In aftermath of terror attacks, lawyers holding off on lawsuits, but they’re coming

By Don Babwin

Associated Press

CHICAGO – Lawyers are getting scores of calls from relatives of those killed or missing in the terrorist attacks, but so far they are not rushing to the courthouse to sue.

That does not mean the lawsuits are not coming. They are, and when they do, they could create a legal morass of monumental proportions.

But so far, in yet another way this disaster is different from many others, lawyers appear to be heeding an appeal from the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, which for the first time ever is imploring its members to hold off from filing lawsuits.

“Now’s the time to let the government with its multiple resources unleash a manhunt for the terrorists,” said Leo Boyle, president of the organization. “First, we must do nothing that hurts the victims or their families.”

Association spokesman Carlton Carl said Wednesday that in the week since e-mailing the request to its members, the organization has not heard of any lawsuit filed over the attack. Often, lawyers sue within days of airline crashes.

Instead, Bob Clifford, a Chicago lawyer who has represented families in several major crash cases, said he is telling them there is no need to rush to the courthouse.

“I’m saying, ‘Let our government get a better handle on what has occurred and know your rights are not going to be in any way different tomorrow than they are today,’ ” he said.

Lee Kreindler, a New York lawyers who said he has received dozens of calls from family members of victims and has been retained by some, said he is also holding off on filing any lawsuits.

But Kreindler, who has represented dozens of families in such cases as the explosion of TWA Flight 800 and the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, said work is being done to prepare for the inevitable lawsuits.

Kreindler said his office has started investigating issues such as the lost earnings of victims as well as who could be held liable for damages.

Thomas Demetrio, a Chicago lawyer who has represented airplane crash victims, said there has never been a single event with as much potential to put the kind of strain on the legal system as this one.

“You’re talking about close to 6,000 deaths and probably as many injuries,” he said.

Attorneys said United and American, the airlines whose planes crashed, are at the top of a very long list of those who might be sued. The flight schools where the hijackers are believed to have received training might find themselves in court, as could the airports from which the planes took off and the security companies at those airports.

Kreindler said it is a good possibility that terrorist organizations and governments that harbor them could be sued. And there is a question, he said, about the liability of the Federal Aviation Administration.

Then there is the World Trade Center itself. “These buildings melted,” Kreindler said. “You could argue there was a design problem.”

He said it all adds up to “the most complicated liability picture I have ever seen.”

The attacks also raise a number of issues that have nothing to do with liability for the attacks could find their way into court. “There’s going to be adoptions, child custody, probate, insurance claims,” Carl said.

He said the fact that some bodies may never be recovered could lead to another kind of fight. “One of the issues may be – God, I hope it’s not – ‘How do we prove to a life insurance company that this person is dead?’ ” he said.

For its part, the American Bar Association has created a task force on terrorism and the law.

“The mission of the group is to deal with Congress in analyzing proposed changes in the law that we predict will come on a multifaceted front – aviation, immigration, bankruptcy, individual rights, criminal justice, international tribunals, and so forth,” said Clifford, who was appointed Tuesday as the task force’s chairman. “The scope of all this is so massive.”