Judge Greenlights Landmark 9/11 Lawsuit Against Saudi Arabia

In a pivotal development nearly 24 years after the September 11 attacks, U.S. District Judge George B. Daniels has revived a long-standing civil lawsuit allowing families of the victims to pursue claims against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

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Denying the Kingdom’s motion to dismiss, Judge Daniels found that the plaintiffs advanced “reasonable evidence” suggesting that two Saudi individuals Omar al-Bayoumi and Fahad al-Thumairy acted under direction from their government to assist the hijackers

Importantly, the ruling is a jurisdictional decision, not a determination on the merits.

Nonetheless, it marks the first time a federal court has explicitly opened the door to testing these serious allegations in a trial setting

This decision carries profound legal and historical significance.

It underscores how the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) passed by Congress in 2016 to narrow sovereign immunity is being successfully leveraged to seek accountability from foreign states in terrorism-related litigation

Plaintiffs have cherished this "long pursuit of truth and justice," signaling that this ruling now allows them to advance evidence-gathering and, potentially, depositions of Saudi officials