MANHATTAN (LN) — A Southern District of New York judge on Tuesday entered final judgment against the Islamic Republic of Iran in favor of the families of three men killed in the September 11 attacks, certifying the awards under Rule 54(b) after the plaintiffs agreed to waive punitive damages in exchange for immediate, enforceable compensatory relief.
The judgment covers the estates and surviving family members of Andrew Jordan, Vincent Morello, and Terence McShane — all killed in New York on September 11, 2001 — and arises from two member cases consolidated in the sprawling 9/11 multidistrict litigation pending before U.S. District Judge George B. Daniels.
Under the arrangement memorialized in the April 28 order, the O'Neill-Bodner plaintiffs identified in Exhibits B-1 through B-3 surrendered their punitive damage claims against Iran in exchange for the court directing the clerk to enter final judgments on their compensatory awards. Prejudgment interest will run at 4.96 percent per annum, compounded annually, from September 11, 2001, through the date of final judgment — a calculation that, across more than two decades, stands to add substantially to the base awards.
The compensatory figures are significant. Each of the three estates received $2 million in pain and suffering damages; the exhibits reflect trebled amounts of $6 million each. Economic damage awards varied: Jordan's estate received $2,607,424 and McShane's estate received $5,794,384. No economic damages figure appears in the exhibits for the Morello estate.
Solatium awards for surviving family members ran $12.5 million for each spouse — Lisa Jordan, Deborah Temple, and Catherine McShane — and $8.5 million for each child. Jordan's children Kelsey, Sean, and Matthew Jordan each received $8.5 million. Morello's children Justin and Paige Morello each received $8.5 million. McShane's children Colin, Sean, and Aidan McShane each received $8.5 million.
The April 20, 2026 order underlying the judgment set the framework for the punitive-damages waiver, with Tuesday's filing converting that framework into an enforceable Rule 54(b) final judgment — a procedural step that allows the families to pursue collection against Iranian assets without waiting for the broader MDL to conclude.
The court left the door open for O'Neill-Bodner plaintiffs not yet awarded compensatory or punitive damages, ordering that they may submit applications in later stages and that those applications will be approved on the same basis as the awards entered Tuesday.
The 9/11 MDL is docketed as 03 MDL 1570.