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Mealey's Asbestos Bankruptcy

  • September 25, 2018

    Insurer Takes Fight To Arbitrate Garlock Coverage Dispute To 4th Circuit

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. — An asbestos insurer on Sept. 17 asked the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to decide if a North Carolina federal court correctly ruled that the insurer’s obligations to the Garlock Sealing Technologies LLC bankruptcy estate under a $5 million policy must be determined through litigation, not arbitration (Safety National Casualty Corp. v. Garlock Sealing Technologies LLC, et al., No. 3:17-cv-00458, W.D. N.C.).

  • September 24, 2018

    Bankruptcy Judge Delays Hearing For Chapter 11 Dismissal Bid

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A North Carolina federal bankruptcy judge on Sept. 14 postponed a hearing on asbestos claimants’ request to dismiss the Chapter 11 case of Georgia-Pacific affiliate Bestwall LLC to give her the “significant amount of time” needed to hear the dispute (In re Bestwall LLC, No. 17-31795, W.D. N.C. Bkcy.).

  • September 24, 2018

    Placing Limits On Access To Asbestos Trust Data Proper, 3rd Circuit Told

    PHILADELPHIA — A federal bankruptcy court did not abuse its discretion in placing limits on how Ford Motor Co. and Honeywell International Inc. can use asbestos claimants’ information from nine bankruptcy trusts, the committees that oversee the trusts tell the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a Sept. 21 appellee brief (In re:  AC&S, Inc., et al., No. 18-1951, 3rd Cir.).

  • September 24, 2018

    John Crane’s Fraud, RICO Suit Against Law Firm Dismissed

    PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania federal judge on Sept. 10 dismissed John Crane Inc.’s fraud allegations against an asbestos plaintiffs’ law firm after the parties said they reached an undisclosed settlement in principle (John Crane Inc. v. Shein Law Center Ltd., et al., No. 2:17-cv-02210, E.D. Pa.).

  • September 21, 2018

    Judge Affirms $3.5 Million Award To Asbestos Trust Against Fire Brick Insurer

    OAKLAND, Calif. — A California federal bankruptcy judge properly entered a more than $3.5 million judgment against an insurance company in a long-running dispute over the amount of coverage owed to a company’s liquidating trust for asbestos personal injury claims, a federal judge held Sept. 17 in affirming the award, plus a $60,000 penalty for the insurer’s “vexatious and unreasonable conduct” (Continental Casualty Company v. Barry A. Chatz, Nos. 17-cv-05281, 17-cv-06989, N.D. Calif., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 158352).

  • September 19, 2018

    Federal Judge Sides With W.R. Grace In Refund Dispute With IRS

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware federal judge on Sept. 17 affirmed a bankruptcy court’s finding that the interest rate in the reorganization plan for former Chapter 11 debtor W.R. Grace & Co. must be used when determining how much the Internal Revenue Service owes the company for a tax refund (United States v. W.R. Grace & Co., et al., No. 17-cv-1588, D. Del., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 157895).

  • September 14, 2018

    United States: Medicare Repayment Must Be Part Of Debtor’s Asbestos Trust

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Chapter 11 debtor Kaiser Gypsum Co. on Sept. 13 sought approval of its reorganization plan’s disclosure statement on the same day the United States filed a statement in interest in the case, saying it will oppose any plan for the debtor that does not include provisions to ensure that asbestos disease claimants who receive payments from an asbestos trust repay Medicare for their medical care (In re Kaiser Gypsum Company, Inc., et al., No. 16-31602, W.D. N.C. Bkcy.).

  • September 14, 2018

    Claimant Says 3rd Circuit Ruling On W.R. Grace Insurer Liability Affects Her Case

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A recent Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals remand ruling seeking Delaware federal bankruptcy court decisions on what asbestos claims, if any, insurers of former Chapter 11 debtor W.R. Grace & Co. are liable for needs to be addressed in a similar action alleging negligence against the insurers, the plaintiff in that action tells the bankruptcy court in a Sept. 10 brief filed at the request of the court (In re:  W.R. Grace & Co., et al., No. 01-01139, D. Del. Bkcy.).

  • September 11, 2018

    Asbestos Claims Send Sheet Metal Company Into Chapter 11

    TRENTON, N.J. — Family-owned sheet metal equipment company Duro Dyne National Corp. sought Chapter 11 protection on Sept. 7 in New Jersey federal bankruptcy court to shed the business of its asbestos personal injury claims while remaining operational (In re: Duro Dyne National Corp., et al., No. 18-27968, D. N.J. Bkcy.).

  • September 6, 2018

    Appeals By Bankrupt Boiler Company’s Insurers Proceed Without U.S. Trustee

    TACOMA, Wash. — The U.S. trustee’s office for the Western District of Washington made clear in a Sept. 4 letter to the court that it is not participating in two appeals filed by nonsettling insurers in the Chapter 11 case of Fraser’s Boiler Service Inc., saying it is not a proper appellee (In re:  Fraser’s Boiler Service, Inc., Nos. 3:18-cv-05637 and 3:18-cv-05638, W.D. Wash.).

  • August 23, 2018

    Kaiser Gypsum Judge Lifts Stay So Asbestos Cases Can Continue In Courts

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A North Carolina federal bankruptcy judge on Aug. 9 approved lifting the automatic stay in Kaiser Gypsum Co.’s Chapter 11 case to allow some asbestos claimants to pursue their claims in the tort system (In re Kaiser Gypsum Company, Inc., et al., No. 16-31602, W.D. N.C. Bkcy.).

  • August 23, 2018

    Manville, Thorpe Trusts Argue For Judgment In Row Over Indemnification Claims

    NEW YORK — Two asbestos personal injury trusts took their last jabs Aug. 15 in New York federal bankruptcy court in their bids for judgment on the question of whether one trust, as successor to an asbestos products distributor, is entitled to be reimbursed millions of dollars by another trust set up by a former asbestos products producer (Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust v. Thorpe Insulation Company Asbestos Settlement Trust, No. 1:17-ap-1186, S.D. N.Y. Bkcy.).

  • August 22, 2018

    Judge Snuffs Insurer’s Appeal Attempt For Denial Of Chapter 7 Conversion

    TACOMA, Wash. — A Washington federal judge on Aug. 20 backed a bankruptcy court’s decision not to convert Fraser’s Boiler Service Inc.’s recent Chapter 11 bankruptcy to a Chapter 7 case, denying an insurer’s motion to appeal the ruling because it will not “materially advance” the case (Travelers Indemnity Company v. Fraser’s Boiler Service, Inc., No. 18-5489, W.D. Wash.).

  • August 22, 2018

    Boiler Company, Claimants, Insurers Set For 1-Day Mediation In Stalled Case

    CHICAGO — Chapter 11 debtor Oakfabco Inc. got a requested one-day mediation session to resolve disputes with insurers when an Illinois federal bankruptcy judge on Aug. 15 approved the meeting after previously accusing counsel for the debtor and asbestos claimants of conducting “unnecessary and frivolous litigation” (In re:  Oakfabco, Inc., No. 15-27062, N.D. Ill. Bkcy.).

  • August 21, 2018

    Ford, Honeywell Say Court Erred In Limiting Access To Asbestos Trust Data

    PHILADELPHIA — Ford Motor Co. and Honeywell International Inc. are continuing their fight to have unlimited access to asbestos claimants’ data from nine asbestos trusts, saying in a July 31 opening brief in the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that a bankruptcy court ruling conflicts with the U.S. Bankruptcy Code (In re:  AC&S, Inc., et al., No. 18-1951, 3rd Cir.).

  • August 21, 2018

    Insurer Loses Bid For Arbitration With Garlock In Coverage Lawsuit

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. — An insurer’s obligations to the Garlock Sealing Technologies LLC bankruptcy estate under a $5 million asbestos policy must be determined through litigation, not arbitration, a North Carolina federal judge decided Aug. 20 in affirming a magistrate judge’s ruling (Safety National Casualty Corp. v. Garlock Sealing Technologies LLC, et al., No. 3:17-cv-00458, W.D. N.C.).

  • August 17, 2018

    Georgia-Pacific’s Phony Bestwall Bankruptcy Should Be Tossed, Asbestos Group Says

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Chapter 11 debtor Bestwall LLC is a sham company set up to shield Georgia-Pacific LLC’s billions of dollars in assets from sick and dying asbestos disease sufferers who were poisoned by Georgia-Pacific’s asbestos products, asbestos claimants say in an Aug. 15 motion in North Carolina federal bankruptcy court to dismiss Bestwall’s case (In re Bestwall LLC, No. 17-31795, W.D. N.C. Bkcy.).

  • August 15, 2018

    3rd Circuit Affirms Claims By Montana Plaintiffs Are Included In Injunction

    PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 14 affirmed a bankruptcy court’s ruling in favor of an asbestos liability insurer after determining that a protective injunction in debtor W.R. Grace & Co.’s reorganization plan applies to the asbestos claims asserted by the Montana claimants against the insurer (In re:  W.R. Grace & Co., et al., No. 17-1208, 3rd Cir., 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 22488).

  • August 10, 2018

    Debtor’s Nonsettling Insurers Appeal Settlements Providing Asbestos Trust Funding

    TACOMA, Wash. — Several insurers of Chapter 11 debtor Fraser’s Boiler Service Inc. on Aug. 7 appealed federal bankruptcy court rulings approving settlements under which other insurers will pay $13.7 million to a liquidating trust as part of the debtors’ reorganization plan (In re:  Fraser's Boiler Service, Inc., No. 18-41245, W.D. Wash. Bkcy.).

  • August 9, 2018

    John Crane, Accused Law Firm Reach Settlement Of Fraud, RICO Claims

    PHILADELPHIA — With an asbestos plaintiffs’ law firm and John Crane Inc. (JCI) agreeing in principle to a settlement of the company’s fraud allegations against the firm, a Pennsylvania federal judge on July 31 stayed the case to give the parties more time to finalize the deal (John Crane Inc. v. Shein Law Center Ltd., et al., No. 2:17-cv-02210, E.D. Pa.).