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Mealey's Asbestos

  • 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.

  • February 13, 2026

    4th Circuit Upholds Denial Of Stay Relief For CertainTeed Debtor’s Claimants

    RICHMOND, Va. —A North Carolina federal bankruptcy judge did not abuse his discretion in denying a request by asbestos claimants to lift the automatic stay so the claimants could proceed with their state court lawsuits against CertainTeed spinoff and Chapter 11 debtor DBMP LLC, a divided Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held in affirming.

  • February 11, 2026

    Asbestos Group Seeks Early Win On East Wing Demolition FOIA Violations

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — There is no dispute that three federal agencies missed the deadline for complying with a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request involving asbestos remediation efforts at the site of the East Wing demolition, and the court should order them to make a determination and produce responsive documents, an advocacy group tells a federal court in the District of Columbia.

  • February 10, 2026

    Louisiana Judge Denies Genetic Testing In Asbestos Lung Cancer Case

    BATON ROUGE, La. — A Louisiana judge denied a motion to compel production of a blood sample for genetic testing in an asbestos lung cancer case, saying there was insufficient causation evidence before the court that would warrant allowing the medical procedure.

  • February 10, 2026

    With Experts, Wrongful Death Questions Unresolved, Judge Continues Talc Trial

    PORTLAND, Maine — A federal judge in Maine granted a man’s motion to continue the trial date in his asbestos-talc suit, noting the abundance of pending motions, including ones involving experts and the availability of wrongful death damages that could impact trial planning.

  • February 10, 2026

    Experts Can’t Fill Holes In Take-Home Asbestos Case, California Federal Judge Says

    LOS ANGELES — Expert testimony does not sufficiently bridge the gap in evidence about exposure in a take-home asbestos case, but co-worker testimony about a man’s work suffices to keep a second defendant in the case, a federal judge in California said in dismissing a portion of the case.

  • February 10, 2026

    Judge Enters $24.6M Default Judgment In Asbestos-Talc Suit

    LOS ANGELES — A California judge entered a $24.6 million default judgment against talc defendant Martin Himmel Inc. after the company withdrew its representation and the court struck its answer in the case.

  • February 10, 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 10, 2026

    Appeals Court Affirms Scottish Asbestos Case Can Go Before Jury

    EDINBURGH, Scotland — A Scottish asbestos case will go before a jury after an appeals court ruled that a woman’s suit was timely and could be heard by a jury rather than a judge because the statute of limitations was not at issue.

  • February 10, 2026

    Talc Class Claims Stricken, Medical Monitoring Claim Dismissed By Judge

    TRENTON, N.J. — The competing interests in a proposed class action covering both those with talc-based injuries and those seeking medical monitoring for potential future injuries cannot meet the adequacy requirements for class status, and the defects cannot be cured by dividing the two interests into subclasses, a federal judge in New Jersey said in striking class claims.