Ashton v. Al Qaeda Islamic

Background

This multidistrict litigation included several related cases, including Ashton v. Al Qaeda Islamic Army, Ashton v. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Bauer v. Al Qaeda Islamic Army, Ryan v. Islamic Republic of Iran, and Grazioso v. Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The order concerned Katherine Maher, Daniel R. Maher, Joseph Maher, and the Estate of Daniel L. Maher, collectively called the Maher Plaintiffs.

The Maher Plaintiffs sought to separate their claims from the Ashton/Bauer cases and pursue them in new and existing cases. The opinion says that the request followed a 2019 change in representation from Baumeister & Samuels, P.C. to Wiggins Childs Pantazis Fisher Goldfarb LLC. The resulting disputes included issues involving charging liens and the status of various claims. Other plaintiffs had originally joined the motion but later withdrew their request; the court stated that it would address those plaintiffs separately.

Order

The court determined that the appropriate course was to sever the Maher Plaintiffs’ claims from the Ashton/Bauer cases retroactively to January 9, 2020, and then transfer those claims into new cases. “Nunc pro tunc” means that the separation was treated as effective as of that earlier date. The court stated that this would formalize the Maher Plaintiffs’ removal from the Ashton/Bauer action while preserving the status of their claims.

The court ordered that all claims by the Maher Plaintiffs against all defendants be severed from Ashton/Bauer. Their claims in Ryan and Grazioso would continue to be prosecuted in those cases, and the order would not otherwise affect the status of those claims. The court incorporated specified docket entries from the Ashton/Bauer cases into Ryan, including service events, defaults, discovery, filings, proceedings, and orders. Those materials were deemed applicable to and binding upon the Maher Plaintiffs in Ryan.

The court directed the Clerk to open three new cases: Maher v. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Maher v. Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, also known as the Taliban; and Maher v. Republic of the Sudan. The new cases were to be included in the multidistrict litigation, assigned to Judge George B. Daniels, and referred to Judge Sarah Netburn. The court directed that the Maher Plaintiffs’ severed claims, other than those proceeding in Ryan and Grazioso, be transferred into the three new cases.

The court further directed the Clerk to docket the complaints, amended complaints, and entries of default listed in the appendices. Other prior complaints, service events, defaults, discovery, filings, proceedings, and orders applicable to the Maher Plaintiffs’ claims against the relevant defendants were deemed incorporated into the new cases and binding there. Finally, the court directed the Clerk to terminate the specified motions and related motions in the listed cases.

Result and Classification

This was a procedural order concerning severance, case organization, and transfer of claims. The court did not decide the underlying claims against any defendant. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn signed the order.