On June 24, 2016, Public Justice presented the 2016 Trial Lawyers of the Year Award to Osen LLC attorneys who spearheaded the landmark case Linde v. Arab Bank, PLC. Among the team of attorneys awarded were Osen LLC attorneys Gary M. Osen, Cindy T. Schlanger, Ari Ungar, Naomi Weinberg and Aaron Schlanger, along with co-counsel attorneys C. Tab Turner of Turner & Associates, P.A. Michael Elsner and John Eubanks of Motley Rice LLC and Mark S. Werbner of Sayles Werbner P.C.
The award honors the verdict or settlement that, “made the greatest contribution to the public interest within the past year by trying or settling a precedent-setting, social significant case,” factoring dedication, tenacity and skill of trial lawyers, in addition to public interest and results.
The Arab Bank verdict marked the first time that a financial institution had been brought to trial under the Anti–Terrorism Act (ATA) and the first time that a financial institution had been found liable under the ATA for the financing of terrorism.
As the American Lawyer’s Litigation Daily summed up the landmark trial:
“Gary Osen … wasn't as smooth or funny as the lawyers who came before. But he spoke with the earned experience of two lifetimes. And the jury heard him.”