Mealey's 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.
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September 11, 2023
Asbestos-Talc Defendants Seek To Exclude Moline’s Supplemental Disclosures
NEW YORK — Defendants in an asbestos-talc case accused the plaintiff of “gamesmanship” and urged a federal judge in New York to preclude supplemental expert disclosures, including a 2023 paper from asbestos expert Jacqueline Moline, saying the plaintiff sat on the evidence for months while the parties litigated a previous paper raising similar issues.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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September 07, 2023
Florida Top Court To Decide Availability Of Damages After Post-Diagnosis Marriage
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida Supreme Court on Sept. 6 heard oral arguments about whether the state’s wrongful death statute permits damages for a spouse and surviving children where the marriage occurred after doctors diagnosed the man with mesothelioma.