Barasch & McGarry

To the Barasch & McGarry law To Andrea Velasquez-the lawyer To Juana- the administrator I am sincerely thank you for the excellent work you did on my case. Gloria A.

I was a first responder during 9/11 and was forced to retire due to 9/11 related lung issues. I must have seen Barasch and Mcgarry commercials dozens of times but always assumed it was for civilians. When I called Barasch and Mcgarry for the first time they expedited my claim and told me everything I would need to make sure I didnt have any issues during the process. I knew I was in the right hands as they were accurate with the timeline of the all the VCF’s decision. Barasch and Mcgarry were able to secure me a loss of wages award as well as an award for my lung issue. With all the dysfunction in our government you need an experienced firm that knows what they’re doing and how to get things done quickly. On top of that they’ve been fighting hard to make sure the World Trade Center Health program remains properly funded which is so important to people like me who depend on the medication they provide. I can’t recommend Barasch and Mcgarry enough and will always be grateful for the hard work everyone on their team did for me.

Andrea Velasquez | Associate Attorney From Barasch & McGarry Law Firm Has proven to be an invaluable support system for my Father’s 911 Court Case. Her sensitivity and grace throughout this process in helping him Navigate and pull out memories he had buried away so long ago has really helped him tremendously and her approach in making sure he understood everything that was going on. Her genuine care and empathy for my Dad especially since he has signs of brain fog from the chemotherapy treatments he’s going through right has now made a huge difference in this experience. Andrea’s professionalism and timely communication helped alleviate stress for him in this emotional process. It was such a Pleasure working with Andrea and I am deeply grateful for her service and how wonderful and patient she was with my Father throughout this entire process and I highly recommend her to anyone facing similar circumstances.

Georgia Miles, Claim Administrator at Barasch & McGarry has been absolutely wonderful to work with. She is professional, knowledgeable, and incredibly efficient in handling the details of the claims process. While we are still awaiting final resolution, Georgia has given us all the tools and guidance needed to move forward — from appointments to documentation and everything in between. She makes sure we understand each step and what to expect, which brings real peace of mind during what can otherwise be a very stressful time. She is responsive, organized, and truly attentive to detail. You can tell she genuinely cares about her clients and works hard to ensure everything is handled properly and promptly. We are very grateful for her support and highly recommend Georgia Miles and the team at Barasch & McGarry

I was injured during the rescue and recovery at The WTC on 911, and the months that followed. I filed with the VCF myself thinking I hadn't missed anything, but I sure did. Travis Carter found an error the VCF made in calculating my lost earnings, and was able to get me an additional 613,000.00. While I'd gladly give the money back in exchange for my lungs back I'm forever in Barasch & McGarry's debt. Thank you Travis!

Great advocates for 9/11 community

Barasch & McGarry totally screwed up my case with incompetence and malpractice!! They have this “reputation” for being champions of the 9/11 victim community, but they totally dropped the ball with me!! The big problem with them is they are huge with thousands of clients and there in lies the problem - it becomes “death by committee” if you’re not on top of them and realize that you’ll never just deal with one lawyer but many, many different employees which helps dilute your personal relationship with the firm as well as your story and facts and if there is never one point person to make sure everything sent in on your behalf is correct, it’s pretty easy to have erroneous/incomplete documentation send in for your case. And, since I’ve been dealing with various cancer diagnoses over the past 4 years with surgeries, radiation and chemotherapy (that I’m still dealing with), I TRUSTED them to have my back and fight for me while making sure anything submitted was correct and didn’t actually hurt my case!! After dealing with many different lawyers, paralegals, assistants, etc. at Barasch & McGarry where one hand apparently didn’t know what the other was doing, they submitted incorrect, incomplete documents and even omitted correct documents that were necessary to prove my case on appeal such as they submitted a witness statement which stated that the witness didn't see me in the exposure zone, when in fact she did. They also failed to upload the statement from my only other witness!! The Victim’s Compensation Fund threw my whole case out because of mistakes like this, and with no opportunity for another appeal!! And when I asked the attorney who handled the appeals hearing what happened that they threw my case out, he just said cluelessly that this happens and we’re out of options - and then the ONLY way I found out about the truly lousy job they did was by immediately getting another lawyer who was able to get access to everything they sent to the VCF and was amazed at the incompetence he saw!! Even with this new lawyer, my case may still be dead and I’m screwed out of some money that would've truly helped me while I’m still fighting cancer and unable to work!! And what really kills me is that Michael Barasch, the head of the firm, goes on TV occasionally as an impassioned advocate for 9/11 victims, telling the world how much they fight for the 9/11 community, but I guess that didn’t include me. I really would love for him to contact me and explain to me how such a vaunted 9/11 related law firm could have screwed up my case so badly and let me down - I will be awaiting his call!! In the meantime, this is really a wake-up call for anyone else fighting 9/11 related illnesses that maybe sometimes a huge firm like Barasch & McGarry may not always have your back while your case gets lost in an abyss of assorted lawyers, clerks, secretaries, assistants, etc. - one more clueless about your case than the next!

The best 9/11 Lawfirm in NYC! Michael Barasch cares for his clients. He is a survivor! Thank you for all you have done for 9/11 responders and survivors!

I am currently going through these guys to make a claim for the Victim's compensation fund. It's been 6 months since a cancer diagnosis and 3 months since I've started the VCF process. Early March, I sent in all the paperwork to Barasch & McGarry. They were quick on the draw to get me to sign all their forms, making all sorts of promises of helping me through this process. I got them done and back to them quickly. Then I heard nothing for weeks. I checked directly with the VCF registry and they still had NOT sent in my paperwork. They haven’t done anything! I kept following up with this firm for weeks and weeks. Got the runaround and nobody answered our calls. Then they started ghosting me. This was the last thing we wanted to worry about considering the situation. I called the VCF fund again and they tell me these guys STILL haven't done anything. UPDATE: I found another law firm to handle our case about 9 months into this ordeal. 5 months wasted with this firm. Do not make the same mistake we did. Our new lawyer took over our case and worked with us through the process step by step and was available for call or text. Never once did he let me go without an answer for a day. From start to finish (we started all over again), our new lawyer got us on the VCF list and health visit in 6 weeks. There’s a 12-18 month wait after you get all your paperwork done. Barasch and McGarry wasted 6 months of our time. And frustrating enough, like another review wrote here, they started getting aggressive harassing calls. The same day that we switched to another firm and they took over the case, these guys immediately started calling us 5 times a day. Save yourself the trouble. Find someone else.