Mealey's Asbestos Bankruptcy : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Asbestos Bankruptcy

November 17, 2023
Pipe Maker Awarded $8.8M Asbestos Verdict Disputes Tainted Jury Narrative

LOS ANGELES — The fact that the jury unanimously voted against imposing punitive damages demonstrates that there was no “serious . . . misconduct” tainting jurors who eventually awarded a nearly $9 million asbestos verdict, a couple argues in California trial court briefs opposing motions for new trial and judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV).
November 16, 2023
Mediator Appointed To Resolve Former Talc Supplier’s Bankruptcy Issues

TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey federal bankruptcy judge on Nov. 15 appointed a retired bankruptcy judge to mediate asbestos and talc personal injury claims, environmental claims, successor liability or alter ego claims and insurance coverage disputes in an adversary proceeding filed in the Chapter 11 case of defunct talc supplier Whittaker, Clark & Daniels Inc. (WCD).
November 16, 2023
Judge Admits Pair Of Experts, Grants Asbestos Plaintiffs Limited Surrebuttal

GREAT FALLS, Mont. — An asbestos expert for two plaintiffs didn’t simply sign off on a counsel-authored report but provided adequate input of his own, and while challenged portions of a defense expert’s report largely constitute rebuttal, to the extent that they do not the plaintiffs may file a surrebuttal, a federal judge in a Libby, Mont., asbestos exposure case said Nov. 15 in denying motions to strike.
November 16, 2023
J&J Entities Urge Application Of Texas Law, Striking Of Talc Allegations

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — A motion to strike allegations of asbestos exposure against a trio of Johnson & Johnson entities asks a Connecticut state court to address the narrow issue of whether Texas law applies and precludes finding that any one of them inherited talc-related liabilities, the companies argue in a reply brief.
November 16, 2023
Los Angeles Targets J&J’s Advertising Of Asbestos-Tainted Talc Products

LOS ANGELES — Johnson & Johnson and related entities marketed talc-based baby powder and Shower to Shower products to mothers and minorities despite knowing about the presence of asbestos, heavy metals and other contaminants that could not be removed, their link to ovarian cancer and the existence of potential alternatives without those risks, Los Angeles says in state court complaint alleging false advertising and unfair competition in violation of the California unfair competition law (UCL) and public nuisance.
November 15, 2023
Former Talc Supplier Allowed More Time To File Chapter 11 Plan

TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey federal bankruptcy judge has given defunct talc supplier Whittaker, Clark & Daniels Inc. (WCD) more time to file a plan of reorganization in its Chapter 11 case after the debtor said it hopes mediation will lead to a plan that is supported by all asbestos claimants.
November 14, 2023
Law Firm: New York Conduct Didn’t Warrant Sanction In Asbestos Fee Dispute

RICHMOND, Va. — The “obvious linkage” standard a federal judge in Maryland applied for conduct in a separate case filed in a separate court gives courts expansive power to sanction, a law firm embroiled in a dispute over fees involving asbestos bankruptcy trust cases tells the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a Nov. 13 brief.
November 09, 2023
Judge Allows Untimely Asbestos Expert Reports But Reopens Depositions

GREAT FALLS, Mont. — Clerical oversight appears to be behind the failure to timely produce expert opinions in a long-running asbestos action, and what little prejudice could result from admitting two untimely reports can be cured by allowing the plaintiffs to re-depose their own experts, a federal judge in Montana said Nov. 8 in denying the plaintiffs’ motion to strike the two reports.
November 07, 2023
Judge Excludes Expert; Parties Weigh Moves After LTL Bankruptcy Stay Ends

RALEIGH, N.C. — Parties to an asbestos talc-related mesothelioma case told a federal judge in North Carolina that recent developments lifted the stay imposed by the LTL Management LLC bankruptcy and that the parties were working toward an agreement that would permit the filing of an amended complaint naming the company. The status report came in response to a ruling seeking information on the stay and granting a defendant’s motion to exclude experts and for summary judgment.
November 03, 2023
Chapter 7 Trustee Seeks Return Of $59.7 Million To Asbestos Debtor’s Estate

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — A Connecticut federal bankruptcy judge ordered briefing on an emergency request by the Chapter 7 trustee for debtor The Nash Engineering Co. to conduct discovery for the trustee’s fraudulent transfer adversary action seeking the return of $59.7 million from shareholders to the debtor’s estate.
November 02, 2023
B-Reader Urges Reinstatement Of Claims Against Asbestos Bankruptcy Trust Auditor

NEW ORLEANS — The evidence showed that a company intentionally crafted an audit report of asbestos trust X-ray submissions with a small sample size and unqualified reviewers in a successful effort to exclude a high-volume B-reader, the expert who claims that he ceased operating his business in the wake of the report told the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in seeking to revive negligence and intentional interference claims.
November 02, 2023
California High Court Rejects Asbestos-Talc Experts Ruling Case

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Supreme Court on Nov. 1 denied Johnson & Johnson’s petition for review asking the court to decide the standard applied to evidentiary rulings, the admission of nonwitness expert opinions and how courts should evaluate cases alleging exposure to asbestos in products not designed to contain asbestos.
November 02, 2023
Federal Judge Won’t Compel Asbestos Trust Claims Under North Dakota Law

FARGO, N.D. — Nothing in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure permits a court to enforce a North Dakota law mandating the filing of claims with asbestos bankruptcy trusts given that such claims are not required where the costs would exceed recovery, and since the plaintiffs responded to interrogatories by stating that they have not filed any such claims, the court lacks any grounds to compel further response, a federal judge in North Dakota said.
October 31, 2023
Official Committee Named For Talc Mining Company’s New Chapter 11 Case

HOUSTON — The U.S. trustee for the new Chapter 11 case of talc mining company Barretts Minerals Inc. (BMI) appointed seven asbestos personal injury claimants to the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors following the debtor’s motion in Texas federal bankruptcy court to appoint a legal representative for future claimants.
October 31, 2023
Responding To J&J, Plaintiffs Downplay New Jersey Asbestos-Talc Experts Ruling

TRENTON, N.J. — A ruling on a trial court’s role in admitting asbestos-talc expert testimony was wrong in several respects and will soon be on further appeal, but Johnson & Johnson’s citation to it “reflects a profound misunderstanding about the fraud, fraudulent concealment, and fraud on the court” claims in the current case against it, two plaintiffs say in an Oct. 30 letter brief.
October 26, 2023
J&J Says Ruling Rejecting Asbestos-Talc Experts Bolsters Class Dismissal Motion

TRENTON, N.J. — Recent precedent overturning an asbestos verdict and rejecting expert testimony that the fibers detected in talc were asbestiform further supports a motion to dismiss a class action claiming that Johnson & Johnson concealed the presence of the mineral in its products, the company tells a federal judge in New Jersey in an Oct. 25 letter.
October 25, 2023
Judge: Bankruptcy Stays Attorney Fees Motion In Asbestos Diagnosis Case

MISSOULA, Mont. — Because a railway’s motion for attorney fees in the wake of its successful pursuit of a False Claims Act case came before the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) asbestos program provider’s bankruptcy, the request constitutes a claim against the debtor and falls under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code’s automatic stay, a federal judge in Montana said.
October 23, 2023
Connecticut Court Breathes Life Back Into Asbestos Tort Against Employer

HARTFORD, Conn. — A divided Connecticut appeals court revived an asbestos tort action against an employer on Oct. 20, finding evidence that the company knew of the dangers of asbestos at its facility and never disclosed them while touting the need to follow federal regulations to others as its own testing repeatedly, if only infrequently, demonstrated that its failures to follow those regulations placed the case within the intentional tort exception to workers’ compensation exclusivity.
October 23, 2023
Bankruptcy Judge Denies Stay Relief For State Law Claims Against Georgia-Pacific

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A bid by a man with mesothelioma and his wife to bypass the automatic stay in the Chapter 11 case of Georgia-Pacific (GP) spinoff Bestwall LLC so they can pursue claims against GP in a New Jersey court failed when a North Caolina bankruptcy judge denied their motion for relief from the stay.
October 19, 2023
Asbestos Talc Debtor’s Settlement With Truck Driver OK’d By Bankruptcy Judge

WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware federal bankruptcy judge approved an $85,000 settlement that an affiliate co-debtor of talc mining company Cyprus Mines Corp. and talc supplier Imerys Talc America Inc. agreed to pay to a truck driver in Vermont who was injured in a slip-and-fall accident.
October 19, 2023
Johnson & Johnson Entities Want Asbestos-Talc Allegations Stricken From Complaint

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Various Johnson & Johnson entities asked a Connecticut judge to strike asbestos-talc allegations from a complaint, saying that they never manufactured or sold baby powder and that liability for that conduct lies solely with LTL Management LLC.
October 18, 2023
Chief Bankruptcy Judge Stripped Of Cases After Attorney Relationship Disclosed

HOUSTON — A chief bankruptcy judge who served as a HONX Inc. asbestos bankruptcy mediator and oversaw a fracking bankruptcy will no longer hear cases after the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals filed an official complaint against him in the wake of the disclosure of a romantic relationship with a lawyer employed by counsel that appeared before him.
October 18, 2023
Mediator Approved For Insurance Disputes In Imerys, Cyprus Mines Bankruptcies

WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware federal bankruptcy judge approved a request by insurers of Chapter 11 asbestos talc debtors Imerys Talc America Inc. and Cyprus Mines Corp. to appoint a mediator for insurance issues in ongoing negotiations among the debtors and claimants on a plan of reorganization after extending the mediation through the end of the year.
October 17, 2023
BNSF’s Common Carrier Argument In Libby, Mont., Asbestos Case Fails

GREAT FALLS, Mont. — Montana Supreme Court precedent collaterally estops Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Co. (BNSF) from arguing that as a common carrier it is immune from suit for certain Libby-related asbestos activities, a federal judge in Montana said Oct. 16.
October 16, 2023
Johnson & Johnson Spinoff, Talc Study Authors Argue Merits Of Fraud Claims

TRENTON, N.J. — Dismissal is warranted for fraud claims leveled by Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) former bankrupt affiliate LTL Management LLC against three pathologists over their study of mesothelioma patients because the company lacks standing, the court lacks jurisdiction and the claims fail as a matter of law, the doctors argue in a reply brief filed in New Jersey federal court in support of their motion to dismiss.