Associations find themselves in the middle of events

Like most Americans, bar executives were horrified by the events of Sept. 11. While most were glued to their televisions watching as the disaster unfolded, some had a more immediate connection with what was occurring in New York City, the Pentagon and Pennsylvania.

Marilyn Flood, executive director of the New York County Lawyers' Association, was on her way to work that morning, after having voted in the New York City mayoral primary. While on the subway, she heard a transit worker say there had been an explosion at the World Trade Center–which is about half a block from the NYCLA offices. "I need to get to my office," Flood thought.

When she got out of the subway, Flood saw chaos. "There were flames coming out of the tower, people crying, sirens wailing." While walking to her office, she heard a loud explosion, which turned out to be the second plane hitting the other tower. While still not knowing exactly what had happened, Flood realized that she needed to get out of the area, and started to run. She ran to the courthouses several blocks away.

At the courthouse Flood saw a member of her board. "He hugged me, which was an unusual way of being greeted," she said. He told her that two planes had hit the World Trade Center. She tried unsuccessfully to reach her office by phone.

At the NYCLA building, there had been about seven employees (of a staff of 32) in the building when the first plane hit. As people began evacuating the World Trade Center, some sought refuge in the NYCLA office. Deputy Executive Director Sophia Gianacoplos decided to open the doors to those who wanted to come inside.

Flood eventually made her way uptown, and was in the Soho district when she saw the first tower collapse. She tried to call family by cell phone, but the network was out. She finally found a pay phone, put in a quarter, and made her call.

All of the NYCLA staff survived the attack, and while the building had a good deal of dust inside, it was found to be structurally sound. Telephone service came back on Oct. 1. So while things are starting to return to normal–however that is defined these days–Flood still feels the loss of the towers. "It's like when some people have limbs amputated, and develop a phantom limb disease," she said. "The absence of the World Trade Center makes such a profound difference."

Also in New York City that day was Barbara Opotowsky, Executive Director of The Association of the Bar of the City of New York. The Association's offices are uptown from the World Trade Center, but Optowsky could see the smoke from the fires, and the building next door to her was evacuated because it was considered a possible target. Staff was allowed to leave early. Fortunately, none of the 150 staff members was hurt, although a former employee was lost in the attack.

To help staff members deal with the stress in subsequent days, Opotowsky arranged a meeting in which the director of the Association's Lawyer Assistance Program–who is a psychiatric social worker–met with the staff and facilitated a dialog about what had happened. "They talked of things that were troubling them. Afterward, they felt better."

Other area associations, while not as close to the attacks, felt the impact in other ways. At the New York State Bar Association in Albany, Executive Director Pat Bucklin was preparing to attend a statewide conference on Access to Justice when she got word of the attacks. She attempted to find out whether any NYSBA staff members were in New York City that day (one was in the city and another on a train headed to the city, and neither was hurt). In the NYSBA building, there was a sense of shock among the employees. "It was hard to comprehend the magnitude of what had happened," Bucklin said.

Across the Hudson River from the World Trade Center, staff members at the New Jersey State Bar Association had similar reactions. Judicial Administration Counsel Todd Sidor thought about all the family and friends who had come to visit him over the years. One of the places he always took them to was the World Trade Center towers. "I didn't really comprehend what had happened until a few days later when I was driving on the New Jersey Turnpike and looked over to the skyline and saw the smoke and lack of buildings," Sidor said.

Staff Attorney Charley Hollenbeck noted that one of the Association's employees had a sister who worked on the 100^th floor of one of the towers, and she was able to evacuates safely. One thing that stood out for Hollenbeck was when he was driving home the next day and saw an F-16 fighter plane flying overhead. "It was eerie," he said.

And at the Connecticut Bar Association, Communications Director Chris Blake said that many staff members had friends working in or near the World Trade Center, and there were anxious times when phone calls could not get through.

While most of the attention focused on the attack in New York, those working near the Pentagon needed to focus on what had occurred there. Executive Director Yvonne McGhee of the Fairfax Bar Association was preparing for an Association dinner with more than 200 people invited scheduled for the evening of Sept. 11. As reports of the attack on the World Trade Center and then the Pentagon came in, "people were hysterical. Everyone was numb." Some people began to argue about the political causes of the attacks, McGhee said. The Association's office is in a courthouse, which was evacuated shortly after the attacks.

At the Bar Association of the District of Columbia, Executive Director Cynthia White could see the smoke coming from the Pentagon. And with her office being three blocks from the White House, "it was awfully scary. We were near a major target." The Association closed its offices early so people could be with their families. But getting home was another matter. The Metro was closed, and there was "horrible traffic. I walked home, because it was faster than if I had driven." With all the official buildings nearby, the priority was to "get out of downtown D.C."

At the District of Columbia Bar, Executive Director Katherine Mazzaferri decided to close the offices after the Pentagon attack was announced. She sent a voice-mail to the Association's 85 staff members, but many did not get the message, so she walked around the entire building to deliver the news in person. There was general confusion about how staff members could get home, given the traffic and Metro situation. Many staffers offered assistance and made sure that everyone had a way to travel.

The scene outside was unnerving, Mazzaferri said. "Emergency vehicles were driving on the sidewalk… cell phones weren't working… there was the sound of airplanes overhead even though the airports were closed… it was very frightening. Were we walking into danger? Whose planes were they?"

The sense of danger continued the next day as there were military police officers on many street corners, and military jets flying overhead. Mazzaferri invited the staff to come in and talk about the events. "We are a community here, and we have needed to continue to support each other."

And even those at a greater distance felt a connection to the scene. Dan Cirucci, Associate Executive Director of the Philadelphia Bar Association, was on the phone shortly after the Pentagon attack, talking to his daughter, Aimee. She had started working for a company in Alexandria less than a year ago, her first job out of college. She "felt the thud in her office and saw the smoke" from the plane hitting the Pentagon, Cirucci said. His focus then became helping to guide Aimee to her home in Alexandria, trying to avoid traffic and closed roads, and helping to calm her fears.

When she finally made it home safely, the Philadelphia Bar had to evacuate its offices. Cirucci took the train home but said he was so distracted that he has no memory of the trip home.

As the morning of Sept. 11 unfolded, the public became aware that a fourth plane was unaccounted for near Pittsburgh. While David Blaner, executive director of the Allegheny County Bar Association, had been concerned about the attacks on New York and the Pentagon, this latest news brought the situation much closer to home. Blaner had been in a meeting with the radio on, and "there was dead silence here" when the news of the fourth plane was announced. "We realized that we were in the middle of it,"

The Association's office is in a tall building in Pittsburgh, and the owner told Blaner he was closing the building. A consultant who had been in a meeting in the Association's office was unable to fly home, so one of Blaner's employees lent him a car to make the long drive.

Outside, "the city streets were emptying. I had a real nervous feeling in my stomach. I could hear the rumblings of military jets."

In the days following, "it was difficult to focus. Except for those who remember World War II, none of us had experienced anything like this. What was next?"

"The world is a different place now. We process our mail with rubber gloves. We put aside letters without return addresses. We are sending out a survey soon, and considering putting it in clear envelopes so people can see it's from us."