(July 24, 2017, 3:15 PM EDT) -- CHICAGO — A Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals judge on July 11 denied a bid by frequent asbestos defendant John Crane Inc. to strike a motion filed by a law firm accused by the company of fraud and racketeering to dismiss an appeal in the dispute, saying the dismissal motion will be decided by a merits panel (John Crane Inc. v. Shein Law Center Ltd., et al., Nos. 17-1809 and 17-1926, John Crane Inc. v. Simon Greenstone Panatier Bartlett, et al., No. 17-1814, 7th Cir.)....