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Mealey's Asbestos

  • 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.

  • March 02, 2026

    Judge Won’t Bar Daubert Exclusion Questioning, But Asbestos Soil Expert Is Out

    NEW ORLEANS — A federal judge in Louisiana said she would not impose a blanket prohibition on trial questions about whether experts were excluded in other asbestos cases but warned counsel not to go into excessive detail about the rulings in those cases.  Days earlier, the judge said a shipyard should have known that it had a duty to preserve soil samples tested by an expert who had yet to be deposed in an asbestos case rapidly approaching trial, excluding the expert and any expert opinions relying on her soil testing.

  • March 02, 2026

    Alcoa: No Need To Reopen Intentional Injury Asbestos Case

    SPOKANE, Wash. — A Washington Supreme Court decision changing one prong of how courts analyze employer liability for intentional injury should not apply to adjudicated cases, otherwise courts risk an onslaught of reopened cases from decades past, the successor to Alcoa Inc. told a federal judge in Washington in opposing plaintiffs’ motion for post judgment relief.

  • February 27, 2026

    Judge Modifies East Wing Demo Asbestos Case Stay, Asks For Briefing Schedule

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The federal judge overseeing the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization’s (ADAO) lawsuit seeking details about asbestos remediation efforts at the site of the White House East Wing reconstruction granted a motion to amend a ruling staying the case and ordered the parties to file a joint status report detailing how to proceed on a motion for partial summary judgment on a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) claim.  The judge issued the docket-only order on Feb. 26.

  • February 27, 2026

    Former Asbestos Attorney Pleads Guilty To Wire Fraud, Money Laundering

    CHARLESTON, S.C. — Former Motley Rice asbestos plaintiffs’ attorney Christopher Swett faces 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to four counts each of wire fraud and money laundering stemming from a scheme to defraud the firm and clients, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina and documents filed in federal court.

  • February 26, 2026

    Man: Union Carbide Waived Jurisdiction After Years Of Litigating Asbestos Suit

    BISMARCK, N.D. — Union Carbide Corp. misreads precedent on jurisdiction but in any case waived any jurisdictional challenge by participating in previous asbestos litigation involving the same parties for three years, a man tells the North Dakota Supreme Court.

  • 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 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

    Soil Sample Destruction Earns Expert Exclusion From Asbestos Suit

    NEW ORLEANS — A shipyard should have known that it had a duty to preserve soil samples tested by an expert who had yet to be deposed in an asbestos case rapidly approaching trial, a federal judge in Louisiana said in excluding the expert and any expert opinions relying on her soil testing.

  • 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

    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.

  • 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

    Judge Signs Agreed Order On Access To Expert’s Talc Testing, Lab

    CHICAGO — Merck & Co. Inc. is set to supplement expert reports and disclosures after an Illinois judge signed an agreed order on the discovery schedule and granted the company access to talc samples tested by plaintiff expert Stephen Compton and access to his lab.

  • 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.

  • February 24, 2026

    Magistrate Judge Says Shipyard Must Produce Employee File In Asbestos Case

    NEW ORLEANS — The relevant factors warrant compelling an employer to produce an employee’s work file in an asbestos case, with certain protections in place to protect against privacy violations and embarrassment, a federal magistrate judge in Louisiana said.

  • February 24, 2026

    California Appeals Court Rejects Avon’s Challenges To Asbestos Expert Testimony

    LOS ANGELES — A California appellate court affirmed a judgment following a verdict of more than $40.8 million in total compensatory damages and another $10.3 million in punitive damages, saying that it discerned nothing improper in expert testimony about testing that found asbestos in talc or that resulting exposure constituted a cause of a woman’s mesothelioma.

  • February 12, 2026

    COMMENTARY: Examining The Value Of Bankruptcy Trust Claims Data In Asbestos Litigation

    By Mary Margaret Gay and Sarah Beth Jones

  • February 23, 2026

    Asbestos Group Says Stay Of East Wing Demo FOIA Case Too Strong

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) filed an expedited motion asking a federal judge in the District of Columbia to modify a stay of consideration of its motion for partial summary judgment in its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case seeking details about asbestos remediation efforts at the site of the White House East Wing demolition, saying the court should either set a date for responding to the motion or order the parties to agree on a briefing schedule.

  • February 20, 2026

    Beasley Allen, J&J Battle Over Stay Of N.J. Talc MDL Disqualification

    ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Having been disqualified by a New Jersey appellate court from the state’s multidistrict talc litigation, Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles PC asks the trial court not to disqualify it while it appeals a ruling finding its association with a former Johnson & Johnson lawyer improper.  But in response, Johnson & Johnson entities argue that the trial court cannot ignore the appellate court’s ruling or the harm the companies will incur from having to face trial against a law firm that collaborated with one of its former attorneys.

  • February 20, 2026

    Federal Talc MDL Parties Brief Court On Impact Of Firm’s Disqualification

    TRENTON, N.J. — A trio of parties briefed a federal magistrate judge in New Jersey on the impact a state appellate court’s disqualification of a law firm would have on the consolidated asbestos-talc litigation, with Johnson & Johnson entities telling the court the state court ruling governs the case while the challenged plaintiffs’ firm urged patience while it appeals the ruling.

  • February 20, 2026

    J&J Calls Asbestos Experts’ Amended Affidavits Untimely, Prejudicial

    PORTLAND, Maine — A attempt to update three expert affidavits that would expand the asbestos exposure timeline by a decade violates court orders, would require additional discovery after the plaintiff already received three extensions and should be stricken as untimely and prejudicial, Johnson & Johnson and an affiliate told a federal judge in Maine in a motion to strike.

  • February 19, 2026

    Restated And Disputed Complaint Alleges Only Silica, Not Asbestos, Caused Injury

    NEW ORLEANS — A man who claims he developed silicosis and lung cancer because he “worked in close proximity to sandblasters” on Feb. 18 filed a second amended and restated complaint against a host of defendants, including silica miners, suppliers, insurance companies and company executives, in Louisiana federal court contending that the defendants “consciously chose” not to implement “any meaningful safety precaution.” The complaint was restated to expressly declare that the injuries in question are not related to asbestos exposure, which had been raised in a previous complaint and was the subject of debate prior to the district court’s order permitting the restated filing.

  • February 19, 2026

    Mining Company: Recent Bankruptcy Plan Discovery Dooms Asbestos Case

    NEW ORLEANS — A recently discovered plan of reorganization supports the position that a Chapter 11 bankruptcy discharged all debts and liabilities and bars an asbestos suit against an alleged successor entity, a mining company argues after a federal judge in Louisiana denied its summary judgment motion based on the document’s absence.  The plaintiffs moved for contempt sanctions shortly after that ruling, citing “repeated misconduct” by the defendant, including reliance on the previously missing evidence.

  • February 18, 2026

    California Court Won’t Revive San Diego Employees’ Fear Of Asbestos Cancer Suit

    SAN DIEGO — There is no evidence that San Diego concealed knowledge about employees’ potential exposure to asbestos from renovation work or that the employees faced conditions outside the normal employment relationship, a California appellate court said in an unpublished opinion affirming summary judgment in favor of San Diego and one of its officers on Feb. 17.

  • February 17, 2026

    Oral Argument Date Set In Reinsurer’s Bid To Dismiss Decades-Old Asbestos Claims

    NEW YORK — A New York federal magistrate judge scheduled oral argument for May 6 on a pending motion for summary judgment through which a U.K.-based reinsurer seeks dismissal of all claims brought by the assignee of the liquidator of an insolvent insurer; in that motion, the reinsurer argues that decades-old asbestos-related reinsurance billings are barred by New York’s statute of limitations.