| Hat tip Walter Olsen at Overlawyered. |
Now, nearly five years after the historic disaster, roughly 60 lawsuits are still grinding their way through court. And the families pushing ahead with litigation, including numerous New Englanders, are mired in a massive legal case that has become a complicated behemoth for the federal judge overseeing it. ``I've never been in any litigation more frustrating than this," said Frank H. Granito, Jr., a New York lawyer who represents the family of an American Flight 11 passenger and several insurance companies in the matter.
The case pits those who consider the day's events an unpreventable tragedy against others who believe government and aviation officials ignored clear warnings that such an assault was possible. That lapse, in their view, led to the deaths of beloved friends and relatives, and they now want accountability and answers.
For some litigants, their decision to sue was met by public disapproval from skeptics who questioned their motives and dismissed their quest for justice as futile. But in interviews with the Globe, many family members said they are committed to pursuing the case until government, airline, and security officials are held responsible for their roles in the attacks. And they are aware that litigation is a gamble that could produce neither answers nor money, they said.
The New York-based case has been slowed by the federal government's sweeping refusal to release materials on aviation security, outraging lawyers for both sides. It has also been stalled by the South Carolina law firm Motley Rice, which made billions suing the tobacco industry and represents 53 victims in the case, or nearly 60 percent of all plaintiffs. Its clients include the families of Flight 11 pilot Captain John Ogonowski of Dracut, crew member Madeline Sweeney of Acton, Rhode Island native David Angell, creator of the sitcom ``Frasier," and many high-earning New England executives.
While other lawyers have resolved most or all of their cases -- at least 32 of the roughly 90 total lawsuits have settled -- Motley Rice has settled only three. Of the cases left to settle, all but 7 are being handled by Motley Rice, whose founding partner, Ronald L. Motley, said in an interview that his clients ``won't take cheap early money."
The firm is advancing to trial, where it says it can win jury awards larger than the settlements being offered and expose systemic failures that allowed the attacks to take place.
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