As the insurance markets on either side of the Atlantic will be only too aware, litigation following the 11 September terrorist attacks in the US is continuing and expanding at an alarming rate. This short summary of recent events can only scratch the surface of this complex litigation but may be of interest to those less familiar with its detail.
On 9 September 2003, Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York rejected motions brought by United Airlines, American Airlines, various airport security companies and other airlines which had sought to dismiss claims brought by the "ground victims" – the estates of those who died at the World Trade Centre and at the Pentagon. The judge also rejected a similar motion brought by Boeing, which faces allegations as manufacturer of allegedly defective cockpit doors, by the estates of those killed on UAL flight 77 which crashed in Pennslyvania. The threshold for defeating the dismissal motions was
