Jury Selection Complete For WTC Trial Phase II

By Michael Ha

NU Online News Service, Oct. 13, 4:17 p.m. EDT?A jury of 10 women and two men was selected yesterday in Manhattan's U.S. District Court, for the second World Trade Center insurance coverage trial, pitting World Trade Center site leaseholder Larry Silverstein against nine of his carriers.[@@]

The newly selected jurors come from diverse backgrounds?they include a personal trainer, a writer and several educators.

Richard Waites, attorney and chief trial psychologist for The Advocates, a New York-based jury trial and advocacy consulting firm, said the jury looks well-suited to tackle the broad issue of the one-vs.-two-occurrences dispute concerning the WTC terror attack.

"People like teachers and educators tend to think in global terms?they aren't really so bothered by specific details, but rather they would be looking for generalities and the big picture," Mr. Waites told National Underwriter.

He conjectured that the jurors are more likely to look at broader issues of the case rather than specific details, "and they will know a lot about the business and the effects?in this case, the rebuilding of WTC and other issues having to do with New York City," he said.

"My guess is that the jury that's been selected in this case is very intelligent, and to that extent, both sides should get a fair trial," Mr. Waites added.

Phase Two officially begins with opening statements from both sides next Monday, Oct. 18. The trial is expected to last four-to-five weeks, according to insurers' attorneys involved.

Of the nine insurers represented in this second round, three?Royal Specialty, Zurich American and Twin City?are involved in Phase Two because they lost in Phase One, as jurors found these carriers were not bound by what has been referred to as the Willis Property ("WilProp") form. This specifically defines an event like Sept. 11 to be only one insurable occurrence.

Mr. Silverstein's argument has been that since the 9/11 terrorist attack involved two separate planes crashing into two towers at distinctively different times, the event should be interpreted as two separate insured events.

The six new insurers entering the trial are Allianz, Gulf, Industrial Risk Insurers, Travelers, TIG, and Tokio Fire and Marine. Together, the nine insurers in the second round provided a little less than one-third?$1.132 billion?of the $3.55 billion in total WTC property coverage.

In Phase Two, jurors will examine whether the 9/11 attack on the WTC towers should be seen as one or two events in light of each separate form used by the individual insurers represented. If the jurors find that any of the insurers are liable for two occurrences, a third phase of the trial would determine exactly how much they owe, with the maximum being double their per-event limit.

Special Reports /

Jury Selection Complete For WTC Trial Phase II

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