-
May 12, 2026
TRENTON, N.J. — Johnson & Johnson entities told the federal judge overseeing asbestos-talc multidistrict litigation in New Jersey that a recent ruling from Illinois state court buttresses the argument that plaintiffs’ attorney Andy Birchfield and Beasley Allen Law Firm should be barred from participating in the litigation after forming an alliance with a former attorney for the company who worked on settling the litigation.
-
May 12, 2026
MIAMI — A judge in Florida revoked the pro hac vice status of attorneys from Beasley Allen Law Firm in a Florida asbestos-talc case that is headed back to a jury after the first trial ended in a hung jury after a day and a half of deliberations about Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) liability for a woman’s ovarian cancer.
-
May 12, 2026
TRENTON, N.J. — Johnson & Johnson entities and women with a history of long-term use of talc for feminine hygiene briefed a federal court in New Jersey on whether an amended complaint adequately alleges a medical monitoring claim and whether class action allegations should be stricken.
-
May 12, 2026
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.
-
May 12, 2026
LOS ANGELES — Johnson & Johnson (J&J) filed a notice that it would ask a California appellate court to review a decision a ruling allowing Beasley Allen Law Firm attorneys to continue representing asbestos-talc plaintiffs after a judge found the company’s motion to revoke pro hac vice status untimely and that the company lacked evidence that the firm’s collaboration with a former J&J attorney would result in a lasting impact on the litigation.
-
May 12, 2026
LOS ANGELES — A California judge entered an amended judgment of $40,126,125.19 in the first of the state’s bellwether asbestos-talc ovarian cancer cases after rejecting posttrial challenges to the verdict based on alleged jury misconduct, instructional error and the court’s failure to exclude a plaintiffs’ law firm from the case.
-
May 08, 2026
By Brian J. Schneider
-
May 11, 2026
WILMINGTON, Del. — The Delaware Supreme Court will decide in the coming months whether asbestos bankruptcy trusts must face a suit challenging document retention policies after hearing oral arguments pitting a claim that repeat litigants cannot hope to secure unlimited document preservation from a third party against the claim that an equitable bill allows for such preservation in the unique asbestos litigation setting.
-
May 08, 2026
NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana federal judge granted partial summary judgment to a man who suffers from asbestos-related injuries in his suit against the shipyard where he worked, as well as multiple entities, including the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association (LIGA), finding “no reason to diverge” from prior decisions in the same court precluding the shipyard from “raising a government contractor defense” as to failure-to-warn and asbestos spread claims.
-
May 08, 2026
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A federal judge in West Virginia granted a motion to withdraw filed by counsel for the plaintiff in an asbestos case alleging exposure at a nursing school after they informed the court that a malpractice suit filed against them by their client made representing her going forward impossible.
-
May 08, 2026
NEW ORLEANS — A federal judge in Louisiana on May 7 granted a motion by an insurer to join in a shipyard’s opposition to remand of an asbestos case and then granted the shipyard’s motion to file a supplemental third-party complaint against the insurer. In opposing remand, the shipyard argues that rejection of federal defenses does not eliminate jurisdiction over an asbestos case.
-
May 05, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — An asbestos disease advocacy group and various federal agencies wrapped summary judgment briefing in a case alleging that the government failed to timely respond to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests involving demolition of the East Wing.
-
May 04, 2026
NEW ORLEANS — An oral ruling excluding an expert from testifying regarding genetics, the type of asbestos at issue in the case and whether a defendant acted properly falls short of Louisiana rules requiring that opinions express the reasoning behind them, a Louisiana appeals court panel said in granting a writ and vacating the ruling.
-
May 04, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The deadline for agency action addressing legacy asbestos products passed months ago without any proposed rule, the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) alleges in a complaint against the the Environmental Protection Agency filed in District of Columbia federal court.
-
May 01, 2026
SEATTLE — A Washington state statute of repose covers a subcontractor’s work installing insulation at an oil refinery, but a plaintiff can still pursue a negligence claim for the subcontractor’s sale of the asbestos-containing insulation that was used at the refinery, a divided Washington Supreme Court said April 30.
-
April 30, 2026
HOUSTON — Cosmetics ingredients producer Miyoshi America Inc. has filed a Chapter 11 petition and a prepackaged plan of reorganization that establishes a $20 million asbestos trust in Texas federal bankruptcy court, saying more than 99% of holders of talc personal injury claims voted to accept the plan in prepetition balloting.
-
April 30, 2026
BALTIMORE — A household member who suffers an injury from exposure to asbestos brought home on work clothing qualifies as a bystander, and state law does not impose a duty element for a strict liability claim, the Maryland Supreme Court said in answering a certified question from the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.
-
April 28, 2026
BUFFALO, N.Y. — A New York justice erred in placing the initial burden of proving jurisdiction in a case alleging exposure to a product during a six-month stint in the state on a plaintiff rather than the moving defendant, a New York appellate court said in reversing summary judgment.
-
April 28, 2026
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.
-
April 28, 2026
CHICAGO — A jury in Illinois returned a defense verdict for Merck & Co. Inc. in what sources told Mealey Publications is the first asbestos-talc case to go to verdict in which the defendant primarily argued that the mesothelioma in question was the result of an inherited genetic mutation.
-
April 23, 2026
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — Routine law firm activities such as prosecuting personal injury cases and rewarding attorneys for successful outcomes cannot form the basis for Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) claims, The Gori Law Firm and several individual defendants told a federal judge in Illinois in seeking to dismiss the suit against them.
-
April 23, 2026
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A court’s dismissal of claims giving rise to federal jurisdiction is not the same as recent U.S. Supreme Court precedent where a plaintiff excised those claims, a federal judge said in retaining jurisdiction over state law claims alleging asbestos exposure at a nursing school.
-
April 22, 2026
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A defense verdict in which an employer raised the workers’ compensation exclusivity defense stands after a Missouri appellate court on April 21 denied reconsideration of its ruling affirming the jury and declined a request to transfer the case to the state’s top court for the second time.
-
April 22, 2026
PORTLAND, Ore. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals entered its mandate after declining to rehear its reversal of an $8 million combined judgment for the estates of two mesothelioma victims and directing the trial court to enter judgment for the defendant railroad company, which hauled asbestos-tainted vermiculite from a mine in Libby, Mont.
-
April 21, 2026
AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Supreme Court declined to consider whether its dose-requirement precedent applies to single-exposure asbestos cases, with a concurring justice calling the lower court’s approach “troubling” and saying that the court eventually would have to address the issue.