Thomas Moreland, Ilyssa Sena, and Jennifer Despins have helped family members of fallen firefighters gain disclosure under the Freedom of Information Law (“FOIL”) of materials evidencing the tragic events of September 11th. The family members, each of who lost either a son or a husband on September 11th, intervened in this action, initially brought by the New York Times and one of its reporters, challenging the NYC Fire Department’s denial of a FOIL request for access to the records. After litigation through all three levels of the New York State court system, the Court of Appeals ordered the release of thousands of pages of materials, including oral histories of firefighters and transcripts of Fire Department radio transmissions.
Most of the material was released on August 12, 2005, and the family members gathered at Kramer Levin's offices to review it. One plaintiff has now learned the likely location of her son's unit during the disaster. The family members brought this action not only to uncover information about the last moments of their loved ones' lives, but also to provide the public with vital information regarding the management and effectiveness of rescue operations and safety in high-rise buildings to minimize the loss of life in the event of a future similar catastrophic event or terrorist attack.