(CN) - Days before jury selection, the Jordan-based Arab Bank averted a trial to determine how much it owed in damages after previously being found to have bankrolling terrorism, a lawyer confirmed.
Families of 300 victims of suicide bombings convinced a jury last year, a decade after the filing of their lawsuit, to make the Amman, Jordan-based bank pay for its role in attacks on Israeli civilians between 2000 and 2004.
Observers called the decision the first time a financial institution had been found liable in the United States for providing material support to a terrorist organization under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
The verdict determined the bank's liability for the attacks without assigning damages, and jury selection had been slated for Monday for the first trial to determine how much it owed to the families.
On Friday, the New York Times reported that the families reached a deal on unspecified terms.
Gary Osen, who represents the families, confirmed to Courthouse News that a settlement had been reached without offering any more details.
The Times reported that the settlement would cover the claims of about 500 people.
In April, U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan upheld the jury's finding Arab Bank liable for all but two of the 24 attacks said to be sponsored by Hamas. The Palestinian group's ties to the other two attacks had not been proven at trial, the judge found.
At the time, Osen called the ruling a "resounding exclamation mark" on the jury's verdict from 2014.
Arab Bank denied it knowingly had any dealing with Hamas or other groups designated as terrorists by the United States.
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