What Is Life Worth: Defining the Value of Life After Tragedy w/ Kenneth R. Feinberg
In this powerful and emotionally resonant episode of Next Steps Forward, host Dr. Chris Meek welcomes renowned mediator and attorney Kenneth R. Feinberg, one of the foremost experts in administering compensation funds in the aftermath of national tragedies. Feinberg will take the audience through the heart-wrenching and historic journey of valuing human life when presented with the unthinkable.
In particular, he will discuss the story behind his appointment as Special Master of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, where he worked pro bono for 33 arduous months, personally awarding over $7 billion to victims and families, and conducting nearly 1,000 individual hearings amid profound grief and emotional intensity. He will also reflect on the uniquely bipartisan support the 9/11 compensation program received, his firm belief that it shouldn’t be replicated, and the program’s rarity as an apolitical, national response during a time of crisis. Throughout the hour he will explore topics of leadership, responsibility, empathy and how law - or any profession in the public sphere - can become a vehicle for healing and service.
Mr. Feinberg exemplifies how deeply personal experiences of loss can shape programs designed to restore dignity and stability. His journey reveals how public policy leaders must balance objective frameworks with emotional intelligence and unwavering moral clarity. Join them for a conversation that transcends compensation formulas: this is about healing, restoring trust, and discovering what it truly means to do the right thing in times of profound tragedy.
About Kenneth R. Feinberg: Kenneth R. Feinberg has been key to resolving many of our nation’s most challenging and widely known disputes. He is best known for serving as the Special Master of the Federal September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001, in which he reached out to all who qualified to file a claim, evaluated applications, determined appropriate compensation, and disseminated awards. Mr. Feinberg shared his extraordinary experience in his book What Is Life Worth?, published in 2005 by Public Affairs Press, and in his follow-up book Who Gets What, published by Public Affairs Press in 2012.
Mr. Feinberg has been appointed to two presidential-level commissions because of his experience and expertise, and has had a distinguished teaching career as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, Georgetown University Law Center, the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Columbia University Law School, New York University Law School, and the University of Virginia Law School.