James Beasley, 78; Sued Bin Laden, Hussein on Behalf of 9/11 Victims
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James E. Beasley, 78, a Philadelphia lawyer who successfully sued Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein on behalf of victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, died of lymphoma Saturday at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
In May 2003, although he had been unable to collect it, Beasley won a $104-million judgment for the families of two men killed in the attacks by Al Qaeda.
A federal judge agreed that Hussein’s Iraq had provided “material support” to Bin Laden and Al Qaeda, after Beasley presented testimony from former CIA director James Woolsey Jr. and a photograph by a satellite company showing an apparent terrorist training camp near Baghdad.
Beasley, born in West Philadelphia and educated at Temple University, tried more than 400 cases in a 48-year legal career, regularly winning million-dollar verdicts against doctors, hospitals, manufacturers and governments.
In one highly publicized case, he won a $907-million judgment against former Philadelphia resident Ira Einhorn over the 1977 beating death of Holly Maddux.
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