In the 1970s, many state courts began to decide that the intentional acts of criminals should not bar plaintiffs from collecting money from others with deeper pockets. If you are carjacked, sue the parking lot owner. Most legislatures have yet to reverse this radical legal change. [thank all that's holy for lawyer's lobbyists]

Thus, trial lawyers, thanks to New York Supreme Court Justice Nicholas Figueroa’s generous rulings and jury instructions, persuaded a jury in October 2006 that the terrorists who planted a truck bomb in the World Trade Center garage in 1993 were only 32 percent responsible, while the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey was 68 percent responsible–and therefore, under New York law, wholly on the hook for $1.8 billion in damages.

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[C]riminal prosecutors, not contingency fee-hunting trial lawyers, should chase terrorist financing. The latter are more interested in wealth than guilt, and they have motivation to attempt to attach blame to the deepest and most readily available pocket instead of the actual culpable parties. Nor do they bear the consequences when they undercut U.S. diplomatic efforts by treading on the wrong toes.

Both NatWest and Crédit Lyonnais filed motions before Judge Charles Sifton of the Eastern District of New York to dismiss the cases against them, but without success. The lawsuits are going forward and are in the pretrial discovery stage.

If courts are not going to apply the antiterrorism laws sensibly, Congress should amend them to make clear that civil liability is limited to those who commit criminal acts of international terrorism and to those who aid and abet with specific intent to commit terror. Otherwise, terrorists can damage the global economy simply by inducing fratricidal litigation.