The Spangenberg firm, working with a team of the nation’s top plaintiff’s firms, recently obtained a nearly $1 billion judgment against the Islamic Republic of Iran on behalf of 109 U.S. soldiers and their families. The judgment, issued in June by the federal trial court in Washington, D.C., is the product of eight years of hard work, including a trial at which Spangenberg partner Jeremy Tor was one of three lawyers presenting evidence of Iran’s liability for supporting terrorist attacks against U.S. soldiers in Iraq.
The judgment will be satisfied, in part, through the U.S. Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund, which Congress established in 2015 to provide compensation to victims harmed by state-sponsored terrorism. The fund is financed by criminal and civil penalties imposed on companies that violate U.S. laws against doing business with state sponsors of terrorism, including Iran and North Korea. For example, Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, recently pleaded guilty to, and paid a several billion dollar fine for, violating anti-money laundering and other laws. A portion of the fine was deposited into the fund and is available to terrorism victims who have obtained final judgments from U.S. courts.
The lawsuit was brought against Iran under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which makes a state-sponsor of terrorism liable for supporting terrorist attacks against U.S. citizens. The Spangenberg firm represents, in collaboration with five other firms, approximately 3,000 individuals harmed by terrorist attacks that took place in Iraq from 2003 through 2011.
Given the magnitude of the litigation, the lawyers proposed a novel, multi-phased approach. In the first phase, they presented evidence of Iran’s material support for nine terrorist groups. In the second phase, the lawyers selected representative attacks and presented evidence that those attacks were perpetrated by one of the terrorist groups. The June decision, issued for victims of the representative attacks, serves as guidance for Special Masters selected by the court to review—and make recommendations regarding—Iran’s liability for the remaining attacks. The Special Masters are also charged with making damages recommendations to the court.
The Spangenberg firm team, which includes Jeremy Tor, Dustin Herman, and Jessica Berberich, is proud and honored to continue this fight for justice on behalf of individuals who have sacrificed so much for our country as well as for peace and security around the world.
