News Corp. hacking victims to file S.S. suit against directors

News Corp. directors will be sued in the U.S. by victims of phone hacking by reporters at the News of the World tabloid, a lawyer said.

Legal action will be started in the U.S. within 10 days, Mark Lewis, a lawyer representing phone-hacking victims in London, said in an interview broadcast on Sky News today.

The scandal not only led to the closure of the News of the World, it also forced News Corp. to drop a takeover bid for British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc. At least 16 people have been arrested, among them Andy Coulson, Prime Minister David Cameron's former communications chief, and an ex-News of the World editor.

News Corp. spokeswoman Teri Everett didn't immediately respond to a call seeking comment.

Lewis represents phone-hacking victims including the family of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler. Revelations the paper accessed Dowler's mobile-phone messages while she was missing in 2002 escalated the scandal, leading to the resignations of Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive officer of News Corp.'s U.K. publishing unit, and Les Hinton, the head of the company's Dow Jones & Co. division.

News Corp. agreed to pay 3 million pounds ($4.6 million) to the Dowlers and a charity to settle the family's claims, a person with knowledge of the matter said this week. News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch was personally involved in the negotiations, the person said.