A federal appeals court on Wednesday upheld jury verdicts requiring insurance companies to pay developer Larry Silverstein $4.6 billion to rebuild the World Trade Center complex but preventing him from getting the $7 billion he had sought.

A three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it found no error that requires it to set aside jury decisions over insurance payouts on the trade center, which was destroyed by terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001. Silverstein had insured the twin towers for $3.5 billion, but he sought to recover double that amount, saying the towers were victimized by two hijacked airplanes – two attacks.

In one trial that ended in April 2004, a federal jury found the majority of the insurers, holding more than $1.8 billion of the policy, were bound by a form that defined the destruction of the twin towers as one event. In a second trial ending eight months later, another jury concluded that nine insurance companies were bound by insurance form language that defined the destruction as two events. That verdict got Silverstein an additional $1.1 billion.

Lawyers on both sides had asked the appeals panel to take a fresh look at the outcomes of the two trials stemming from disagreements over nearly two dozen insurance policies.

The appeals court agreed that some policies contained language defining the attacks as two events, entitling Silverstein to an extra $1.1 billion in insurance proceeds, bringing the total to $4.6 billion.

In a written ruling, the appeals court concluded unanimously that it was proper to leave the interpretation of the policies to juries because ‘the word `event’ is ’susceptible to more than one reasonable interpretation.’ The $1.1 billion dollar word, courtesy of some mighty talented trial lawyers.