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Mealey's Asbestos Bankruptcy

  • 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 26, 2026

    Insurers’ Appeal Of Avon Debtors’ Bankruptcy Plan Moot, Trust Officials Say

    WILMINGTON, Del. — The confirmed Chapter 11 plan of liquidation for asbestos talc debtor AIO US Inc. has taken effect, and an asbestos trust under the plan has been established and funded, so challenges to the plan by insurers in their plan confirmation appeal in Delaware federal court are “equitably moot,” the trust and its advisory committee argue in their 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

    Debtor Nash’s Holding Company Says Trustee’s Remedy Request Fails

    BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — A bid by the Chapter 7 trustee for asbestos debtor The Nash Engineering Co. for a “prejudgment remedy” in his two fraudulent transfer suits in Connecticut federal court should be rejected because he “has not established probable cause that he will be able to prove actual fraudulent intent by clear and convincing evidence,” the debtor’s holding company affiliate says in an opposition brief.

  • 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

    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

    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 12, 2026

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

    By Mary Margaret Gay and Sarah Beth Jones

  • 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 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 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

    Insurers Take Challenge Of FCR In Asbestos Debtor’s Case To 4th Circuit

    ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Two insurers of Chapter 11 debtor Hopeman Brothers Inc. on Feb. 10 appealed a Virginia federal judge’s ruling that they do not have bankruptcy appellate standing to challenge a bankruptcy court’s appointment of a legal representative for future asbestos claimants in the debtor’s 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

    3rd Circuit Remands To Allow J&J Affiliate To Amend Suit Against Talc Study Author

    PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals dismissed an appeal at the request of Johnson & Johnson (J&J) spinoff and Chapter 11 debtor and appellant Pecos River Talc LLC and remanded its fraud suit against the author of a scientific study on asbestos in talc products so the debtor can file an amended complaint in New Jersey federal court based on new evidence.

  • February 09, 2026

    New Jersey Appeals Court Disqualifies Beasley Allen From MDL Talc Litigation

    ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles PC’s knowing collaboration on talc litigation with a former Johnson & Johnson attorney who worked on the same litigation warrants disqualifying the firm from New Jersey’s asbestos-talc multicounty litigation, a state appeals court held in a Feb. 6 opinion reversing a trial court.

  • February 05, 2026

    Ohio Bankruptcy Judge Says Review Of Surviving Son’s Trust Claim Precluded

    CINCINNATI — For the second time in less than a year, the son of a man who died from mesothelioma after receiving a payment in 2001 from an asbestos trust in settlement of a nonmalignancy claim had his motion for trust review of a malignancy claim for his father’s mesothelioma denied by an Ohio federal bankruptcy judge, who said the son’s second motion is barred by the claim preclusion doctrine.

  • February 03, 2026

    Asbestos Case Settles After Judge Limits Reliance On Moline’s Talc Studies

    OAKLAND, Calif. — A woman reached a settlement with the remaining three asbestos defendants after a California judge said she may rely on the more recent of expert Jacqueline Moline’s two articles involving alleged cases of talc-only mesothelioma to establish that mined talc can contain asbestos and that asbestos can remain even after the milling process, but not to establish the likelihood of contracting mesothelioma through cosmetic talc use.

  • February 02, 2026

    J&J Bankruptcy Delays Don’t Give Talc Plaintiffs Standing, Judge Says

    TRENTON, N.J. — Asbestos-talc litigation delays caused by the stays required by Johnson & Johson entities’ bankruptcies cannot form the basis of an injury for standing purposes, and the argument that they should is contrary to the structure and purpose of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, a federal judge in New Jersey said in an unpublished opinion granting a motion to dismiss an amended asbestos personal injury class complaint.

  • February 02, 2026

    Asbestos Committee In Georgia-Pacific Debtor’s Case Petitions Supreme Court

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. gave the Official Committee of Asbestos Claimants in the bankruptcy case of Georgia-Pacific spinoff Bestwall LLC more time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari to challenge the denial of its bid to dismiss the debtor’s Chapter 11 case, and the debtor filed the petition by the new deadline.

  • January 29, 2026

    Asbestos Pipe Defendant Levels RICO Allegations Against Gori Law Firm

    EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — The Gori Law Firm and its attorneys conspired to file sham asbestos lawsuits, pursued claims they knew were baseless and coached witnesses in furtherance of that scheme, J-M Manufacturing Company Inc. alleges in a Jan. 28 lawsuit filed in Illinois federal court alleging violation of the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).

  • January 29, 2026

    Imerys, Cyprus Mines Debtors Defend Settlement With J&J In 3rd Circuit

    PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals should reject “yet another chapter in the meritless efforts of” insurers of asbestos talc debtors Imerys Talc America Inc. and Cyprus Mines Corp. to overturn approval of a $280 million settlement with talc seller Johnson & Johnson for a dispute over indemnification rights for defense of asbestos personal injury claims and “finally put an end to this misadventure,” the debtors say in their appellee brief.

  • January 29, 2026

    Kansas Court Affirms Verdict But Allows FELA Offsets For Asbestos Trust Recoveries

    TOPEKA, Kan. — A widow need not have placed an exact value on her husband’s services to recover for them, and the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) permits a railroad to offset a negligence verdict award by amounts she received from asbestos bankruptcy trusts for his mesothelioma, a Kansas Court of Appeals panel said in reversing the verdict in part and affirming in part.

  • January 27, 2026

    Debtor Nash’s Trustee Seeks Return Of Assets In Fraudulent Transfer Suits

    BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — The Chapter 7 trustee for asbestos debtor The Nash Engineering Co. is seeking a “prejudgment remedy” in a motion filed in his two fraudulent transfer suits in Connecticut federal court due to “recent and alarming revelations in discovery concerning [a holding company’s] improper dissipation of millions of dollars in assets after the bankruptcy filing.”

  • January 27, 2026

    Montana High Court Appoints New Chief Judge For Asbestos Court

    KALISPELL, Mont. — The Montana Supreme Court appointed a new judge to oversee the statewide asbestos litigation in the wake of last year’s resignation of the previous judge, who had overseen the litigation since its original consolidation in 2016.