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

Mealey's Asbestos Bankruptcy

October 16, 2023
Court Won’t Force Filing Of Asbestos Attorney’s Employment Allegations

LOS ANGELES — Redacted allegations in an employment action between an asbestos attorney and the firm he said fired him for complaining about witness coaching were never before the trial court and therefore can’t be unsealed, and the public has no interest in allegations shared only between parties to litigation, a California appeals court said Oct. 13 in denying a company’s request to unseal the redacted complaint.
October 13, 2023
High Court Grants Cert For Insurer’s Challenge To Kaiser Gypsum Asbestos Bankruptcy

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 13 granted a petition for certiorari filed by the primary insurer of Chapter 11 asbestos debtors Kaiser Gypsum Co. Inc. and Hanson Permanente Cement Inc. over a Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling that the insurer lacks standing to challenge the debtors’ reorganization plan.
October 13, 2023
J&J Says Quick Asbestos-Talc Verdict Doesn’t Warrant New Trial

ST. LOUIS — Plaintiffs complaining that a jury returned a verdict in an asbestos-talc case too quickly point to no precedent that supports the conclusion that a jury must deliberate for any specific amount of time and simply want a redo at trial, two Johnson & Johnson entities tell a Missouri judge in opposing a motion for new trial.
October 13, 2023
Confirmation Hearing For Bankruptcy Plan Of Hess Unit HONX Postponed

HOUSTON — The confirmation hearing for the Chapter 11 reorganization plan of Hess Corp. affiliate HONX Inc. has been postponed by a Texas federal bankruptcy judge at the request of Hess, the debtor and asbestos claimant representatives.
October 12, 2023
J&J Affiliate, Asbestos Talc Study Author Spar Over Fraud Claims

TRENTON, N.J. — Johnson & Johnson (J&J) spinoff LTL Management LLC’s arguments against dismissal of its trade libel, fraud and trademark law violation claims against the author of an asbestos talc study only serve to show that the company fails to state any valid claims and that her study “is a protected scientific opinion that is not actionable as a matter of law,” the author says in a reply in support of dismissal filed in New Jersey federal court.
October 11, 2023
Johnson & Johnson Debtor Seeks Direct Appeal Of Dismissal To 3rd Circuit

TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey federal judge on Oct. 10 stayed briefing in the appeal by Johnson & Johnson (J&J) spinoff LTL Management LLC of dismissal of its second Chapter 11 case until the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decides whether to grant the company’s request for a direct appeal to that court.
October 10, 2023
'Visibly Angry’ Juror Caused $8.8M Asbestos Verdict, Pipe Maker Says

LOS ANGELES — “Serious juror misconduct” by two jurors who interjected their own anger and biases into an asbestos trial and a verdict form that fatally failed to include potentially liable nonparties require a Los Angeles court to grant a new trial, an asbestos pipe manufacturer told the court after a nearly $9 million verdict.
October 06, 2023
J&J Entities Must Face Asbestos-Talc Liabilities, New Jersey Judge Says

TRENTON, N.J. — A man adequately alleges that asbestos-talc liabilities followed the assets and operations from Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. to various entities resulting from Johnson & Johnson restructuring and placing LTL Management LLC into bankruptcy, a New Jersey judge said in denying a motion to dismiss.
October 04, 2023
New Jersey Court Faults Asbestos-Talc Expert Admissions, Topples $224M Award

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — Given the apparent defects in expert opinions a trial judge improperly admitted three asbestos experts in a talc case without first holding a hearing on whether their methodologies and opinions were reliable, a New Jersey appeals court said Oct. 3 in reversing a $223.8 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson and remanding for a new trial.
October 03, 2023
Talc Mining Company Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Over Asbestos Claims

HOUSTON — Talc mining company Barretts Minerals Inc. (BMI) filed a Chapter 11 petition on Oct. 2 in Texas federal bankruptcy court looking to sell the business and use the proceeds to help fund a trust to pay asbestos claims, saying the business can no longer afford to litigate an increasing number of lawsuits alleging personal injuries caused by exposure to talc purportedly contaminated with asbestos.
October 02, 2023
Kaiser Gypsum Insurer Says Cert Needed For Dispute Over Standing

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling that the primary insurer of Chapter 11 asbestos debtors Kaiser Gypsum Co. Inc. and Hanson Permanente Cement Inc. lacks standing to challenge the debtors’ reorganization plan “exacerbates a conflict among the [U.S. circuit courts] and defies the straightforward text of the Bankruptcy Code,” the insurer says in a reply brief in support of its petition for certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court.
September 29, 2023
Ford Stuck With $20M Asbestos Verdict After Court Finds No Error

ST. LOUIS — None of the nine issues Ford Motor Co. raised in an appeal of a $20 million asbestos verdict demonstrate an error, a Missouri appeals court said in affirming the verdict without a written opinion.
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
Receiver, Claimants Say Talc Supplier’s Chapter 11 Case Should Have Been Dismissed

TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey federal bankruptcy judge used a “flawed interpretation” of a state court order appointing a receiver for defunct talc supplier Whittaker, Clark & Daniels Inc. (WCD) in refusing to dismiss the company’s Chapter 11 case, the receiver and a committee of asbestos claimants say in their appeal of the ruling to a district court.
September 18, 2023
Former Talc Supplier Sues Successors To Halt Continued Tort Litigation

TRENTON, N.J. — Defunct talc supplier Whittaker, Clark & Daniels Inc. (WCD) seeks summary judgment and injunctive relief on its allegations in an adversary action in New Jersey federal bankruptcy court that its Chapter 11 estate should be protected from successor liability claims being litigated in the tort system by its corporate inheritors.
September 15, 2023
Reorganization Plan Of Hess Unit HONX Draws Objections

HOUSTON — The Chapter 11 reorganization plan of Hess Corp. affiliate HONX Inc. should be rejected because it discriminates against people who will file asbestos personal injury claims in the future in favor of current claimants, the future claimants’ representative (FCR) says in an objection to the plan.
September 14, 2023
Asbestos Firms Appeal Denial Of Standing To Oppose Bankruptcy Settlement

NEW ORLEANS — Two asbestos law firms have appealed a Louisiana federal bankruptcy judge’s finding that they lack standing to oppose a $3.5 million settlement between the Chapter 7 trustee for a bankrupt insulation supplier and two asbestos insurers; it is the second insurance settlement appeal the firms have filed in the case.
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
Kaiser Gypsum, Asbestos Claimant Reps Say Insurer’s Cert Bid Should Be Denied

WASHINGTON, D.C. — There is no divide among the federal circuit courts when deciding who is a party in interest with standing to object to a bankruptcy plan, so review of the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling that the primary insurer of Chapter 11 asbestos debtors Kaiser Gypsum Co. Inc. and Hanson Permanente Cement Inc. lacks standing to challenge the debtors’ reorganization plan is not needed, the debtors tell the U.S. Supreme Court in an opposition brief that was filed at the request of the court.
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 08, 2023
Latest Bids To Dismiss Chapter 11 Case Of Georgia-Pacific Debtor Denied

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Two asbestos claimants in the Chapter 11 case of Georgia-Pacific spinoff Bestwall LLC want an update on the proceedings from a North Carolina federal bankruptcy judge after he denied motions to dismiss the case filed by the claimants and the Official Committee of Asbestos Personal Injury Claimants.