Mealey's Asbestos
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October 05, 2023
Experts, Punitive Damages Among Issues Company Wants Reviewed by S.C. High Court
ANDERSON, S.C. — Appellate court errors involving the sophisticated intermediary doctrine, punitive damages, expert testimony and sanctions support review of an asbestos verdict by the South Carolina Supreme Court, a company told the court in a petition for review.
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October 05, 2023
Nemeth Not The Right Asbestos Standard At Summary Judgment, Justice Says
NEW YORK — A defendant misstates recent precedent establishing the standard for demonstrating causation at the summary judgment stage in an asbestos case, a New York justice said in denying summary judgment.
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October 05, 2023
5th Circuit Revives Asbestos FELA Case Based On Tolling Agreement
NEW ORLEANS — An accord covering asbestos cases against a railroad employer unambiguously tolled the statute of limitations for a year, and longer with the agreement of the parties, a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel said Oct. 4 in reversing summary judgment in a Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) case and remanding for consideration of whether the parties entered into such an agreement.
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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.
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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.
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September 29, 2023
Judge Admits Asbestos Experts, Allows Take-Home Claims, Finds No Preemption
NEW ORLEANS — Sufficient evidence supports take-home asbestos exposure allegations even if the fact pattern differs significantly from the usual type of take-home case, and the claims are not preempted by the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) under the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ precedent interpreting “twilight zone” cases, a federal judge in Louisiana said in a series of five rulings.
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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.
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September 26, 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.
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September 25, 2023
Boiler Company Must Face Asbestos Punitive Damages Claim, New York Justice Says
NEW YORK — Under the gross negligence standard, a man may proceed with punitive damages claims in New York based on allegations that a boiler company never placed a warning on its product about the dangers of asbestos, a New York justice said.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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 Publications.
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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.
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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.