Bios

Mr. Feinberg is one of the nation’s leading experts in mediation and alternative dispute resolution.  He has served in the roles of Special Master, mediator and arbitrator in hundreds of high-profile disputes and settlements. 
 
Mr. Feinberg currently serves as Special Master of the Terrorism Victim Compensation Fund at the Department of Justice.   In 2015, Mr. Feinberg was appointed as Special Master by the Secretary of the Treasury to oversee decisions on potential reforms of private multi-employer pension plans in response to the passage of the Kline-Miller Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014.  From 2009 to 2010, he served as Special Master for TARP Executive Compensation.  In this capacity, he was responsible for determining annual compensation packages for senior corporate officials at companies that received the most taxpayer financial assistance.  
 
As Fund Administrator for the GM Ignition Switch Compensation Program (2014-2015), Mr. Feinberg was responsible for the design, implementation and administration of a claims program to compensate certain eligible death and physical injury claims related to the GM ignition switch matter. 
 
Serving in a pro bono capacity, Mr. Feinberg has administered a number compensation programs following the tragedies at Virginia Tech University, the Aurora, Colorado movie theater shootings, the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings, the Boston Marathon bombings and, most recently, the Pulse Nightclub shootings in Orlando, Florida.
 
In 2010, Mr. Feinberg was appointed by the Obama Administration and British Petroleum (BP) to serve as the Administrator of the Gulf Coast Claims Facility following the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
 
Mr. Feinberg was appointed in June 2007 as the Distribution Agent responsible for the design and implementation of a plan for the distribution of a Fair Fund settlement of $800 million to eligible claimants (In Re: United States Securities and Exchange Commission v. American International Group, Inc.).  He has also served as Fund Administrator in other prominent settlements including: In Re:  United States of America v. Computer Associates International, Inc.  (responsible for the design and implementation of a restitution fund of $275 million); In Re: International Air Transportation Surcharge Antitrust Litigation (responsible for the design and administration of a $200 million fund); In Re: Zyprexa Product Liability Litigation (a $700 million settlement fund); and In Re: Latino Officers Association City of New York, Inc., et al., v The City of New York, et al. (a $17 million settlement fund).
 
Mr. Feinberg was appointed by the Attorney General of the United States to serve as the Special Master of the Federal September 11^th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001.  In this capacity, he developed and promulgated the Regulations governing the administration of the Fund and administered all aspects of the program, including evaluating applications, determining appropriate compensation and disseminating awards. 
 
In 1999, Mr. Feinberg was one of three arbitrators selected to determine the fair market value of the original Zapruder film of the Kennedy assassination.  Additionally, he was one of two arbitrators selected to determine the allocation of legal fees in the Holocaust slave labor litigation.
 
Mr. Feinberg received his B.A. cum laude from the University of Massachusetts in 1967 and his J.D. from New York University School of Law in 1970, where he was Articles Editor of the Law Review.  He was a Law Clerk for Chief Judge Stanley H. Fuld, New York State Court of Appeals from 1970 to 1972; Assistant United States Attorney, Southern District of New York from 1972 to 1975; Special Counsel, United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary from 1975 to 1980; Chief of Staff to Senator Edward M. Kennedy from 1977 to 1979; Partner at Kaye, Scholer, Fierman, Hays & Handler from 1980 to 1993; and founded The Feinberg Group, LLP in 1993.
 
Mr. Feinberg was a member of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Human Radiation Experiments from 1994 to 1998; the Presidential Commission on Catastrophic Nuclear Accidents from 1989 to 1990 and the Carnegie Commission Task Force on Science and Technology in Judicial and Regulatory Decision Making from 1989 to 1993.  He previously chaired the American Bar Association Special Committee on Mass Torts from 1988 to 1989.  He is also a national arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association.
 
Mr. Feinberg serves on the Board of the RAND Institute and as Chairman of the Board of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library Foundation in Boston.  He is also the former President of the Washington National Opera.
 
Mr. Feinberg’s distinguished teaching career includes serving as Adjunct Professor of Law at Harvard, Georgetown, The University of Pennsylvania, New York University, the University of Virginia and Columbia.  He has also taught as a visiting lecturer at various other law schools, including UCLA, Vanderbilt, and Duke.
 
Mr. Feinberg was designated “Lawyer of the Year” by the National Law Journal (December, 2004).  He is listed in “Profiles in Power:  The 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America” (National Law Journal,  May 2, 1988; March 25, 1991; April 4, 1994; June 12, 2000; June 19, 2006). He is the author of numerous articles and essays on mediation, mass torts and other matters and is the author of two books: What is Life Worth? The Unprecedented Effort to Compensate the Victims of 9/11 (Public Affairs 2005); Who Gets What:  Fair Compensation After Tragedy and Financial Upheaval (Public Affairs 2012). 

Professional Background

Administrative Director/Business Manager
Law Offices of Kenneth R. Feinberg, PC

• Administration of Claims Programs
• Firm Financial and Personnel Management   

Director of Claims Administration:
Work with Managing Partner in the development, design, implementation and supervision of all programs, policies and procedures for the processing of claims for various compensation programs, including:  the creation of criteria and guidelines for eligibility, evaluation scoring, payment and reporting of submitted claims and claim determinations.  Recent projects include:

GM Ignition Compensation Claims Resolution Facility
2014 – Present
Deputy Administrator: design, development and implementation of a Program for the resolution of claims arising from the recall of certain GM vehicles with an ignition switch defect. 
 
DuPont Medical Monitoring Program
2013 – Present
Administrator: Design and development of a Medical Monitoring Program for claims arising from the alleged contamination of certain water supplies attributable to releases from DuPont’s Washington Works Plant in Wood County, West Virginia.
                        
Gulf Coast Claims Facility – BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
2010 – 2012
Deputy Administrator: design, development, implementation and supervision of the process for the review and evaluation of over one million claims submitted as a result of the BP Oil Spill.
 
September 11th Victim Compensation Fund
2001 – 2004
Deputy Special Master for the administration of this federal program to compensate the victims of September 11.  Assisted in the creation of the program and all systems for the review and processing of victims’ claims for deceased and injured in the attacks of September 11, 2001.
 
Zyprexa Settlement
2005 – 2008
Administrator:  Major drug company settlement Designed, implemented and supervised the review and payment of awards to eligible claimants.  Liaison for the 15 participating law firms and the 4 special masters. 
 
Hurricane Katrina Gulf Coast ADR Program
2005 – 2007
Developed systems for an ADR Program to assist the victims of the Hurricanes in the Gulf Region in conjunction with two major insurance carriers.  Supervised staff offices in New Orleans, Louisiana and Biloxi, Mississippi; assisted in the design of interactive 3-step Program designed to expeditiously resolve insurance claims. 
(Designed and supervised similar program for Hurricane Sandy in 2012.)           
                         
Computer Associates
2005 – 2007
Worked with economist to develop a Plan of Allocation for shareholders entitled to receive compensation from a Restitution Fund resulting from a Deferred Prosecution Agreement.  Supervised claims process.   
 
NYC - NYPD Employment Discrimination Case
2005 – 2006
Design and development of systems and procedures for determining eligibility; developed award matrix and calculations; set up facility in NYC and supervised the processing, review and payment procedures.
 
State Farm Insurance Co.
1997 – 2000
Developed systems and processes for the review of approximately 270,000 claims; set up D.C. claims office and supervised 25-30 claims evaluators.
 
Pro Bono Services – Administration of Charitable Funds:
Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook Elementary School, Aurora Colorado, One Fund Boston Victim Relief Fund and most recently the Pulse Nightclub shootings in Orlando, Florida.
Deputy Administrator: design, implementation and supervision of a claims process for the distribution of charitable donations in excess of $60 million to victims and families injured or killed as a result of the April 2013 Boston Marathon bombings

Administrator – Kaye, Scholer, Fierman, Hays & Handler
Washington, D.C. Office
1980 – 1986

• Opened the Washington, D.C. Office of this national law firm; responsibilities for staffing, financial and administrative operations in conjunction with New York City headquarters.

United States Senate – Office of Senator Edward M. Kennedy
Senate Judiciary Committee
1979 – 1980

• Staff Assistant to Administrative Assistant to Senator Kennedy.