Twenty years after 9-11, Anderson Kill vows to continue pursuit of justice for victims


09/10/2021

New York, NY (9/10/21) – On the eve of the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Anderson Kill mourns the victims and reaffirms its commitment to seek justice for thousands of family members who lost loved ones in the destruction of the World Trade Center, the attack on the Pentagon, and the downing of Flight 93 by al Qaeda operatives on September 11, 2001.

Jerry S. Goldman, a shareholder in Anderson Kill’s New York and Philadelphia offices, is counsel to lead plaintiff Christine O’Neill and thousands of co-plaintiffs in In Re Terrorist Attacks. That suit consolidates litigation originating in 2004 by families of 9/11 victims seeking justice and restitution from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and multiple other parties, including individuals, institutions, and nation-states, alleged to have provided material support to al Qaeda. Mr. Goldman is a member of the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committees.

Mr. Goldman and co-counsel have pursued justice for the 9/11 families throughout a sixteen-year litigation odyssey with many twists and turns, all the while pursuing access to long-classified information that they will use to supplement existing evidence of foreign government support of the attackers.

U.S. district and appeals courts reversed themselves several times on the question of whether sovereign immunity protected Saudi Arabia from accountability, until enactment of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act in September 2016 definitively reinstated the Kingdom as a defendant.  Another milestone was a default judgment on behalf of 1,772 claimants against the Islamic Republic of Iran, resulting in a reward of compensation in 2020.

The Anderson Kill team communicates with the victims on a regular basis and has, with co-counsel, conducted hundreds of hours of depositions, successfully fought over thousands of pages of concealed evidence, and litigated challenging legal matters in United States District Courts in Washington,  D.C., New York and Chicago and the United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd, DC and 7th Circuits, as well as presented and defended four petitions for certiorari before the United States Supreme Court.  In conjunction with the case, Anderson Kill also filed an amicus in support of a writ of certiorari and then a merits amicus before the United States Supreme Court.  As a member of the plaintiffs’ team, Anderson Kill has been involved in the passage of five pieces of federal legislation, one over a presidential veto, and has engaged with the Executive Branch over several different administrations.

Mr. Goldman commented, “For sixteen years, we have pursued both the right to make this case and access to evidence for which there remains no viable reason for continued classification.  We will not rest until we hold the perpetrators of these mass murderous attacks accountable and obtain justice for the victims.”

Headquartered in midtown Manhattan, Anderson Kill attorneys and staff directly experienced the trauma of 9/11. In its aftermath, the firm welcomed into its offices the downtown firm DeForest and Duer, which subsequently merged with Anderson Kill and enriched the firm’s Real Estate and Construction practice.

“None of us will forget that day, or our efforts to regroup and support one another and colleagues in the broader community in its aftermath,” said Robert M. Horkovich, managing shareholder of Anderson Kill. “We are proud of Jerry’s relentless pursuit of justice for the families of the victims, and we will support that pursuit until its full resolution.”

About Anderson Kill

Anderson Kill P.C. is a full-service New York-based law firm with offices in Washington, D.C., Newark, NJ, Philadelphia, PA, Stamford, CT, Denver, CO, and Los Angeles, CA. Clients include Fortune 1000 companies, small and medium-sized businesses, governmental entities, and nonprofits as well as personal estates.

Related People

Insurance Recovery Attorney | Anderson Kill P.C.
Robert M. Horkovich
Managing Shareholder (Firm)
New York
Complex Litigation Attorney | Anderson Kill P.C.
Jerry S. Goldman
Shareholder
New York | Philadelphia

Related Practice Areas