Florida Bar members among those in the WTC.

The September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon have left the world reeling in shock, anger, sorrow, helplessness, and hostility. At the time this Bar News went to press, the fate of the thousands of people in those buildings at the time of the attack was unclear.

Also unclear at press time was the fate of 17 of the 18 Florida Bar members who listed their addresses as the World Trade Center, and the six Florida lawyers whose addresses were listed in the Pentagon.

"What we went through ... was horrific," said Joseph Mendola, a Florida Bar member who worked in the World Trade Center. "The sights and sounds will never leave me."

Despite a distance of hundreds of miles, the attacks will undoubtedly have a lasting impact on Florida lawyers, said Bar President Terry Russell.

"As guardians of the rule of law, one thing this brings home to me is the need for us to reaffirm our institutions. Our governmental institution and our legal institution." Russell said. "It's time for people to pull together and recognize these institutions have always been our strength. While they are not perfect, they're the difference between us and the people who perpetrated this crime."

"Though the inclination to anger is very strong, and we understand that it's wrong to lash out without any rational basis for it, we have to remember that we are sworn to uphold the rule of law," he added. "We have to be careful that our legal system stays strong and independent through this crisis. We need to guard against any unnecessary intrusion onto our civil liberties."

American Bar Association President Robert Hirshon released a message to all ABA members echoing those same sentiments, saying the lawyers and others involved "paid the highest of prices for living in a free and democratic society."

A statement released by Association of Trial Lawyers of America President Leo V. Boyle calls for a "moratorium in this time of national crisis on civil lawsuits that may arise from tragedy" - the first such request in ATLA's 55-year history. The organization has made an initial pledge of $50,000 to establish a scholarship fund for the children of killed or injured emergency workers in New York, and as of press time had received financial commitments from state trial lawyer organizations in Texas, New York, North Carolina, Mississippi, and Minnesota.

The Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers has also made a commitment to raise $25,000 for the scholarship fund, according to a...