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Mealey's Asbestos Bankruptcy

  • August 13, 2025

    9-Year Delay In Asbestos Case Warranted Dismissal, Court Affirms

    JACKSON, Miss. — A nine-year period where a plaintiff litigated asbestos bankruptcy issues in a separate court but took no substantive steps in her tort litigation in Mississippi warranted a trial court’s dismissal of the action in its entirety for lack of prosecution, the Mississippi Court of Appeals said Aug. 12 in affirming.

  • August 12, 2025

    Debtor Presperse Wins Approval Of Reorganization Plan, Asbestos Trust

    TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey federal judge has “adopted, affirmed, and approved in all respects” a bankruptcy judge’s confirmation of the plan of reorganization for raw materials supplier and Chapter 11 debtor Presperse Corp., authorizing the debtor “to proceed with the implementation of the Plan and the establishment of the Talc Personal Injury Trust in accordance with the Plan, Confirmation Order, and the Plan Documents.”

  • August 07, 2025

    Subcontractor Debtor Wants Appeal Of FCR Appointment Dismissed

    RICHMOND, Va. — Insurers of Chapter 11 debtor Hopeman Brothers Inc. are not allowed to appeal a Virginia federal bankruptcy court’s appointment of a legal representative for future asbestos claimants because they didn’t seek approval to file an interlocutory appeal and they lack standing to pursue the appeal, the company says in a motion to dismiss.

  • August 06, 2025

    After Failed Attempt To Resolve Asbestos-Talc Question, Case Set For State Trial

    SAN FRANCISCO — An asbestos case is back in California state court and set for a September trial after a winding road took it to a federal bankruptcy court in Texas where removal was found procedurally improper and then to a federal court in California, where the parties agreed to remand.

  • August 04, 2025

    Split Panel Upholds Denial Of Dismissal Of Georgia-Pacific Spinoff’s Bankruptcy

    RICHMOND, Va. — A North Carolina federal bankruptcy court did not err in denying a motion by an asbestos claimants’ committee to dismiss the Chapter 11 case of Georgia-Pacific spinoff Bestwall LLC, a divided Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held Aug. 1, finding that “federal courts have subject-matter jurisdiction over bankruptcy cases filed by debtors who may be able to pay their obligations.”

  • July 23, 2025

    Judge Awards $98,280 In Attorney Fees For Asbestos Screening Appeal

    MISSOULA, Mont. —  BNSF Railway Co. is entitled to $98,280 in attorney fees on appeal after prevailing in its case alleging that a medical screening company submitted false claims to a Medicare program for Libby, Mont., residents diagnosed with asbestos-related disease, a Montana federal judge ruled.

  • July 22, 2025

    Judge Sends Appeal In J&J Spinoff’s Chapter 11 Case Back To Bankruptcy Court

    HOUSTON — A Texas federal judge in an appeal from the Chapter 11 case of the latest Johnson & Johnson (J&J) spinoff, Red River Talc LLC, sua sponte remanded the appeal so the bankruptcy court can provide clarification for its rulings dismissing the case and denying rehearing of the dismissal decision without ruling on requests from the Official Committee of Talc Claimants to retain and pay attorneys.

  • July 22, 2025

    California Jury Returns Asbestos Verdict For Auto Parts Companies

    LOS ANGELES — A California jury returned a defense verdict for three automobile parts defendants in an asbestos case, finding that a man’s exposure was not a substantial factor in his lung cancer.

  • July 22, 2025

    Talc Testing, Evidence Rulings At Heart Of $63.4M Verdict Appeal

    COLUMBIA, S.C. — A trial court gave plaintiffs in an asbestos-talc suit an “uneven playing field” by allowing them to introduce expert causation testimony for the first time at opening statements and then slowly narrowing the available defenses, Johnson & Johnson entities tell the South Carolina Court of Appeals in challenging a $63.4 million verdict.

  • July 21, 2025

    Judge Allows Beasley Allen’s Participation In Consumer Talc MDL

    TRENTON, N.J. — The Beasley Allen Law Firm may participate in the asbestos-talc multidistrict litigation over the objections of Johnson & Johnson entities, a New Jersey federal judge overseeing the MDL said during a hearing while turning away arguments that the firm had an improper relationship with one of the company’s former attorneys.

  • July 18, 2025

    W.R. Grace Trust, Asbestos Suit Parties Resolve Tort Actions

    MISSOULA, Mont. — A federal judge in Montana granted motions to voluntarily dismiss two tort cases by Libby, Mont., residents who sued the WRG Asbestos Personal Injury Trust after failing to meet the requirements for a claim.

  • July 18, 2025

    Judge Grants Dismissal Of Action Alleging ‘Egregious’ Talc Witness Contact

    LOS ANGELES — A California judge granted a company’s request for dismissal without prejudice of its action claiming an asbestos plaintiff-side law firm violated legal rules by improperly contacting, and taking a statement from, a corporate witness without the knowledge or consent of his counsel.

  • July 18, 2025

    Avon Entities, Asbestos Claimants Committee Advocate For Bankruptcy Plan Approval

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware federal bankruptcy court should confirm the “almost entirely consensual” Chapter 11 liquidation plan of the U.S. divisions of cosmetics giant Avon over the objections of some insurers because the plan “distributes Estate assets to creditors in a fair, efficient, and expeditious manner,” the debtors say in a July 17 brief in support of confirmation.

  • July 17, 2025

    Parties Wrap Briefing In J&J Talc Asset Transfer Case

    TRENTON, N.J. — Plaintiffs allege that various transfers and attempts at bankruptcy moved Johnson & Johnson assets around but never assert that the moves left insufficient funds to pay asbestos-talc claims, Johnson & Johnson entities tell a federal judge in New Jersey in a reply to a motion to dismiss rebutting plaintiffs’ argument that they have standing to pursue their claims.

  • July 16, 2025

    Magistrate Judge: Admission By J&J Spinoff That Talc Contains Asbestos Not Needed

    NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — A Virginia federal magistrate judge has determined that plaintiff-side experts whose scientific study shows a connection between talc use and asbestos disease cannot conduct discovery in a trade libel suit filed against them by Johnson & Johnson spinoff Pecos River Talc LLC to determine whether the company knew that repeated exposure to cosmetic talc can cause mesothelioma.

  • July 16, 2025

    4th Circuit Dismisses Asbestos Subpoena Appeal; Sanction Issue For Trial Court

    RICHMOND, Va. — An appeal of a ruling finding that a third-party subpoena imposed an undue burden on a medical provider was mooted by dismissal of the underlying asbestos case, and while the parties still disagree about the appropriateness of the resulting sanctions, that issue is not before the court, the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said in a mandate dismissing the appeal.

  • July 15, 2025

    EPA Withdraws Motion To Stay Challenge To Asbestos Ban Rule

    NEW ORLEANS — The Environmental Protection Agency withdrew its motion seeking a six-month stay of challenges to a rule banning the last remaining uses of chrysotile asbestos in the United States, saying it no longer intends to conduct notice-and-comment rulemaking and would instead proposed an Aug. 8 deadline for motions governing further proceedings.

  • July 15, 2025

    Summary Judgment Motions Granted For Insurer, Shipbuilder In Asbestos Coverage Row

    NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana federal judge granted separate motions filed by a former shipbuilder and by the purported insurer for the shipbuilder’s prior executive officers seeking summary judgment in a mesothelioma patient’s asbestos liability suit against numerous parties, including a now-insolvent insurer, finding that the unopposed motions and the record establish “that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact.”

  • July 10, 2025

    Experts Must Produce Names Of Meso Study Subjects To J&J Spinoff, Magistrate Says

    NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Plaintiffs’ asbestos experts accused of trade libel by Johnson & Johnson spinoff Pecos River Talc LLC must produce the names of mesothelioma study participants because their identities “are relevant, proportional to the needs of the case, and are not privileged,” a Virginia federal magistrate judge ruled.

  • July 08, 2025

    J&J Entities Say No Injury In Talc Asset Transfer Case

    TRENTON, N.J. — Having successfully defeated bankruptcy attempts by arguing that there were sufficient funds to pay asbestos-talc claims, plaintiffs cannot now argue that fraudulent transfers have placed assets outside their reach, Johnson & Johnson entities tell a federal judge in New Jersey in seeking dismissal.

  • July 07, 2025

    California Jury Returns Defense Verdict In Asbestos Pipe Case

    OAKLAND, Calif. — A California jury returned a verdict for a company battling an asbestos-pipe case, finding that while the company’s product contained potentially knowable risks, an ordinary customer would have recognized them and that the defendant’s failure to warn about them was not a substantial factor in the man’s mesothelioma.

  • July 07, 2025

    States Back Asbestos Defendants Seeking To Stop Trust Document Destruction

    WILMINGTON, Del. — Ten states in an amicus curiae brief tell a judge in Delaware that destruction of asbestos trust documents would encourage fraud and mismanagement and undercut state laws determining that such evidence is relevant and discoverable in pending and potential asbestos personal injury suits.

  • July 02, 2025

    Judge Stays Sale Of Asbestos Screeners’ Assets For Now

    MISSOULA, Mont. — The sale of Center for Asbestos Related Disease Inc. assets is on hold after a federal judge granted a motion to intervene by former employees and the United States but ultimately denied a motion to quash or enjoin a writ of execution seeking sale of the screening company’s assets to satisfy a million-dollar judgment stemming from its submission of fraudulent claims to a Medicare program.

  • June 26, 2025

    Appeal Challenges Dismissal Of Bankruptcy Case Of J&J Spinoff Red River Talc

    HOUSTON — With the relevant record in the Chapter 11 case of the latest Johnson & Johnson (J&J) spinoff, Red River Talc LLC, sent to a Texas federal court, an appeal of a bankruptcy court’s dismissal of the case is under way to determine whether the bankruptcy judge erred in closing the case without ruling on requests from the Official Committee of Talc claimants.

  • June 20, 2025

    Massachusetts Jury Awards $8 Million In J&J Talc Case

    MIDDLESEX, Mass. — A Massachusetts jury awarded a woman $8 million for her mesothelioma, finding Johnson & Johnson and a related entity negligent and liable for breach of the implied warranty of merchantability with regard to two of its consumer talc products.