James E. Beasley, 78; Lawyer Won 9/11 Verdict
Hyfler/Rosner
By STEPHEN MILLER Staff Reporter of the Sun
James E. Beasley, who died Saturday at age 78 in a
Philadelphia hospital, was an attorney who won a $104
million verdict against Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein
on behalf of the estates of two men who perished in the
World Trade Center on September 11. The verdict, the first
against perpetrators of 9/11 violence, remains unpaid.
By the time the verdict was rendered, in May of 2003, the
United States government had already confiscated nearly $2
billion in Iraqi assets that it had previously frozen. The
money was earmarked for the reconstruction of Iraq, and was
therefore unavailable to plaintiffs.
The most contentious part of the lawsuit involved
establishing a direct connection between Iraq and Mr. bin
Laden and Al Qaeda. In his ruling, U.S. District Judge
Harold Baer in New York wrote that the victim's lawyers
"have shown, albeit barely.that Iraq provided material
support to bin Ladin and al Queda," and that Iraq supported
or collaborated on the 9/11 attacks.
The suit was brought on behalf of the estates of two
Pennsylvanians who worked at the World Trade Center, George
Eric Smith, 38, an analyst for SunGuard Asset Management,
and Timothy P. Soulas, 36, a senior managing director and
partner at Cantor Fitzgerald Securities.
According to Beasley's son, James E. Beasley Jr., also a
lawyer in his father's firm, the plaintiffs will continue to
seek compensation in courts abroad.
It was not surprising that 9/11 victims would seek out
the Beasley Firm of Philadelphia,because Beasley was widely
considered one of the top plaintiff's litigators in the
country.In a 48-year career, he won scores of million-dollar
verdicts against doctors, hospitals, manufacturers,
governments, and newspapers.
Among Beasley's best-known cases was a $907 million
judgment against onetime Philadelphia hippie Ira Einhorn on
behalf the family of Holly Maddux, whom Einhorn beat to
death in 1977.
Beasley also won two major libel verdicts against the
Philadelphia Inquirer, and represented survivors in the
collapse of Pier 34 in the Delaware River in 2000. He once
sued the Washington Redskins for not maintaining its stadium
turf correctly on behalf of running back George Nock, who
injured his knee while receiving a pass from Redskins
quarterback, Billy Kilmer.
He was author of a standard legal text, "Products
Liability and the Unreasonably Dangerous Requirement."
Beasley was born in Buffalo, N.Y., and grew up in poverty
in West Philadelphia, Pa. After lying about his age and
enlisting in the submarine service in World War II, he
worked as a motorcycle cop in Palm Beach,Fla.,and a truck
driver and Greyhound bus driver before returning to high
school.
He became a major benefactor of Temple University Law
School, and when he gave his alma mater the largest
endowment in the university's history the law school was
renamed the James E. Beasley School of Law.
A 1990 article in the law school's alumni magazine
described Beasley as combining "the courtliness of a
southern gentleman with a hint of riverboat gambler."
Beasley's courtliness left him, though, when he
contemplated filing the 9/11 suit despite a moratorium on
such suits that had been instituted by the Association of
Trial Lawyers of America. "These suckers are not entitled to
a moratorium," Beasley told the Washington Times in October,
2001, shortly after he first filed suit against the
terrorists.
A man of great energy, Beasley's hobby was stunt flying.
He was a member of the Six Diamonds Aerobatic Flight Team,
and he and his son owned a pair of vintage WW II P51
fighters that they flew in air shows.
Mpoconnor7
>Philadelphia hospital, was an attorney who won a $104
>million verdict against Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein
>on behalf of the estates of two men who perished in the
>World Trade Center on September 11. The verdict, the first
>against perpetrators of 9/11 violence, remains unpaid.
> By the time the verdict was rendered, in May of 2003, the
>United States government had already confiscated nearly $2
>billion in Iraqi assets that it had previously frozen. The
>money was earmarked for the
>reconstruction of Iraq, and was
>therefore unavailable to plaintiffs.
> The most contentious part of the lawsuit involved
>establishing a direct connection between Iraq and Mr. bin
>Laden and Al Qaeda. In his ruling, U.S. District Judge
>Harold Baer in New York wrote
>that the victim's lawyers
>"have shown, albeit barely.that Iraq provided material
>support to bin Ladin and al Queda," and that Iraq supported
>or collaborated on the 9/11 attacks.
The nation of Iraq should countersue this dead guy's estate for slander because
we all know there was absolutely no link whatsoever between al-Qaeda and Iraq
and this whole war was just a ploy for Bush and Cheney to steal all the Iraqi
oil reserves for themselves and murder and oppress the rights of as many
islamic people as possible around the world under the guise of a "war on
terrorism."
Michael O'Connor - Modern Renaissance Man
"The likelihood of one individual being correct increases in a direct
proportion to the intensity with which others try to prove him wrong"
James Mason from the movie "Heaven Can Wait".