Newsletter RSS

Mealey's Asbestos Bankruptcy

  • March 26, 2026

    4th Circuit Pauses Appeal Of FCR In Ship Contractor’s Asbestos Bankruptcy Case

    RICHMOND, Va. — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals granted a request by two insurers of Chapter 11 debtor Hopeman Brothers Inc. to hold in abeyance their appeal of a bankruptcy court’s appointment of a legal representative for future asbestos claimants in the debtor’s case until a Virginia federal court rules on whether to confirm Hopeman’s plan of reorganization.

  • March 24, 2026

    Insurer Argues Arbitrator Dispute Is Noncommercial, Seeks Remand To State Court

    NEW YORK — An insurance exchange filed a remand motion in a New York federal court, arguing that its suit seeking to disqualify a reinsurer-appointed arbitrator based on his prior representation presents a noncommercial, nonarbitrable dispute over attorney fiduciary duties that belongs in state court, not federal court.

  • March 24, 2026

    Kentucky Supreme Court Affirms Duty To Prevent Take-Home Asbestos Exposures

    LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A duty exists under Kentucky negligence and product liability law to prevent foreseeable household exposures to asbestos that are “regular and repeated,” the Kentucky Supreme Court said in affirming a ruling reversing summary judgment for two defendants in an asbestos case and in finding that a summer job didn’t trigger workers’ compensation system exclusivity.

  • March 24, 2026

    With Challenge To $40M Verdict Pending, J&J Wants Pro Hac Vice Statuses Revoked

    LOS ANGELES — Johnson & Johnson (J&J), which is seeking to overturn a $40 million asbestos-talc verdict, asked a California court to revoke pro hac vicestatus of Beasley Allen Law Firm attorneys in coordinated litigation, saying they improperly associated with an attorney who previously worked with J&J.  Meanwhile, two bellwether plaintiffs and J&J filed post-trial briefing over whether faulty instructions and juror misconduct produced the verdict and whether one of the plaintiff’s claims was untimely and should never have gone to trial.

  • March 19, 2026

    Missouri Court Affirms Verdict In Mesothelioma Case For Former Employer

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A judge properly instructed a jury on the issue of whether an employer’s workers’ compensation insurance covered mesothelioma claims, and an attorney’s testimony explaining why a company would obtain insurance in a state where it had no employees was offered as rebuttal testimony, not expert opinion, a Missouri appeals court held in affirming a defense verdict.

  • March 18, 2026

    Judge Upholds Denial Of Stay Relief In Georgia-Pacific Debtor’s Bankruptcy Case

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A North Carolina federal bankruptcy judge properly denied an asbestos claimant’s motion for relief from the automatic stay in the Chapter 11 case of Georgia-Pacific spinoff Bestwall LLC, a federal judge ruled in affirming the decision on appeal.

  • March 18, 2026

    Delaware Judge Finds Evidence Supports Asbestos Shotgun Shell Verdict

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A $9 million verdict in a case alleging exposure to asbestos in shotgun shell basewads stands after a Delaware judge denied a motion for judgment or new trial, finding that an estate established that the manufacturers could both be liable and should have known of the dangers and that exposure cleared the bar for liability.

  • March 17, 2026

    J&J Prevails In Effort To Erase $950M Punitive Damages Talc Verdict

    LOS ANGELES — A California judge granted judgment notwithstanding the verdict on a $950 million punitive damages award against Johnson & Johnson (J&J) in an asbestos-talc case, finding that while the plaintiff family members established causation, they had not demonstrated malicious conduct or that J&J had a duty to disclose, adding that the award was also likely inflated by attorney misconduct.

  • March 12, 2026

    Judge: Jury Will Be Told Asbestos Expert Should Have Preserved Emails

    NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — A federal judge in Virginia said that as a sanction, a jury will be instructed that an expert had a duty to preserve emails between asbestos-talc study collaborators when he destroyed them, but said a motion seeking to compel interrogatory responses about litigation funding is denied for being untimely.

  • March 10, 2026

    New Jersey Judge Won’t Stay Beasley Allen Talc Disqualification

    ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — The judge overseeing New Jersey multicounty talc litigation declined to stay his ruling disqualifying Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles PC while the firm appeals to the New Jersey Supreme Court a ruling that reversed his original decision finding that their collaboration with a former Johnson & Johnson attorney was not improper.

  • March 10, 2026

    Insurers Say Avon Debtors’ Bankruptcy Plan Does Not Moot Their Appeal

    WILMINGTON, Del. — Insurers challenging the confirmation of the Chapter 11 plan of liquidation for asbestos talc debtor AIO US Inc. and the plan’s asbestos trust say in their reply brief on appeal in Delaware federal court that the trust and its advisory committee fail in their assertion that the appeal is “equitably moot” because the plan has taken effect.

  • March 09, 2026

    Asbestos Claimants Seek Rehearing Of 4th Circuit’s Denial Of Stay Relief

    RICHMOND, Va. —The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals cleared the way for asbestos claimants to seek rehearing en banc by staying the mandate for a split panel’s decision affirming a North Carolina federal bankruptcy judge’s denial of the claimants’ request to lift the automatic stay in the Chapter 11 case of CertainTeed spinoff DBMP LLC so they could proceed with their state court lawsuits against CertainTeed and nondebtor affiliates.

  • March 06, 2026

    Additur, JNOV Briefed After Pennsylvania Jury Awards $250,000 For Ovarian Cancer

    PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania jury’s $7,148 award for a woman’s four years of suffering with ovarian cancer as a result of exposure to asbestos-tainted talc as part of its $250,000 verdict “is not a verdict.  It is a number that is out of touch with the reality of the suffering,” plaintiffs argue in seeking additur.  But in a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV), two Johnson & Johnson entities argue that the plaintiffs had not demonstrated that talc caused her disease, let alone conduct warranting punitive damages.

  • March 04, 2026

    Stalking Horse Sale Debated In Talc Company’s New Chapter 11 Case

    SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A New York federal bankruptcy court should approve a request by new Chapter 11 debtor Vanderbilt Minerals LLC to allow a stalking horse bidder and bid procedures for the sale of most of the debtor’s assets over the objections of counsel for asbestos claimants and the U.S. trustee so potential bidders have timely information on the sale, the debtor says in a March 4 reply to the objections.

  • March 04, 2026

    New Evidence Revives J&J Spinoff’s Trade Libel Suit Against Talc Study Author

    TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey federal judge hearing a trade libel case filed by Johnson & Johnson (J&J) spinoff Pecos River Talc LLC against the author of a scientific study on asbestos in talc products has granted the spinoff relief from the judge’s dismissal of the suit and allowed it to amend its complaint after the company presented new evidence.

  • March 03, 2026

    Validity Of ‘Texas Two-Step’ Asbestos Bankruptcy Cases Presented To Supreme Court

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The legality of the “Texas Two-Step,” under which large wealthy corporations have used the Lone Star State’s divisional merger laws to create an affiliate and saddle the spinoff with all of the company’s asbestos liabilities, has reached the nation’s top court, with claimants of Georgia-Pacific spinoff Bestwall LLC filing a petition for certiorari to challenge the corporate restructuring maneuver.

  • March 03, 2026

    Federal Judge Says Abstention Warranted In Insurer’s Asbestos Adversary Proceeding

    RICHMOND, Va. — A Virginia federal judge granted a debtor insured’s motion to abstain from exercising jurisdiction over an insurer’s adversary proceeding, which seeks a declaration that no additional coverage is owed to the insured for thousands of asbestos liability claims, after determining that questions of state law weigh in favor of abstention.

  • March 03, 2026

    Insured’s Breach Of Contract Claim In Asbestos Dispute Should Proceed, Panel Says

    CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals vacated and remanded a district court’s decision to grant a motion to dismiss an insured’s amended complaint seeking coverage for underlying asbestos liabilities, determining that the insured adequately states a claim for breach of contract.

  • February 26, 2026

    Parties Brief Delaware Court On Preservation Of Asbestos Bankruptcy Trust Data

    WILMINGTON, Del. — Bankruptcy trusts are the only reliable source of claims data, and an equitable bill of discovery permits a ruling preserving the evidence, repeat litigants in asbestos cases tell a Delaware Supreme Court in an appellee brief.

  • February 26, 2026

    Insurers’ Appeal Of Avon Debtors’ Bankruptcy Plan Moot, Trust Officials Say

    WILMINGTON, Del. — The confirmed Chapter 11 plan of liquidation for asbestos talc debtor AIO US Inc. has taken effect, and an asbestos trust under the plan has been established and funded, so challenges to the plan by insurers in their plan confirmation appeal in Delaware federal court are “equitably moot,” the trust and its advisory committee argue in their appellee brief.

  • February 25, 2026

    9th Circuit Reverses $8M Asbestos Verdict, Says BNSF Protected As ‘Common Carrier’

    PORTLAND, Ore. — The railroad company that hauled asbestos-tainted vermiculite from the world’s largest vermiculite mine in Libby, Mont., to destinations around the country under federal law is protected from strict liability claims by the “common carrier” exception to such liability, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Feb. 24 in reversing an $8 million combined judgment for the estates of two mesothelioma victims and directing the trial court to enter judgment for the railroad company on remand.

  • February 25, 2026

    Debtor Nash’s Holding Company Says Trustee’s Remedy Request Fails

    BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — A bid by the Chapter 7 trustee for asbestos debtor The Nash Engineering Co. for a “prejudgment remedy” in his two fraudulent transfer suits in Connecticut federal court should be rejected because he “has not established probable cause that he will be able to prove actual fraudulent intent by clear and convincing evidence,” the debtor’s holding company affiliate says in an opposition brief.

  • February 24, 2026

    Experts, Unique Asbestos Diseases Behind Trio Of Rulings From Veteran Appeals

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims judges recently issued three opinions affirming rulings adverse to claimants covering asbestos exposure and colon cancer, prostate disease and the ability of the government to seek compensation from liable parties for treatment to veterans.

  • February 24, 2026

    Judge Nixes Asbestos Experts After Briefing On New Rules, Supreme Court Precedent

    SEATTLE — A federal in Washington judge excluded a pair of asbestos experts and granted summary judgment to two shipyard defendants after the parties briefed her on the impact of the amended Federal Rules of Evidence and a recent U.S. Supreme Court case governing federal jurisdiction.

  • February 24, 2026

    Asbestos Firm Says Pipe Maker’s RICO Case Falls Short Again

    CHICAGO — A pipe maker’s amended complaint accusing a law firm of improperly naming it in asbestos suits mischaracterizes the situation, targets protected litigation conduct and never rises to the level of racketeering, the firm says in asking a federal judge in Illinois to dismiss the action once again.