Mealey's Asbestos
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August 17, 2023
No Evidence Of Bankruptcy Trust Shenanigans, Judge Says
GREAT FALLS, Mont. — While a railroad claims that plaintiffs are intentionally delaying submissions to the W.R. Grace & Co. bankruptcy trust, the evidence shows that resolution of those types of claims can take upward of 20 years, a federal judge in Montana said in declining to stay the case and finding that a railroad could not attempt to pin liability on W.R. Grace, settled defendants or the state of Montana under state law.
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August 17, 2023
Judge: Supreme Court Ruling On Jurisdiction Can’t Keep Talc Case In California
LOS ANGELES — A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling finding Pennsylvania’s business registration statute sufficient for jurisdiction does not assist California asbestos plaintiffs because the state lacks a similar statute, a Los Angeles County judge said in granting three defendants’ motion to quash service of summons.
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August 16, 2023
Bankruptcy Dismissal Lifts Stay Of Asbestos-Talc Appeal, J&J Admits
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Dismissal of the LTL Management LLC bankruptcy and its automatic stay provision means a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals case involving allegations that two talc companies violated the California unfair competition law (UCL) by advertising their products as pure despite knowing that they were contaminated with asbestos may proceed, LTL Management said in an Aug. 15 status update.
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August 16, 2023
Delaware Supreme Court Considers Who Owns Asbestos-Talc Liabilities
WILMINGTON, Del. — Merck & Co. Inc. and Bayer AG wrapped briefing with both sides telling the Delaware Supreme Court that the clear language of an asset purchase agreement supports its interpretation of whether asbestos-talc liabilities stayed with the seller or sunset after seven years.
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August 16, 2023
Justice: Asbestos Expert’s Study Can’t Free Boiler Company From Punitive Damages
NEW YORK — An expert’s single study about asbestos provides too little and too general evidence and does not rise to the level required to grant summary judgment on a man’s punitive damages claim, a New York justice said.
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August 15, 2023
Judge Affirms Order Quashing Asbestos-Talc Subpoena To Medical Provider
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — A magistrate judge properly concluded that a subpoena seeking information related to an asbestos-talc study for use in other litigation was only minimally related to the case and would place an undue burden on the party, a federal judge in Virginia said Aug. 14 in affirming the ruling.
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August 14, 2023
With Punitive Damages Pending, Parties Settle $20M Asbestos-Talc Case
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — After the parties filed briefs on the appropriateness of punitive damages in the wake of a $20 million asbestos-talc verdict, one of the defendants told a Connecticut judge on Aug. 11 that the parties had resolved the case, mooting pending post-trial motions.
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August 11, 2023
Asbestos Referral Fee Ruling Sends ‘Embarrassment’ Of Case Back To 4th Circuit
BALTIMORE — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals will once again confront a case a judge on the court previously described as “an embarrassment to the legal profession,” after lawyers and law firms hit with more than $1 million in fees and costs for “never once” complying with court-ordered discovery in a dispute over asbestos case referrals filed a notice of appeal on Aug. 10.
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August 10, 2023
Asbestos Screener At Heart Of Libby, Mont., False Claims Verdict Files Bankruptcy
MISSOULA, Mont. — The Libby, Mont., asbestos disease screener hit with $5.8 million in damages and penalties for filing false claims under a special Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) program created under Medicare has declared bankruptcy.
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August 10, 2023
Tennessee Court: Asbestos Law Covers Woman’s Exposure-Linked Property Claims
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee’s broad asbestos litigation law applies to and procedurally bars a woman’s property damage claims, especially because those claims all intersect with alleged fear of an asbestos-related disease, a state appeals court said while reversing dismissal of strict liability claims stemming from asbestos allegedly released during the rupture of a chemical company’s steam pipe.
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August 09, 2023
Justice Seals Communications With Liquidated Insurer, But Not Asbestos Settlement
NEW YORK — A New York justice found no good reason to seal or redact the amount a liquidator settled asbestos claims for, but said communications among the liquidator, counsel and the referee who oversaw the settlements included discussion of litigation strategy and would be sealed.
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August 09, 2023
South Carolina Briefing Addresses Causation Standard, Cumulative Exposure
CHARLESTON, S.C. — An expert’s testimony that cumulative exposure adds to the dose of asbestos that contributes to disease isn’t the same as the theory that every exposure leads to disease, a conclusion the expert specifically rejected, and the courts below didn’t adopt Pennsylvania law on causation, a man told the South Carolina Supreme Court in a respondent brief while also defending the trial court’s additur ruling.
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August 08, 2023
Judge Permits Amendment In Wake Of 5th Circuit’s LHWCA Ruling
NEW ORLEANS — A recent ruling by the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals finding that the Longshore Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act did not preempt state asbestos tort claims warrants allowing a man to amend his complaint to include direct asbestos exposure claims he originally included but disclaimed based on the law, a federal magistrate judge in Louisiana said.
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August 04, 2023
COMMENTARY: New Research Finds That Nearly Half The Mesotheliomas Occurring Today Are Likely Not Caused By Asbestos Exposure
By William L. Anderson
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August 07, 2023
Lack Of Living Beneficiary Dooms Maritime Asbestos Case, Federal Judge Says
PHILADELPHIA — Federal regulations identifying potential beneficiaries support dismissing maritime law claims for lack of jurisdiction were a man allegedly exposed to asbestos aboard a ship and all his dependents have died, a federal judge in Pennsylvania said Aug. 4.
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August 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.
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August 04, 2023
Washington Court Affirms Section 343 Instruction Rejection In Asbestos Case
SEATTLE — Discretion over whether to issue a jury instruction involves a fact-intensive analysis best left to the trial court, and nothing in a trial against a premises owner suggests that an oil company’s invitee enjoyed the type of knowledge about the dangers of asbestos required for an instruction under the restatement of torts, a divided Washington Supreme Court said Aug. 3.
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August 04, 2023
Insurer Files 4th Suit Seeking Asbestos Settlement Reimbursement From Reinsurers
OMAHA, Neb. — An insurer that has invoked reinsurance contracts in seeking reimbursement for a settlement it reached with Montana regarding alleged asbestos exposures has filed its fourth similar lawsuit in Nebraska federal court.
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August 03, 2023
Florida Court Finds Product ID Sufficient In Asbestos Friction Case
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A plaintiff submitted evidence that a company was among the suppliers of asbestos-containing brakes a man worked with and performed sufficient work with those products, satisfying the standard for product identification in a take-home exposure case, a Florida appeals court said in reinstating the action on Aug. 2.
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August 03, 2023
8th Circuit Affirms Exclusion Of Experts, Summary Judgment In FELA Asbestos Case
ST. LOUIS — Even assuming that the record allowed for the conclusion that a man was exposed to asbestos and other toxins at a railway, there is nothing establishing the level of exposure, and a court properly excluded expert testimony based on the belief that there was sufficient evidence of such exposure, an Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel said Aug. 2 in affirming summary judgment to a railway company.
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August 03, 2023
Mesothelioma Defendants Defend Need For Blood Draw, Genetic Testing
LOS ANGELES — A couple alleging that a man’s asbestos exposure led to his mesothelioma cannot now seek to block a blood draw for genetic testing that could potentially identify a genetic mutation that could go to the heart of the causation question in the case, defendants tell a California judge.
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August 03, 2023
Defendant’s Representation Satisfies Judge At Juror Harassment Hearing
LOS ANGELES — The judge overseeing an order to show cause hearing on juror harassment in the wake of an $8.8 million asbestos verdict said he would not take any further action in light of a defendant’s representation that there would be no more unsolicited contact with jurors at their homes.
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August 03, 2023
Briefing Resumes In Asbestos Case Battle Over Longshore Preemption
NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals lifted a ruling staying an asbestos case, restarted briefing and asked the parties in a dispute over Longshore Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) preemption to also brief jurisdiction.
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August 02, 2023
Bankruptcy Movement Disclosure A Must, Asbestos Securities Plaintiffs Say On Appeal
NEW YORK — Having made representations to investors about the “smooth sailing” resulting from its liquidity and financial flexibility, the law obligated an automotive company spun off by Honeywell Inc. and burdened with its asbestos liabilities to disclose the active steps it was taking toward bankruptcy, investors told the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in an Aug. 1 opening brief.
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August 02, 2023
Asbestos Defendant Says Recent Authority Supports Causation Specificity Argument
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Recent out-of-state rulings support the conclusion that the presence of visible dust does not satisfy the causation standard in Connecticut, which instead requires specificity regarding the dose of asbestos, a defendant told a state court judge in a statement of supplemental authority in support of a motion to set aside a verdict.