News

10 Jan 2007

DLA Piper wins victory for families of the victims of the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing

Federal Judge orders Iranian Government to pay $254 million to families of the Americans who died in the bombing

Press Release

(Washington) - DLA Piper US LLP successfully represented the families of 17 Americans who died in the Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth orders the Iranian Government to pay $254 million in damages to the 55 surviving relatives of the terrorism victims.

Nineteen people died in June 1996 when a truck bomb exploded in a military housing area near Dhahran Air Base in Saudi Arabia known as the Khobar Towers. Many others were wounded and the attack prompted the relocation of most U.S. military personnel to more remote sites in Saudi Arabia to improve security.

This is the first time an American court has ruled that Iranian government agencies and senior ministers financed and directed the bombing by a militant Saudi wing of the Islamist terrorist group Hezbollah. Lamberth stated that "the defendants' conduct in facilitating, financing, and providing material support to bring about this attack was intentional, extreme, and outrageous."

"There were a lot of rumors that the State Department did not want this case to proceed because they ultimately want to have a rapprochement with Iran," said DLA Piper partner Shale D. Stiller, the lead attorney for the families. "I can't say that's an unreasonable view in overall foreign policy. But from the point of view of the 17 families victimized here, they needed some finding of retribution."

Whether the families of the dead U.S. servicemen and women will ever receive the $254 million in damages remains in question. Iran has refused to participate in the case and insists it has no connection to the bombing. DLA Piper plans to try to track down Iranian government assets in countries around the world and claim them to collect the damages.

"The ruling is important because it provides those who lost loved ones in a traumatic event with some sense of vindication," Stiller continued.  "We will take the judgment and go all over the world to find assets that belong to the government of Iran." Beyond any monetary award, the ruling is also important in that in provides an unambiguous statement from a U.S. court of Iran's role and discourages future terrorists."

In addition to Stiller, the trial team representing the families included Kurt J. Fischer, partner in the firm's Baltimore office, and Melissa L. Mackiewicz, associate in the firm's Baltimore office. A total of 10 lawyers at DLA Piper worked on the Khobar Towers matter.

About DLA Piper
DLA Piper has 3,200 lawyers in 24 countries and 62 offices throughout the U.S., U.K., Continental Europe, Middle East and Asia. It has leading practices in corporate, finance, human resources, litigation, real estate, regulatory and legislative, tax, and technology, media and communications.

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CONTACTS:
Shale Stiller, Partner, DLA Piper, 410.580.4268
Laura Miller, Media Relations, GreenTarget Global Group, 312.252.4104