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Mealey's Asbestos

  • September 22, 2023

    Former Federal Asbestos MDL Judge To Become Arbitration Specialist

    PHILADELPHIA — Long-time federal asbestos multidistrict litigation Judge Eduardo Robreno joined McCarter & English as an arbitrator, according to an announcement from the firm.

  • September 22, 2023

    Justice: Flight Attendant Asbestos Exposure Case Meets N.Y. Causation Standard

    NEW YORK — Allegations that a Texas flight attendant applied asbestos-tainted talcum powder during layovers in New York and the defendant’s business in the state mean that New York causation law applies to her case and expert testimony that the talc mines contained asbestos meet the applicable standard, a New York justice said in denying a pair of motions for summary judgment.

  • September 21, 2023

    Talc Study Authors Move To Dismiss Suit By Johnson & Johnson Spinoff

    TRENTON, N.J. — Fraud claims leveled by Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) former bankrupt affiliate LTL Management LLC against three pathologists over their study of mesothelioma patients and their use of talcum powder should be tossed because the allegations “are not only implausible, but frivolous,” the doctors say in a motion to dismiss in New Jersey federal court.

  • September 20, 2023

    Asbestos Talc Study Author Seeks Dismissal Of Suit By J&J Former Debtor

    TRENTON, N.J. — Claims for trade libel, fraud and federal trademark law violations asserted by Johnson & Johnson (J&J) spinoff LTL Management LLC against the author of an asbestos talc study should be dismissed because they are all meritless, the author says in a motion in New Jersey federal court.

  • September 20, 2023

    J&J: Asbestos-Talc Verdict Tagged Wrong Party, Lacked Causation Evidence

    LOS ANGELES — In post-trial briefing after an $18.8 million verdict, Johnson & Johnson told a California judge that it wasn’t the party responsible for the talcum powder in question and that there is insufficient evidence that asbestos can cause pericardial mesothelioma.

  • September 19, 2023

    Johnson & Johnson Debtor, Supporting Counsel Appeal Dismissal Of 2nd Bankruptcy

    TRENTON, N.J. — Attorneys who support continuing the second Chapter 11 case of Johnson & Johnson (J&J) spinoff LTL Management LLC on Sept. 18 filed a statement of issues on appeal joining the debtor’s issues on appeal of a New Jersey federal bankruptcy judge’s dismissal of the case for failure to show that the company was in “imminent” or “immediate” financial distress.

  • September 19, 2023

    Fraudulent Joinder Argument Rejected; Judge Remands J&J Asbestos-Talc Case

    NEW YORK — A woman’s evidence at least suggests the possibility that a company manufactured talcum powder for Johnson & Johnson before 1980 and learned that there was asbestos in the talc through a trade group and that the woman potentially used the product while the company manufactured it, a federal judge in New York said in finding the company not fraudulently joined and remanding the case.

  • September 18, 2023

    Hawaii Judge Grants Genetic Testing Blood Draw In Asbestos Case

    HONOLULU — A mesothelioma sufferer will sit for a blood draw for the purposes of genetic testing after a judge in Hawaii granted a defendant’s motion in an asbestos case.

  • September 18, 2023

    Defenses, Damages Permitted Under Maritime Law, Judge Says

    BOSTON — Maritime law applies to an asbestos case and recognizes both the bare metal and government contractor defenses but also permits loss of consortium, punitive and survival damages, a federal judge in Massachusetts said in partially granting a motion for clarification.

  • September 18, 2023

    Defendant: Additional Authority On Asbestos-Maritime Law Not Actual Authority

    BOSTON — A widow’s supposed additional authority about whether maritime law permits punitive, survival and loss of consortium damages in an asbestos case relies on a nonbinding ruling citing the very memorandum and order subject to an objection and briefing in the instant case and should not be considered, a company tells a federal judge in Massachusetts.

  • September 18, 2023

    Justice Denies Protective Order, Disqualification Bid In Reinsurance Row

    NEW YORK — Addressing two motions relating to an audit agreement, a New York justice denied both a liquidator’s request for a protective order regarding certain previously produced documents and reinsurers’ bid to disqualify the liquidator’s counsel.

  • September 18, 2023

    Court: Continuous Exposure Requirement Dooms Asbestos Workers’ Comp Case

    CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Because an asbestos widow has not shown that her husband suffered the requisite continuous exposure durations required by law, her claim for death benefits under the state’s workers’ compensation system fails, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals affirmed.

  • September 15, 2023

    Justice Denies Motions On Asbestos Causation, Damages, Issues $10,000 Sanction

    NEW YORK — A man’s extensive testimony about the work he performed and the conditions he performed them in differentiates his case from newly minted causation precedent in an asbestos-talc case, and the evidence supported the jury’s award for pain and suffering, a New York justice said in denying post-trial motions and imposing $10,000 in sanctions for an asbestos expert’s false statements.

  • September 14, 2023

    Hit With $38 Million Asbestos Verdict, Burnham Wants Financial Records Sealed

    NEW YORK — Responding to Burnham LLC’s request for a New York justice to seal two affidavits containing propriety information introduced during the punitive damages phase that contributed to a $38 million asbestos verdict, the plaintiff says in a Sept. 11 opposition brief that in light of evidence of decades of sales of products the company knew would be hazardous, its vague arguments are not grounds to seal the evidence, sources told Mealey’s Publications.

  • September 12, 2023

    Plaintiff/Defense Experts Testifying Since Jan. 1, 2002

    The following is a listing of plaintiff and defense experts who testified in trials covered by Mealey's Litigation Report: Asbestos since Jan. 1, 2002.

  • September 12, 2023

    Asbestos Plaintiff Says Amicus Overstates Danger To South Carolina Causation Law

    CHARLESTON, S.C. — The South Carolina Supreme Court should ignore an amicus brief warning about a threat to the state’s relative contribution standard, the plaintiffs say while telling the court that both the jury and lower court were able to consider other potential asbestos exposures and simply found against the defendant.

  • September 11, 2023

    Asbestos-Talc Defendants Seek To Exclude Moline’s Supplemental Disclosures

    NEW YORK — Defendants in an asbestos-talc case accused the plaintiff of “gamesmanship” and urged a federal judge in New York to preclude supplemental expert disclosures, including a 2023 paper from asbestos expert Jacqueline Moline, saying the plaintiff sat on the evidence for months while the parties litigated a previous paper raising similar issues.

  • September 08, 2023

    Illinois Jury Returns $40.75M Verdict In Asbestos Gasket Case

    CHICAGO — An Illinois jury returned a $40.75 million verdict in favor of the family of a man who contracted mesothelioma and died after exposure to asbestos in John Crane Inc. products.

  • September 08, 2023

    1 Of Insurer’s 4 Suits Seeking Asbestos Settlement Reimbursement Is Dismissed

    OMAHA, Neb. — One suit that National Indemnity Co. (NICO) filed against reinsurers in Nebraska federal court over the insurer’s $157.2 million settlement with Montana regarding alleged asbestos exposures has been dismissed with prejudice because no defendants remain after a wave of stipulations.

  • September 08, 2023

    World Trade Center Asbestos Case Jury Awards $28.5M

    NEW YORK — A New York jury awarded a lung cancer sufferer $28.5 million and apportioned various levels of liability to the last three remaining defendants in a case alleging that the former cigarette smoker suffered asbestos exposure while working at the World Trade Center.

  • September 07, 2023

    Florida Top Court To Decide Availability Of Damages After Post-Diagnosis Marriage

    TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida Supreme Court on Sept. 6 heard oral arguments about whether the state’s wrongful death statute permits damages for a spouse and surviving children where the marriage occurred after doctors diagnosed the man with mesothelioma.

  • September 07, 2023

    1960s Asbestos Exposure Claims Discharged By 1983 Bankruptcy, Judge Says

    AUSTIN, Texas — While the destruction of court records complicates the matter, a 2016 mesothelioma lawsuit alleging exposure to asbestos in the 1960s constitutes a pre-petition claim discharged in the former employer’s 1983 bankruptcy, a federal judge in Texas said in affirming a bankruptcy court ruling.

  • September 05, 2023

    Negligence, Product Liability Claims Survive Under Maritime Law, Judge Says

    SAN DIEGO — Maritime law governs asbestos claims stemming from exposure on vessels on navigable waters in a shipyard, allowing plaintiffs to pursue negligence, product liability and possibly punitive damages claims, but not a loss of consortium claim, a federal judge in California said.

  • August 31, 2023

    Asbestos-Talc Defendant Objects To Fees Awarded After Failed Subpoena

    NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — A company at the center of a dispute over subpoenas seeking information from an asbestos-talc study author and her company tells a federal judge in Virginia in an Aug. 30 memorandum that its narrowed discovery request was not unduly burdensome and did not warrant imposing more than $44,000 in fees and costs.

  • August 30, 2023

    3M, Aearo, Settle Combat Arms Litigation For $6 Billion

    ST. PAUL, Minn. — Aearo Technologies LLC parent company 3M Occupational Safety LLC reached a $6 billion settlement resolving Combat Arms earplugs litigation, resolving the largest multidistrict litigation in U.S. history and relieving the entities of tort claims at the heart of a bankruptcy that was dismissed based on the logic of a similar ruling in the asbestos talc bankruptcy case of Johnson & Johnson (J&J) spinoff LTL Management LLC, the companies announced in an Aug. 29 press release.