WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Boeing Co on Wednesday agreed to acknowledge liability for compensatory damages in lawsuits filed by families of the 157 people killed in the 2019 Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX crash, according to a filing in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

       As a result of the agreement between Boeing and the families, lawyers for the victims will not seek punitive damages stemming from the crash and Boeing will not challenge the lawsuits being filed in Illinois.

       Boeing agreed to accept liability for all compensatory damages.

       (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Nick Zieminski)