Arab Bank lawyers (from left) Brett Ingerman, Shand Stephens and Anthony Coles entering Brooklyn federal court on Aug. 14, 2014. (Rick Kopstein)

Three months after they were soundly defeated in the liability phase of a landmark terror financing trial, lawyers for Arab Bank plc are hoping to evade a trial on damages altogether. Instead of putting damages before a jury early next year, they’ve asked a judge to adopt an award levied against Iran in a related case, and to enter judgment so that their client can immedately appeal.

The plaintiffs—about 300 American victims of terror attacks and their families—allege Arab Bank knowingly lent material support to Hamas by maintaining accounts for Hamas members and facilitating “martyr payments” to the families of suicide bombers. In September, a Brooklyn jury found Arab Bank liable for two dozen separate acts of terror carried out by Hamas during the second Palestinian Intifada. U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan asked both sides last month to submit proposals for discovery and trial to determine damages.