Lawyer James Kreindler, who sued the Libyan government in the aftermath of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988, spoke on campus on Tuesday about why he chose to take the case, calling the terrorist attack “the worst disaster of his lifetime.”

Kreindler was heavily involved in the litigation against Pan American World Airways as a member of the plaintiffs’ trial team after Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland in December 1988. About 30 people attended the lecture, which was co-hosted by SU Libraries and the College of Law, and was part of the university’s Remembrance Week activities.

Kreindler’s team reached a $2.7 billion settlement against the Libyan government, where the terrorists were from, on behalf of the victims’ families. Pan Am Flight 103 carried more than 250 passengers, 35 of which were studying abroad through SU.

“The story I’m going to tell you is one of a thousand examples of how our country could not survive, how the world couldn’t survive without vibrant investigative reporters,” he said in Dineen Hall in the College of Law.

The lawyer, a partner at the family-run Kreindler & Kreindler LLP, discussed how his team’s case against Pan Am and its case against the Libyan government “played the essential format” for what he and his firm are now doing in a current 9/11 terror lawsuit against Saudi Arabia.

Three decades ago, the legal, aviation and political framework in the United States was radically different, Kreindler said. In 1988, for the first time in aviation history, policemen logged precisely what they found and where they found it as they searched through plane wreckage from coast to coast, he added.

“Pan Am 103 changed the law in the United States more than any other event in my lifetime,” he said.

Laura Angle | Digital Design Editor

An international treaty stated that damages for each disaster victim are limited to $75,000 unless willful misconduct is found. If a mechanical issue was found with the aircraft, the team could sue for more money, Kreindler said. Since no mechanical issue was found, his firm was discouraged from taking the case, he said.

But that didn’t stop them. He said this was the worst disaster of his lifetime, so he and his father would take the case.

Kriendler’s father Lee was widely regarded as a “founder of disaster law,” according to an SU News release. While working on the case, James, Lee and their team discovered some major inconsistencies in the Pan Am bombing story.

The airline had violated a security regulation that required the “positive matching” of baggage with passengers, Kreindler said. The airline allowed an unaccompanied suitcase containing the bomb to be transferred across flights, which eventually made its way to Pan Am Flight 103 in London.

Pan Am said it used an X-ray machine, which was a Federal Aviation Administration-approved alternative to the positive matching. FAA had never approved X-ray as an alternative, Kreindler said.

“We were finally able to show that Pan Am had broken the rules,” he added.

Two Libyans were tried for the bombing; one was found guilty and the other not guilty. It took 15 years for Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi to agree to pay the $2.7 billion settlement.

Kreindler and his firm wanted Libya to be held accountable, he said.

Madeline Merwin, one of the 35 Remembrance Scholars for the 2018-19 academic year, asked Kreindler how he helped console families once the team found out that this disaster would have been preventable.

“You can’t bring anybody back,” he said in response. “All you can do is say, ‘join us as part of this effort to get the truth out, and when the truth comes out eventually we’re going to make them pay.’”

Kreindler added that, given the amount of time the Pan Am case took, the 9/11 suit against Saudi Arabia could take up to 20 years. The lawsuit was initially started in the early 2000s, Kreindler said, and a federal suit was filed in March 2017.

Regardless, he said, he’ll continue working to uncover the whole truth.

“Our mission is to eventually get the whole story out and get fair compensation the same for everyone,” he said.

Published on October 30, 2018 at 10:51 pm

Contact Colleen: cefergus@syr.edu | @ColleenEFergus2