning walk with her babysitter. Phone service was barely working and the next hours of panic trying to reach her were among the scariest moments of my life. Initial relief came only when I learned she was safely back at our apartment. Unable to make it back to Manhattan – I headed to my parents’ house on Long Island. I remember sitting in stalled traffic on a closed GW Bridge for many hours talking to other drivers – sharing an instant bond of collective horror with strangers that is uniquely New York City. The full import and devastation that occurred that day would take months to sink in.

Shortly after, my boss at the time Fred Baron asked me to take six months off from work and volunteer for Trial Lawyers Care. With a young daughter, not earning a salary for 6 months was concerning. But those of you who knew Fred will understand his gift for persuasion. He promised if I volunteered for Trial Lawyers Care – he would help me and my partner launch our own law firm. Trial Lawyers Care was the largest pro bono legal project in the United States at the time of its creation. It provided free legal assistance to victims and their families, helping them navigate compensation claims, insurance, employment, immigration, estate matters, and other legal challenges. The program was being staffed by a wonderful lawyer from Idaho, Bill Mauk. Many of the stalwart trial lawyers in the country at the time like Larry Stewart from Florida took a very active – almost daily – part of the project. Together we represented hundreds of survivors, widows and children who were harmed by 9/11. We worked out of the courthouses on Center Street. We spent many emotional days with families and did good work together.

The following February, my partner Jordan Fox and I opened our firm, Belluck & Fox, LLP. Fred Baron, true to his word, helped us make it through the first year – not an easy task for a contingency fee firm. We represented additional families for Trial Lawyers Care pro bono. 25 years later, we are honored to still be able to represent workers and first responders who were injured on 9/11, and the workers who helped build the original towers who are still being diagnosed with #mesothelioma from #asbestos.

Everyone remembers that day – everyone remembers it in their own way and through their own experiences on that day. Collectively we will never forget how that day impacted us, our city, our clients and our country.