Court records have shown that families of 2001 terror attack victims asked a New York court to replace a judge handling lawsuits targeting financial backers of terrorism.

The New York Times reported on Monday that lawyers for the plaintiffs filed petitions saying Judge George Daniels of the Federal District Court in Manhattan has not yet ruled on approximately 100 motions to dismissed filed by the defendants.

The Times also said that the suits seek to find culpable organizations, such as financial institutions and charities that allegedly supported al-Qaida in the attacks on the United States. The suits had been consolidated by Judge Richard Conway Casey and were transferred to Daniels after Casey died in 2007.

Plaintiff Alice Hoagland, 60, of Los Gatos, Calif, said, "The simple fact is we put into Judge Daniels' hands our most important and urgent life issue."

It has also been reported that Hoagland's son, Mark Bingham, was a passenger aboard United Airlines Flight 93 and fought back against the terrorists on the plane before the aircraft crashed in Shanksville, Pa. Hoagland said if Daniels was not replaced with a faster-working judge, she may not live to see a satisfactory end to the case.

Daniels' job has been complicated by Casey's having dismissed Saudi Arabia and a number of Saudi princes as being immune from suit. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissals in 2008.

Leaving the 2nd Circuit ruling in place, the Supreme Court refused to take the case in 2009. (With Inputs from Agencies)