How Cozen took on a kingdom for 9/11 liability

In April 2006, the firm sued the Treasury Department in federal District Court in Philadelphia, alleging it had improperly redacted or withheld thousands of internal documents on the government of Saudi Arabia, the charities, and al-Qaeda that Cozen was seeking.

Cozen appealed Casey's dismissal of the Saudis as defendants on Jan. 5, 2007, attempting to keep them and their resources in the suit. The suit and its ambitions rested on a decision by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan.

Cozen's brief argued that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act did not protect governments that failed to act when informed that their own agencies promoted terror.

Over the ensuing months, Cozen lawyers continued their investigation and honed their legal arguments. They pursued discovery against defendants who remained in the case, querying them on their business interests and affiliations while jockeying with defense attorneys over the terms of discovery.

A year later, on Jan. 18, the Second Circuit heard arguments.

Stephen Cozen himself was the lead lawyer for the plaintiffs. Flanked by members of his legal team, he stood to make their case.

The Saudi government and members of the royal family, he said, engaged in conduct that breached the standards of normal government activities when they supported Islamist charities that funded extremist groups. In acting outside those standards, they made themselves liable under the law.

Defense lawyer Michael Kellogg answered the allegation. U.S. law afforded the Saudi government substantial protection from litigation, he told the judges. Moreover, there was no evidence that the kingdom had anything to do with the 9/11 attacks, and such evidence was necessary to restore the government and royal family as defendants.

On the surface, at least, the Second Circuit's judges appeared sympathetic to aspects of Cozen's case.

When Kellogg described the close relationship between the kingdom and the United States, the appellate court's chief judge, Dennis Jacobs, cut him short.

"It's neither here nor there," Jacobs said.

The judges posed no question to Cozen, who had been ready for this moment for weeks.

"The kingdom and its officials knew and intended to support al-Qaeda through these charities," Cozen said, gesturing as if conducting an orchestra. "The resources to build [al-Qaeda's] infrastructure were provided by donors and channeled through a network of Islamic charities. It is the misconduct of the charities and government officials that forms the [basis] of our complaint."

Go to for documents in the case, including the original lawsuit, plus responses from people and groups accused of helping those who launched the 9/11 terror attacks.