Jordan is trying to get the US government on its side in a billion-dollar terror finance lawsuit that could cripple the country's biggest bank.

The Jordanian Embassy in Washington hired international law firm Hogan Lovells last month to help overturn a September 2014 verdict by a US jury in New York that found Amman-based Arab Bank liable for Hamas attacks that killed and injured several Americans. The bank initially agreed to a settlement believed to be above $1 billion last year, but later appealed the 2014 verdict.

Hogan Lovells has provided legal assistance to Jordan in the past. The firm notably wrote an amicus brief for Jordan in September 2013, urging the Supreme Court to overrule a lower court’s sanctions order that punishes Arab Bank for failing to turn over clients’ personal information during the trial.

The ruling “undermines Jordan’s sovereign right to enact and enforce laws for its citizens within its territory,” the brief states. “If allowed to stand, the decision will expose Petitioner to unwarranted economic and reputational harm, which in turn risks destabilizing the economies of Jordan and surrounding countries.”