Texas firm Nelson Jones teamed with Miami attorneys Adam Hall, Matthew Leto and Roarke Maxwell of Hall, Lamb, Hall & Leto to secure a $70 million settlement agreement with the Sudanese government on behalf of 56 U.S. Navy sailors who were killed or injured in a terrorist attack against the USS Cole in Yemen.

The U.S. ship, a guided missile destroyer, had been refueling at Aden harbor on Oct. 12, 2000, when al-Qaida suicide bombers on small boats blew a hole in its side, killing 17 and injuring 39.

Victims and their families originally filed suit in 2004, accusing Sudan's government of supporting al-Qaida and its then-leader Osama bin Laden by providing the funding, direction, training and cover needed for the attack.

It was a textbook case in resilience and emotional willpower, according to Hall, as the settlement stemmed from a 15-year campaign by the victims' families, whose multiple lawsuits were marred by appeals and technical challenges that reached all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"Perseverance is key," Hall said. "You have to have the unquenching desire and motivation to see things through to the end. Sometimes the end is a very, very long path, but hopefully it pays off. And with this one, we were so happy to be able to get the justice that these families deserve."

The settlement is not an admission of liability from Sudan, which has consistently denied any involvement in the bombing or other terrorist activity.

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'Next to impossible'

One major challenge for the plaintiffs' team was that, without eye witnesses to bolster their claims, documents were all they had.

"Proving that a country, not a person, supported a specific act of terrorism—without having a turncoat, a spy embedded within them—is next to impossible," Hall said.

Hall and his team hired experts in terrorism, the Middle East and al-Qaida, who concluded after poring over government reports that Sudan did aid and abet the terrorist group. The lawsuit alleged bin Laden had agreed to invest in infrastructure in Sudan, and to help the leader of its Islamic fundamentalist movement, Hassan al-Turabi, in its civil war against Christian separatists.

Hall and his team alleged that Sudan, in return, provided a safe haven for al-Qaida to organize and train. Bin Laden also allegedly set up multiple business ventures with al-Turabi's regime.

The experts were crucial in piecing together the case.

"They were actively involved in that region during the time, so it was what they saw and heard on a day-to-day basis that was important," Hall said. "You have to synthesize all of these small pieces of circumstantial evidence to tell the story and demonstrate what actually happened."

It was a daunting case for the plaintiff's team as litigation repeatedly meandered into jurisdictional issues.

"We're a law firm in Miami, Florida, and we're going up against a country," Hall said. "We welcome the challenge, but it is a big challenge."

Sudan claimed the U.S. courts lacked personal jurisdiction, but a judge disagreed, awarding a $12 million judgment in a case led by named plaintiff Olivia Rux.

Then, as the law shifted to allow a substantive cause of action for aiding and abetting terrorist acts, Hall and his team filed two new lawsuits in 2010 with different lead plaintiffs, Avinesh Kumar and Rick Harrison, who represented killed and injured sailors, respectively.

Sudan again challenged on jurisdictional grounds, and in March 2019, the Supreme Court threw out a $314 million default judgment in the Harrison case, finding Sudan hadn't been properly notified of the lawsuit—served to Sudan's Washington embassy instead of its foreign ministry in Khartoum, because the country was in the midst of a civil war. Hall and his team then reserved the complaint in Sudan.

Before it settled, the case was scheduled for a trial on jurisdiction in April.

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Related story: $315M Award for USS Cole Victims Hinges on the Right Address

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'Sudan expresses sympathy'

It took a lot of back and forth to reach an agreement, according to Hall, who said he suspects the driving factor for Sudan was its desire to normalize relations with the U.S. and the rest of the world.

The settlement bars any future claims against Sudan and provides $30.6 million for the family of sailors who were killed and $39.4 million for those injured. 

It's a major milestone for Sudan, whose new Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has prioritized making peace and healing the country's economy, ravaged by UN sanctions over human rights abuses and U.S. sanctions for being an alleged state sponsor of terrorism.

Sudan's former dictator Omar al-Bashir was at the helm during the USS Cole bombing, but was deposed in a 2019 coup and convicted of corruption.

Counsel to Sudan, White & Case partner Christopher Curran in Washington, D.C., reiterated the government's desire to put allegations of terrorist sponsorship to bed.

"As Sudan has stated in the past, Sudan expresses sympathy to the victims of the Cole and their families. But Sudan reaffirms that it was not involved in the attack on the Cole or in any other acts of terrorism, and expressly maintains that position in the settlement," Curran said.

"Nonetheless, the transitional government of Sudan wishes to resolve historical terrorism allegations as part of its effort to normalize relations with the United States and the rest of the world."

For Hall's clients, the settlement represents the end at long last.

"This was putting substantial payment in the hands of our clients and giving them the closure of this 15-year fight," Hall said. "Representing these families who were victims of such a horrific act, while I wish they had never gone through that, was an honor."

The case was dear to Hall's father, Andrew Hall, who died before its resolution in September 2019.

"I'm proud that our team was able to honor his legacy by reaching this conclusion," Hall said. "This case was very important to my father and one of the reasons why he practiced law. He would hear stories from people who had been victims of any type of misconduct, and anyone who he felt was a victim he wanted to stand up and fight for them. This case demonstrates my father's raison d'être for practicing law and it's his legacy."

Case: Olivia Rux/Rick Harrison/Avinesh Kumar v. Republic of Sudan

Case No.: 2:04-cv-00428; 1:10-cv-01689; 2:10-cv-00171

Description: Wrongful death

Filing date: July 16, 2004; April16 and Oct. 13, 2010

Settlement date: Feb. 7, 2020

Judge: U.S. District Judge Robert G. Doumar in the Eastern District of Virginia; Senior U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth in the District of Columbia

Plaintiffs attorneys: Adam Hall, Matthew Leto, Roarke Maxwell and Andrew Hall, Hall, Lamb, Hall & Leto, Miami

Defense attorney: Christopher Curran, White & Case, Washington, D.C.

Settlement amount: $70 million

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