David Worby, the high-profile trial lawyer who’s battling the city, federal agencies, and private contractors on behalf of approximately 8,000 firefighters, cops, and ground-zero cleanup workers over 9/11-related illnesses, has a side career: screenwriter. “My film’s called Rym and the LDs,” says Worby, who once proposed starring in a TV show called It’s Time to Sue. “It’s the story of a black kid who’s dyslexic and a white kid who’s phobic. They form a rap group to teach other kids about learning disabilities—LDs.” Huh? “I had this idea that rap musicians are probably all learning-disabled and that rap is an alternative mechanism of communication for them,” he says. So Worby investigated, “akin to the toxin research I did for my 9/11 case—and found how music is a tool that people can use to overcome disabilities.” It recently started production in L.A., starring Lil’ Romeo (dyslexic), Aaron Carter (phobic), and Snoop Dogg (“playing himself, the rap star”), for possible release next fall.

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Related:

• Archive: “Intelligencer”
• Articles by Emma Rosenblum
• Table of Contents: October 30, 2006 issue of New York | Subscribe!