WTC Reaction: Attorney Praises Jurors

By Michael Ha

NU Online News Service, April 30, 4:15 p.m. EDT? A day after a partial verdict was reached in the trial pitting World Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein against more than a dozen of his insurers, some of those involved in the case are beginning to speak out?some praising the jurors' hard work and others saying the decision will severely limit Mr. Silverstein's standing in the WTC rebuilding process.[@@]

"I do think the decision was the correct decision, based on the facts that were presented," said Thomas McKay, attorney from Cozen O'Connor, who represented Federal Insurance Company in the trial. Mr. McKay called the jurors the finest he has ever seen.

Federal was among the companies that the jury found to be bound by Willis' "Wilprop" form. The form limits the WTC attack as a single insured event worth some $3.55 billion, as opposed to Travelers form, which helps Mr. Silverstein's claims that the attack was two reimbursable events.

In all, a majority of the insurers in the case were found to be bound by Wilprop. They are: Lloyd's of London underwriters; Federal Insurance Company; Employers Insurance of Wausau; Great Lakes Reinsurance; Wurttembergische Versicherung AG; QBE International Insurance Ltd.; Lexington Insurance; Copenhagen Reinsurance Co. Ltd; and Houston Casualty Company. These insurers' coverage amounts add up to more than $1 billion on a single-event basis.

On the other hand, the jury found that three companies?Royal Specialty Underwriting, Zurich American Insurance and Twin City Fire Insurance?are not bound by Wilprop. These insurers?along with Travelers, Allianz, IRI, Gulf, TIG and Tokio Marine?will face another trial over whether the terrorist attack was one or two events.

Beginning next week, the jurors will continue to deliberate on the coverage issue involving Swiss Re, the largest player in this case.

Commenting on the partial verdict, Mr. McKay praised the 11-member jury and their diligence over the course of the trial, calling them the best jury he has ever dealt with.

"There were a lot of lawyers in that courtroom who have tried a lot of cases over the years, but they'll all say you won't find a finer jury than that jury," Mr. McKay said. "They were incredible?they were extremely intelligent and extremely conscientious jurors."

Mr. McKay noted, for example, that the jurors were always awake during the trial. "They never fell asleep. In long trials, you hear stories about jurors dozing off or looking bored?but not these jurors," he observed.

And the jurors took good notes, he added. "How do I know that their notes were accurate? I know because when they asked their questions, they had the page numbers that the lawyers referred to in their summations. They were even able to cite to the page numbers," Mr. McKay said.

He went on to say that the jurors were also "very well-educated people. Several of them had advanced degrees."

The jury was "incredibly competent, intelligent, hard-working and diligent," he said. "I can only say wonderful things about them. It's not just because they gave me a verdict in my client's favor. They clearly were an absolutely outstanding jury."

Lloyd's of London also said it was pleased with the outcome. "We are pleased with the verdict, which we think is the right one," Lloyd's said in a statement.

But others are speculating that the verdict will have a devastating effect on the Silverstein parties.

One executive involved in the trial, who declined to be identified, said that following the partial verdict, the money potentially available to Mr. Silverstein came down from the $7 billion that Mr. Silverstein said he needed to get from the insurers, to $5.5 billion at best. "And we don't think the best scenario is very likely. Now, even when you do the math as favorably as you can for Mr. Silverstein, it doesn't look good for him."

There are also speculations that Mr. Silverstein's role in the WTC rebuilding process could be severely limited as he fails to secure the needed funds. Mr. Silverstein's camp, however, emphasized that this is only a partial verdict.

"We are awaiting the decision with respect to Swiss Re, the largest insurer in the World Trade Center coverage. We will have no further comment while the jury continues to deliberate," Howard Rubenstein, a spokesman for Mr. Silverstein, said.

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WTC Reaction: Attorney Praises Jurors

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