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Mealey's Asbestos Bankruptcy

  • May 22, 2018

    Bankruptcy Judge Denies Dismissal Bids In Asbestos Claimants’ Insurance Fraud Suit

    CHICAGO — Requests by Oakfabco Inc. insurers and a claims management company to dismiss fraud allegations leveled in an adversary case by Oakfabco’s Asbestos Claimants’ Committee failed May 15 when an Illinois bankruptcy judge found that the committee’s claims are pleaded sufficiently enough to withstand a motion to dismiss (Asbestos Claimants Committee v. American Casualty Company of Reading, PA, et al., No. 18-00002, N.D. Ill. Bkcy., 2018 Bankr. LEXIS 1461).

  • May 22, 2018

    Attorneys’ Compensation Halted For Lack Of Progress In Oakfabco’s Case

    CHICAGO — Attorneys representing Chapter 11 debtor Oakfabco Inc. and counsel for the debtor’s asbestos claimants will not get paid until progress is made in the nearly three-year-old case, an Illinois federal bankruptcy judge ruled May 17 (In re:  Oakfabco, Inc., No. 15-27062, N.D. Ill. Bkcy.).

  • May 21, 2018

    IRS Says Judge Used Wrong Legal Standard For W.R. Grace Refund Interest

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A federal bankruptcy judge in Delaware erred in using the interest rate provided for in the Chapter 11 plan of W.R. Grace & Co. in calculating a tax refund owed by the Internal Revenue Service because the agency’s recoupment rights are not “claims” under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, the IRS says in its May 2 opening brief on appeal to the district court (In re:  W.R. Grace & Co., et al., United States v. W.R. Grace & Co., et al., No. 17-cv-1588, D. Del.).

  • May 17, 2018

    2 Kaiser Gypsum Insurers See No Reason For Chapter 11 Case To Continue

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Two insurers of Chapter 11 debtor Kaiser Gypsum Co. have had enough, filing their second motion May 7 in North Carolina federal bankruptcy court to dismiss the case, accusing the company and its primary insurer of using the bankruptcy forum to better their own interests to the detriment of asbestos disease sufferers (In re Kaiser Gypsum Company, Inc., et al., No. 16-31602, W.D. N.C. Bkcy.).

  • May 9, 2018

    Bestwall Granted More Time To Remove Prepetition Lawsuits

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A North Carolina federal bankruptcy judge on May 8 gave Chapter 11 debtor Bestwall LLC four more months to remove any lawsuit filed against the company to a district court (In re Bestwall LLC, No. 17-31795, W.D. N.C. Bkcy.).

  • May 9, 2018

    Manville, Thorpe Trusts Both Seek Judgment In Row Over Indemnification Claims

    NEW YORK — The Thorpe Insulation Company Asbestos Settlement Trust has an “unequivocal right” to be reimbursed by the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust for payments made to asbestos claimants, and the Manville Trust’s nonpayment constitutes breach of a 1994 indemnity agreement among asbestos producer Johns-Manville and asbestos product distributors, including Thorpe, the Thorpe Trust says in an April 20 motion for summary judgment in New York federal bankruptcy court (Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust v. Thorpe Insulation Company Asbestos Settlement Trust, No. 1:17-ap-1186, S.D. N.Y. Bkcy.).

  • May 1, 2018

    Law Firm Seeking Liability For Johns-Manville Broker Refutes Due Process Ruling

    NEW YORK — A New York law firm insists on appeal in federal court that Johns-Manville Corp.’s insurance broker can be held independently liable for asbestos personal injury claims, arguing in its April 13 opening brief that barring a claimant’s in personam claims against the broker is a clear violation of the claimant’s due process rights (The Bogdan Law Firm v. Marsh USA, Inc., No. 1:18-cv-01228, S.D. N.Y.).

  • April 26, 2018

    Court Ends Chapter 11 Case Of G-I Holdings Affiliate ACI Inc.

    NEWARK, N.J. — A New Jersey federal bankruptcy court on April 18 issued a final decree closing the 17-year-old Chapter 11 case of G-I Holdings Inc. affiliate ACI Inc., finding that the case has been “fully administered” (In re:  G-I Holdings Inc., et al., Nos. 01-30135, 01-38790, D. N.J. Bkcy.).

  • April 26, 2018

    Oakfabco Asbestos Claimants Battle Dismissal Motions In Fraudulent Inducement Suit

    CHICAGO — The Asbestos Claimants’ Committee in the Chapter 11 Case of Oakfabco Inc. fired back April 11 at bids by Oakfabco insurers and a claims management company to dismiss the committee’s fraud claims against them for allegedly hiding asbestos policies from the debtor, saying in two response briefs that its allegations are sufficient to send the claims to trial (Asbestos Claimants Committee v. American Casualty Company of Reading, PA, et al., No. 18-00002, N.D. Ill. Bkcy.).

  • April 25, 2018

    W.R. Grace, IRS Agree To Briefing Schedule For Tax Refund Appeal

    WILMINGTON, Del. — Unable to resolve their dispute over a $1.6 million tax refund through mediation, the Internal Revenue Service and reorganized chemical conglomerate W.R. Grace & Co. agreed April 2 on a briefing schedule for the IRS’s appeal in Delaware federal court of a bankruptcy judge’s ruling in favor of W.R. Grace (In re:  W.R. Grace & Co., et al., United States v. W.R. Grace & Co., et al., No. 17-cv-1588, D. Del.).

  • April 23, 2018

    Another Suit Filed Over Liability Of W.R. Grace Insurers For Their Own Actions

    WILMINGTON, Del. — Two more people suffering from asbestos disease joined the fray over whether an insurer can be held liable for asbestos claims arising from the mining operations of former Chapter 11 debtor W.R. Grace & Co. in Libby, Mont., with the claimants filing an adversary complaint April 17 in Delaware federal bankruptcy court seeking a declaration that the protective injunction in the debtor’s reorganization plan does not apply to their claims against the insurer (Barbara Hunt, et al. v. Maryland Casualty Company, No.18-50402, D. Del. Bkcy.).

  • April 20, 2018

    Bankruptcy Court Closes Chapter 11 Cases Of Garlock Sealing Debtors

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A North Carolina federal bankruptcy judge on March 30 closed the long-running, landmark Chapter 11 cases of Garlock Sealing Technologies LLC and affiliates, finding that there is “just cause” to do so (In re:  Garlock Sealing Technologies, LLC, et al., No. 3:17-cv-275, W.D. N.C.).

  • April 20, 2018

    Energy Future Appeal Briefing Set; Plan Board Seeks To Intervene

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware federal judge on April 17 set a briefing schedule for the appeal by asbestos claimants of confirmation of the plan of reorganization for Chapter 11 debtor Energy Future Holdings Corp. (EFH) and affiliates, with the claimants continuing to press their belief that the plan is unlawful and was proposed in bad faith (Sherry Fenicle, et al. v. Energy Future Holdings Corp., et al., No. 18-381, D. Del.).

  • April 20, 2018

    Claimant Opposes Insurer’s Bid For Protection Of Injunction For Asbestos Claims

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A motion by an asbestos liability insurer of former Chapter 11 debtor W.R. Grace & Co. to enforce the protective injunction in the debtor’s reorganization plan to halt claimants in Montana from pursuing asbestos claims against the insurer should be stayed or dismissed because it is procedurally unsound and untimely, considering that the same issue is about to be decided by the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, a claimant told a Delaware federal bankruptcy court on April 17 (In re:  W.R. Grace & Co., et al., No. 01-01139, D. Del. Bkcy.).

  • April 18, 2018

    Kaiser Gypsum Insurer Proposes Plan With Asbestos Settlement, Litigation Options

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The primary insurer of Chapter 11 debtor Kaiser Gypsum Co. asked a North Carolina federal bankruptcy court April 17 to approve the disclosure statement for its plan of reorganization for Kaiser Gypsum, which failed to file its own plan, instead seeking to lift the bankruptcy stay so asbestos claimants can pursue their claims in the tort system, but only if they agree to have their settlements or judgments paid by the debtor’s insurers (In re Kaiser Gypsum Company, Inc., et al., No. 16-31602, W.D. N.C. Bkcy.).

  • April 17, 2018

    New York Jury Awards $60M To Mesothelioma Victim’s Family; Boiler Makers Liable

    NEW YORK — A New York jury on April 13 awarded $60 million to the family of a mesothelioma sufferer exposed to asbestos in boilers, sources told Mealey Publications (In re:  New York City Asbestos Litigation, Mary Murphy-Clagett v. A.O. Smith Water Products, et al., No. 190311/15, N.Y. Sup., New York Co.).

  • April 12, 2018

    Johnson & Johnson, Imerys Hit With $80M Punitive Verdict In New Jersey Asbestos Trial

    TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey jury hearing a case against Johnson & Johnson Inc. and its talc supplier on April 11 awarded a couple $80 million in punitive damages, bringing the total award in the first-ever asbestos verdict against the consumer products company to $117 million, sources told Mealey Publications (Stephen Lanzo, et al. v. Cyprus Amex Minerals Co., et al., No. L00738516, N.J. Super., Middlesex Co.).

  • April 10, 2018

    Washington State Federal Jury Awards Asbestos Widow $1.56M On Negligence Claim

    SEATTLE — A federal jury in Washington state on April 6 awarded a widow $1.56 million in a retrial of a negligence claim against the manufacturer of asbestos-containing dryer felts.  In 2009, a different jury awarded her $10.2 million, but the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals erased that verdict after it found that the judge erred by not holding a Daubert hearing (Geraldine Barabin v. Scapa Dryer Fabrics Inc., No. 07-1454, W.D. Wash., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 54869).

  • April 6, 2018

    Washington Jury Finds For John Crane In Mesothelioma Case

    SEATTLE — A Washington state jury on March 15 found that lone remaining defendant John Crane Inc. supplied an unreasonably dangerous product and failed to provide adequate warnings, but that its conduct was not a proximate cause of a man’s mesothelioma (Era Clevenger v. Bartells Asbestos Settlement Trust, et al., No. 16-2-07573-8, Wash. Super., King Co.).

  • April 2, 2018

    Hospital Loses Another Round In Pursuit Of Class Claims Against W.R. Grace

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A hospital cannot appeal a Delaware federal bankruptcy court’s refusal to reconsider denial of class certification for asbestos property damage claims against former Chapter 11 debtor W.R. Grace & Co. because the ruling was interlocutory and because the appeal is barred by the company’s reorganization plan, a federal judge held March 30 (Anderson Memorial Hospital v. W.R. Grace & Co., et al., No. 16-799, D. Del., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 53814).