Mealey's Asbestos
-
November 13, 2023
Laundry List Of Issues Goes Before South Carolina Top Court In Asbestos Petition
ANDERSON, S.C. — Briefing on a petition for a writ of certiorari filed with the South Carolina Supreme Court wrapped up, leaving the court to decide whether to review issues as far ranging as causation, intervening cause, the availability of punitive damages and whether a court properly imposed sanctions related to the handling of lung tissue in an asbestos case.
-
November 10, 2023
Insurer Is Granted Clerk’s Entry Of Default Against Brazilian Reinsurer
OMAHA, Neb. — An insurer has obtained a clerk’s entry of default in its Nebraska federal court suit seeking reimbursement from a Brazil-based reinsurer for a settlement the insurer reached with Montana regarding alleged asbestos exposure.
-
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 09, 2023
Asbestos Defendant: Court Should Stay Trial Only If It Deems It Necessary
BOSTON — A company facing a maritime asbestos trial says a woman’s alleged hardships necessitating a continuance are a “problem of her own making” but that despite her inability to justify the relief it would support granting the motion if the court believes that it needs additional time to consider the legal and factual issues before it.
-
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 07, 2023
Plaintiff, John Crane Inc. Debate Immediate Appeal Of Maritime Damages Ruling
BOSTON — An asbestos defendant relieved of having to face loss of consortium and punitive damages claims in a maritime case argues against certifying the ruling denying the claims for interlocutory appeal, saying the decision does not alter the scope of liability, and the possibility that the case could require a second trial on damages does not warrant appellate review.
-
November 07, 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.
-
November 07, 2023
Pennsylvania High Court To Review Disease Act Exclusivity In Asbestos Case
HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court granted a petition and agreed to decide whether under the state’s Occupational Disease Act, a man’s asbestos-related injury case properly belongs before a trial court or the state’s workers’ compensation system.
-
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.
-
November 02, 2023
Asbestos-Talc Companies: Supplemental Report Improperly Contains New Information
NEW YORK — A man opposing a motion to preclude supplementation of an expert report “hopes that this court has amnesia” about the lack of epidemiological evidence linking talc and mesothelioma or that other courts have found asbestos expert Jacqueline Moline’s opinions spurious, defendant companies tell a federal judge in New York.
-
November 01, 2023
Parties Debate Whether Asbestos Liability Provision Is ‘Elephant In A Mousehole’
WILMINGTON, Del. — The Delaware Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Nov. 1 on whether an asset purchase agreement between Bayer AG and Merck & Co. Inc. left the latter responsible for asbestos-talc liabilities for the time it operated consumer talc operations or sunset the liabilities after seven years.
-
October 31, 2023
Conclusory Affidavit Can’t Free Porsche From Asbestos Case, N.Y. Court Says
NEW YORK — An affidavit stating that an automaker was not distributing asbestos-containing products during the period of a man’s exposure is conclusory and not grounds on which to grant summary judgment, a New York appeals court said in affirming the denial of summary judgment to the automaker.
-
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 31, 2023
Irish Appellate Court Revives Take-Home Asbestos Case
BELFAST, Northern Ireland — An appellate court in Northern Ireland revived a man’s case claiming that he developed pleural plaques after exposure to asbestos on his father’s work clothing.
-
October 30, 2023
Asbestos Exclusion Cannot Be Construed As Bar To Coverage, Judge Says
ROME, Ga. — A Georgia federal judge denied an insurer’s motion to dismiss its insured’s suit seeking a declaration that coverage is owed for an underlying asbestos bodily injury suit after determining that the asbestos exclusion in the insurer’s policies must be construed in favor of the insured because the insured has stated a claim for which relief can be granted as the insured maintains that its talc products do not contain asbestos.
-
October 30, 2023
Man: Attempts At Striking J&J Asbestos-Talc Allegations Premature, At Best
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — A motion to strike asbestos-talc allegations against various Johnson & Johnson entities ignores the complicated and fact-intensive nature of the request in what amounts to a premature summary judgment motion, but regardless, the fact-filled complaint suffices under Connecticut law, demonstrates grounds for imposing successor liability and, even if Texas law applied to the case, would not shield the defendants from liability, a man told a Connecticut judge on Oct. 27.
-
October 30, 2023
New Jersey Appeals Court Won’t Reconsider Asbestos-Talc Expert Admission Ruling
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — In four orders, the New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division denied motions for reconsideration, leaving stand a ruling reversing the admission of expert testimony that led to a $224 million verdict and remanding for a new trial.
-
October 27, 2023
Missouri Asbestos Defendant Seeks Appeal Of Workers’ Comp Exclusivity Ruling
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Because a man with personal knowledge of an insurance contract authenticated the document, a trial court imposed an undue burden on an employer seeking summary judgment under the workers’ compensation system’s exclusivity provision, a company tells a Missouri appeals court in an application for transfer to the state’s high court.
-
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 26, 2023
Kentucky High Court Grants Review, Consolidates J&J Talc Testimony Cases
FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Kentucky Supreme Court granted a cross-motion for review and consolidated two cases involving whether a corporate representative’s testimony about his personal use of Johnson & Johnson (J&J) talc products was relevant in an asbestos-talc case after a lower court granted a new trial based the testimony’s admission.
-
October 25, 2023
Damages Analysis Requires Looking At Past Awards, Louisiana High Court Says
NEW ORLEANS — Appellate courts analyzing whether a verdict constitutes an abuse of discretion must consider past awards, otherwise the process lacks any objective measure and appellate review becomes “redundant and unnecessary,” a divided Louisiana Supreme Court said in cutting an asbestos award to $5 million.
-
October 25, 2023
New York Top Court Won’t Reconsider Rejecting $120M Asbestos-Talc Appeal
NEW YORK — The New York Court of Appeals on Oct. 24 denied a motion for reargument of a motion for leave to appeal a finding that there was insufficient expert testimony that exposure would have significantly exceeded background levels for a jury’s $120 million asbestos verdict against two Johnson & Johnson entities.
-
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.