Lawyers in the US are planning to launch legal action against News Corporation’s directors.
The case claims that allegations of phone hacking broke not only UK law but also the law in America, where News Corp is based.
New York based barrister Mark Lewis said the action "will raise issues about the role of a parent company over its subsidiaries".
He added: "All the directors in America of News Corporation can be questioned under these deposition procedures, and that would include Rupert and James Murdoch.”
US Court action will look at whether NOTW hacked into the voicemails of 9/11 victims or their relatives.
No evidence has emerged yet to say they were.
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Whether NOTW paid police officers for information will also be explored. Scotland Yard is currently investigating this, under the name Operation Elveden.
Former NOTW Rebekah Brooks seemed to imply that the tabloid had paid police for information when she appeared at a parliamentary select committee several years ago, but she has since said she was misunderstood.
It is a crime in the US to bribe public officials, even if payments didn’t happen on US soil.
Lewis would not name his clients in the case, but he said they did not include the family of murdered 13-year-old girl Milly Dowler, who he also represented.
The Dowler family is said to be close to accepting a £3 million settlement from News Corp, a third of which would go to charity.
This is far higher than any other compensation payments News Corp has made, including the £100,000 settlement made to actress Sienna Miller.
