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A dozen cases have been selected to go to trial. Here's a look at some of them:
Raymond Hauber, Firefighter, 47. Died in 2007 of throat cancer.
Strengths of Case:
He wasn't scheduled to work Sept. 11, but drove to Ground Zero when he learned about the attacks.
"That first day they handed out painter's masks, the little white ones," he said in a deposition.
He was at the site at least 24 days between Sept. 11 and Jan. 4, according to court records.
He shoveled debris, searched and worked on the bucket brigade.
He said he didn't get a decent respirator with filters until December.
Weaknesses:
Said he didn't always wear the respirator because it was cumbersome: "They insisted we did ... It would get annoying to wear it all the time. Sometimes I would take it off but they would tell you to put it back on. It wasn't a good fit."
Dawn Sorrento, NYPD officer, 43. Breathing problems.
Strengths of Case:
Arrived at Ground Zero on Sept. 13 and worked traffic patrol three or four times the first week.
Tapered off until once a month by Thanksgiving.
Offered a paper mask her second day.
A friend in construction got her a respirator by the end of September and insisted she wear it, though a face rash she developed made that difficult.
Weaknesses:
Documents submitted by her lawyers mistakenly said she had lung cancer.
Her lawyers called it a clerical error.
She has been diagnosed with "restrictive airways disease" and nodules were found on her lung.
"Six months ago I got a package of (legal) papers that said I had lung cancer. I was like, whoa, that's news for me, hold on. And I corrected it and sent it back. But the ones prior to that did not say I had cancer," she explained in a deposition.
Robert Galvani, Con Ed mechanic, 61. Retired Jan. 1, 2005, with a heart murmur
Strengths of Case:
Con Ed workers were told to wear protective Tyvek suits to keep dust and debris off their skin and clothing.
After the first day, Galvani said, they didn't have a suit big enough to fit him.
"Every day I asked. Every day the same question. No," he said.
He was told to go home if he didn't like it.
Weaknesses:
He had poor health prior to 9/11 — obese at 400-plus pounds, high blood pressure, diabetes, irregular heart rhythm, sleep apnea.
Con Ed gave him a full-face respirator his first day and ordered him to wear it at all times, Galvani said in a deposition.
Frank Malone, Firefighter, 40. Forced to retire from FDNY in June 2007 for lung disease.
Strengths of Case:
Malone arrived at World Trade Center just after the second tower fell and dug for survivors with bare hands, with only a paper painter's mask from a cop as protection.
He returned later in September to hunt for remains and each day asked for a respirator, but never got one.
"They told us they ran out. I know the captain wasn't happy. He said it was bullshit," Malone said in a deposition.
He was never seriously sick before and did not smoke.
Weaknesses:
He was eventually fitted with a half-face respirator for his third stint at Ground Zero in December.
"You went to a trailer right next to the site," he recalled.
He wore it all the time, and replaced the cartridges.
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