ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how Bernard Madoff's victims adapted to their suddenly diminished financial security, status, and self-image after learning that they had been swindled. Victims were urged to challenge the courts, which interpreted the law in the same way as the trustee. In their dispute with the trustee, the victims often spoke about fairness, principles, equity, justice, and the like. Even in light of the many bruised egos and small amount of help from government sources, the degree of suspicion about the motives of the federal government, the Securities Investor Protection Corp (SIPC) and the trustee, seemed excessive. The litigious attorney had written the court earlier demanding that victims "must be given a seat at the table". The litigious attorney was one of the first to suggest that at bottom the trustee was more interested in saving the SIPC money than in helping the victims recover their investments.
