News Archive

Indianapolis attorneys Mary Beth Ramey, ’72, and Rich Hailey, ’74, were part of a small consortium of 10 attorneys who filed actions for over 200 families of 9/11 victims beginning in 2002. In October of 2012, they obtained a compensatory judgment for $1.4 billion dollars. On June 29, a United States District Court judge ruled that victims of Iranian terrorism can now seize the assests of the Islamic non-profit, Alavi Foundation and Assa Corporation, known as the 650 Fifth Avenue Partnership. The finding will permit their clients to receive a substantial satisfaction of their outstanding compensatory damages. “This journey started 15 years ago and now I feel I can see the light at the end of the tunnel,” said Mary Beth Ramey who along with her husband and law partner Rich Hailey committed to the anti-terrorist litigation 15 years ago. Rich Hailey emphasized that, “our goal is to assist in defunding terrorism and collecting on the judgments our clients so richly deserve.”

The underlying case for the Havlish families was Havlish v. Islamic Republic of Iran and Bin Laden, et al. as part of the In Re Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001 litigation, filed in the Southern District of New York. On October 12, 2012, after years of investigation by the Havlish consortium of attorneys, the Court issued an Order of Judgment, finding the Plaintiffs had presented enough evidence that the Islamic Republic of Iran had provided direct material support to al-Qaeda in carrying out the attacks of September 11, 2001. The Court awarded the sum of $6,048,513,805 for compensatory damages and punitive damages to over 200 families in the Havlish litigation.