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Mealey's Asbestos

October 02, 2025
Judge Won’t Limit Section 1442 Asbestos Removal To Current Federal Officers

NEW ORLEANS — A ruling finding that removal applied only to current federal officers is distinguishable from an asbestos case and would result in reading the statute too narrowly, a federal judge in Louisiana said in denying remand.
October 02, 2025
Railway Says Remand Bid Aims To Delay Asbestos Screening Firm Judgment

MISSOULA, Mont. — A railway in a response brief tells a federal judge in Montana that the United States’ motion for partial remand of a writ of execution is just its latest effort to impede collection of a multimillion-dollar judgment from a Libby, Mont., asbestos screening firm.
October 02, 2025
Consumer Expectations, Defect Claims Fell With Negligence Claims, Judge Says

SEATTLE — An order dismissing asbestos-related negligence and warning claims doomed consumer expectation and design defect claims resting on the dismissed claims, a judge in Washington said in denying a motion for reconsideration.
September 24, 2025
Judge Won’t Stay Asbestos Case Pending Appeal Of Remand Ruling

PHILADELPHIA — A federal judge in Pennsylvania declined to stay remand while John Crane Inc. appeals a decision finding that post-removal disclaimer of liability for asbestos exposures on government ships prevented federal jurisdiction, saying he was not convinced the ruling triggered an automatic stay or that the court’s conclusion was incorrect.
September 23, 2025
United States Supports Expanded Federal Officer Removal In Oil Company Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United States told the U.S. Supreme Court that 2011 amendments broadened the federal officer removal statute, which now encompasses tasks even related to those directed by the government.
September 23, 2025
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.
September 23, 2025
Massachusetts Jury Awards $80 Million For Asbestos-Clay Exposures

MIDDLESEX, Mass. — A Massachusetts jury found American Art Clay Co. Inc. liable for exposing a woman to asbestos in talc-based clay products and awarded her widower $80 million, including $60 million in punitive damages.
September 23, 2025
Insurer, Reinsurer File Joint Dismissal Motion In Mine Coverage Dispute

OMAHA, Neb. — National Indemnity Co. (NICO) and a reinsurer it sued for breach of contract and declaratory judgment jointly moved in Nebraska federal court to dismiss the reinsurer with prejudice as part of NICO’s suit to enforce its reinsurers’ obligations for incurred liabilities related to asbestos exposure stemming from a Montana mine.
September 23, 2025
Briefing Takes Aim At Experts, Causation After Shotgun Shell Asbestos Verdict

WILMINGTON, Del. — Parties to a $9 million Delaware asbestos verdict concluded briefing on whether expert and fiber release evidence was sufficient to support the jury’s causation finding in a case involving exposure from shotgun shells.
September 22, 2025
Goodyear Appeals Ruling Finding Removal Defective, Waived In Asbestos Case

NEW ORLEANS — Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. on Sept. 21 filed a notice indicating that it intends to appeal a decision finding the presence of an unserved nondiverse defendant fatal to its removal of an asbestos case and that its actions in state court demonstrated an intent to litigate the case there and waived the right to removal.
September 22, 2025
J&J, Amicus Warn Of ‘Problematic’ Talc Securities Class Ruling

PHILADELPHIA — The Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) in a Sept. 19 amicus curiae brief in support of a petition for rehearing warns the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that its ruling holding Johnson & Johnson liable for new “signals” about existing facts threatens the ability to rebut assumptions about the integrity of market pricing with widespread fallout. Earlier, Johnson & Johnson and certain executives told the court in their petition that the divided opinion will have a “problematic” influence in district court cases involving billions of dollars.
September 19, 2025
Pipe Maker’s RICO Case Against Asbestos Counsel Reopened By Judge

CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois reinstated a pipe maker’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO)case against counsel for asbestos plaintiffs, finding that proposed amendments could potentially cure defects that led to dismissal of the complaint.
September 18, 2025
J&J Wants Causation Experts, Longo’s Testing Excluded From Coordinated Talc Cases

LOS ANGELES — Following a partial win on upcoming bellwether trials, Johnson & Johnson entities asked the Los Angeles judge overseeing coordinated asbestos-talc ovarian cancer proceedings to exclude the plaintiffs’ general causation experts and expert William Longo’s testing and opinions, saying the experts twist and misreport findings and are not reliable.
September 17, 2025
Atlas Turner Abandoned Case, Asbestos Plaintiffs Say In Seeking Default Judgment

GRAND FORKS, N.D. — Two individuals pursuing an asbestos action asked a federal judge in North Dakota to enter a default judgment against Atlas Turner Inc., saying the 19 months that have passed since the Canadian company last took any action in the case easily meet the requirements for such a remedy.
September 16, 2025
‘Problematic’ Talc Securities-Class Ruling Requires Rehearing, J&J Warns

PHILADELPHIA — A panel opinion allowing courts to put aside the rigorous analysis traditionally required for class certification and creating a new standard for price impact disclosures in securities actions will have a “problematic” influence in district court cases involving billions of dollars, Johnson & Johnson entities defending claims that they hid the presence of asbestos in talc from shareholders tell the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
September 16, 2025
J&J Says Business Records Stipulation Doesn’t Apply Globally To Asbestos Cases

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — A man’s attempt to force a defendant to verify the propriety of business records is built on the “fiction” that stipulations in other cases apply to his asbestos-talc action despite the lack of any agreement or need for that many documents, Johnson & Johnson tells a Connecticut judge in a Sept. 15 response opposing a motion to enforce the agreements.
September 16, 2025
Oregon Jury Awards $33 Million In Shipyard Laborer’s Asbestos Gaskets Case

PORTLAND, Ore. — An Oregon jury awarded a former shipyard laborer $33 million after he developed mesothelioma from exposure to asbestos in John Crane Inc. gaskets and packing, attributing 30% of the liability to the company after finding that the conduct of four of 15 nonparties was also a substantial factor in causing the disease.
September 12, 2025
Dental, Drywall Companies Hit With $29M Asbestos Verdict By California Jury

LOS ANGELES — A California jury on Sept. 11 awarded $29 million to a man with mesothelioma, finding that joint compound and dental supply companies were liable and that the dental supplier acted with malice.
September 12, 2025
Ohio Panel: Judgment Didn’t Resolve Sanctions Motion in Asbestos Suit

AKRON, Ohio — A final judgment in an asbestos case did not resolve an ancillary motion for sanctions, leaving an appellate court without jurisdiction, an Ohio appeals court said. The court also found that the cross-appeal challenged summary judgment on the wrong grounds.
September 11, 2025
Military Leaders, Ex-AGs Tout Need For Expanded Federal Officer Removal

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a pair of amicus curiae briefs filed Sept. 11, former U.S. attorneys general and military leaders urged the U.S. Supreme Court to adopt an expanded reading of 2011 amendments to the federal officer removal statute as a means of ensuring that private companies are willing to work with the federal government without the threat of being sued decades later. The case involves whether lawsuits against oil companies for conduct related to drilling for oil during World War II belong in state or federal court.
September 11, 2025
City Knew Of Asbestos, Employees Say In Bid To Revive Suit

SAN DIEGO — Evidence that the city of San Diego knowingly forced employees to continue work in a building where they would be exposed to asbestos and a manager’s statements indicating that leasing costs were more important than other considerations such as the health of workers are exactly the type of conduct that warrant punitive damages, employees told a California appellate court.
September 10, 2025
Breach Of Contract Suit Dismissed Following Settlement Between Insurer, Reinsurer

NEW YORK — A New York federal judge ordered the dismissal without costs and without prejudice of an insurer’s breach of contract suit against its reinsurer after the parties reached a settlement.
September 09, 2025
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.
September 09, 2025
South Carolina Justice Tells State’s High Court She Will Affirm Cape Receiver

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A South Carolina justice told the state Supreme Court that she would be issuing an opinion affirming appointment of a receiver over Cape PLC in a pair of asbestos cases after the court remanded various appeals to her and warned the parties that ongoing appeals bordered on frivolous and would require sanctions if the conduct continued.
September 09, 2025
Wisconsin High Court Hears Premises Liability Appeal Of Asbestos Verdict

MILWAUKEE — The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Sept. 8 heard oral arguments on whether a brewery can be held liable as a premises owner for asbestos exposures experienced by an independent contractor under Wisconsin law and whether if the verdict stands, punitive damages are based on the entire compensatory damages award or just the portion recoverable by the plaintiff.