Sunday October 14 9:57 AM ET

By Gail Appleson, Law Correspondent NEW YORK (Reuters) - Much of the litigation over the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon could be delayed for months while victims and families decide whether to file claims in court or with a federal compensation fund. The law governing a federal victims' fund created last month requires individuals to choose between the two. If they file a claim with the fund, they waive their right to sue. But rules determining standards for payment are not expected to be set until at least December and plaintiffs' lawyers said it would be a disservice to advise clients to file a lawsuit until they know for sure which avenue is better. ``There is absolutely no need to file a suit now and in fact it is a mistake to file a suit at this early juncture,'' said Michel Baumeister of New York City's Baumeister & Samuels. ``Once they make that election, they are stuck with that election,'' said Baumeister, a prominent aviation litigator. The fund was created to make payments to those injured or who lost family members when hijacked airliners slammed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Another plane crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers apparently struggled with the hijackers. Nearly 5,400 people were killed in the assaults. On Monday, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, the nation's largest personal injury bar, plans to release details of a new non-profit corporation to provide free legal aid to people who want to file claims with the fund. Hundreds of lawyers have volunteered, a spokesman said. Gerald Baker, a Hoboken, New Jersey, lawyer with Baker, Garber, Duffy & Peterson, said the benefits of the fund include what promises to be a simple procedure for filing claims and receiving quick payment. A prompt hearing on a claim is to be held before a special master with no need to prove liability. NEGATIVES TOO But there are also negatives. For example, the compensation will be reduced by payments from other sources such as life insurance, pension funds and other programs. If other payments are large, claimants may get no benefit from the fund. Baker said that while the law permits awards for economic and non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, no standards have been set for how the amount will be determined. But filing a lawsuit poses risks as well. For example if a plaintiff decides to sue defendants such as United Airlines and American Airlines for alleged inadequate security they will have to prove the companies were negligent. The amount of all claims cannot exceed the liability limits of each carrier. Baker said this would be about $6 billion for the four planes used in the attacks. ``It is impossible to determine at this time whether a claimant will obtain a better recovery from the fund or the court,'' he said. In addition to waiting to assess which method of compensation would be best, he said lawyers should follow the trial lawyers' moratorium on suits growing out of the attacks. ``Trial attorneys should ... wait at least another two months out of respect for families,'' he said. Lee Kreindler, a prominent New York City aviation litigation lawyer, said that while he has more than 20 clients he does not plan to file any suits for several months. ``We are also taking cases at a much reduced fee,'' he said. While the normal U.S. contingency fee for plaintiffs lawyers is one-third of damage awards, he said his firm Kreindler & Kreindler is charging 15 percent of awards from a lawsuit and 10 percent of claims paid from the fund. Baumeister, who is also charging reduced fees, said he was appalled to learn that some lawyers were soliciting families who lost relatives in the attacks and charging full fees. ``We can't be greedy pigs,'' he said. ``We have to think outside the box.''