Mealey's Asbestos Bankruptcy : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Asbestos Bankruptcy

December 16, 2022
New Mexico, Mississippi Granted Direct Appeal Of Injunction Barring J&J Suits

TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey federal bankruptcy judge has allowed New Mexico and Mississippi to appeal directly to the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals an order enjoining their consumer protection lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson (J&J) over its sale of allegedly asbestos-laden talcum powder.
December 14, 2022
Law Firm Says It Will Drop Virgin Islands Asbestos Claims Against Hess Debtor HONX

HOUSTON — A law firm representing asbestos personal injury claimants filed a notice Dec. 13 in Texas federal bankruptcy court informing the parties in the Chapter 11 case of Hess Corp. affiliate HONX Inc. that it intends to dismiss hundreds of asbestos claims against HONX pending before courts in the U.S. Virgin Islands due to the bankruptcy case.
December 13, 2022
Judge In Asbestos Case Finds Stay Doesn’t Bar Remand, Hess Merger Collusive

ST. CROIX, V.I. — The failure of a settlement and resulting new litigation precipitated an oil company’s interest in merging its entities, a federal judge in the Virgin Islands said Dec. 12 in finding that a bankruptcy stay does not prevent a ruling on remand and that the merger was a collusive attempt at securing federal jurisdiction.
December 12, 2022
Bankruptcy Judge OKs Honeywell’s $1.32B Buyout Deal With NARCO Asbestos Trust

PITTSBURGH — A Pennsylvania federal bankruptcy judge approved a buyout settlement agreement under which Honeywell International Inc. will pay $1.32 billion to the asbestos trust of affiliate North American Refractories Co. (NARCO) to bring an end to its commitment to fund the trust, which was created in NARCO’s Chapter 11 case.
December 06, 2022
New York Court Dismisses Causation Appeal In Asbestos-Talc Case

NEW YORK — A New York appellate court granted a stipulated motion to withdraw an appeal challenging a justice’s conclusion in denying summary judgment to an asbestos-talc defendant company that the evidence created genuine issues of material fact on both specific and general causation and that potential exposure from using tobacco products does not eliminate the potential for other liability
December 05, 2022
Joint Mediation Extended In Imerys Talc, Cyprus Mines Asbestos Talc Bankruptcies

WILMINGTON, Del. — Mediation aimed at a global resolution to the Chapter 11 asbestos bankruptcy cases of talc mining company Cyprus Mines Corp. and affiliate talc supplier Imerys Talc America Inc. will continue through at least Dec. 31, according to a stipulation by the parties approved by a Delaware federal bankruptcy judge.
December 05, 2022
Judge: Asbestos Defendant Can’t Access Communications With Proposed Receiver

WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware chancery court judge denied a motion seeking to compel production of any communications between a petitioner and a proposed receiver for a dissolved subsidiary of DCo LLC, finding the request to be based on “circular speculation” about an alleged connection between the two and saying the request was likely a “fishing expedition.”
December 01, 2022
2 Plaintiffs, John Crane Resolve Asbestos Cases Before Damages Trial

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Plaintiffs in two asbestos actions resolved their differences with John Crane Inc. (JCI) after a judge in one of the cases found for the company on a motion to dismiss but eventually concluded that it failed to properly answer an amended complaint and ruled against it on the issue of liability, leaving an upcoming jury trial on damages.
December 01, 2022
Dissolved Asbestos Defendant Doesn’t Need Attorneys, Judge Says

BOSTON — A dissolved Delaware corporation is no longer an entity and does not require counsel to represent it in an asbestos action, a federal judge in Massachusetts said in granting an attorney’s motion to withdraw.
November 23, 2022
2nd Circuit Rejects Rehearing For Asbestos Action Against Johns-Manville Affiliate

NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has denied a request by the widower of a woman who died from mesothelioma for rehearing of a panel ruling that he is barred from pursuing claims in Louisiana state court against an affiliate of former Chapter 11 debtor Johns-Manville Corp.
November 23, 2022
Debtor ON Marine’s Plan, $29M Asbestos Trust Win Preliminary Approval

PITTSBURGH — A Pennsylvania federal bankruptcy judge has conditionally approved a plan of liquidation for Chapter 11 debtor ON Marine Services Co. LLC that will result in a $29 million trust to pay asbestos personal injury claims.
November 23, 2022
New Mexico, Mississippi Seek 3rd Circuit Appeal Of Injunction Barring J&J Suits

TRENTON, N.J. — New Mexico and Mississippi asked a New Jersey federal bankruptcy court to allow them to appeal directly to the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals an order enjoining their consumer protection lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson (J&J) over its sale of allegedly asbestos-laden talcum powder.
November 22, 2022
Honeywell To Pay $1.32B To End Funding Obligation For NARCO Asbestos Trust

PITTSBURGH — Honeywell International Inc. said in recent Securities and Exchange Commission filings that it will pay $1.32 billion to the asbestos trust of affiliate North American Refractories Co. (NARCO) to bring an end to its commitment to fund the trust, which was created in NARCO’s Chapter 11 case in Pennsylvania federal bankruptcy court.
November 22, 2022
Pennsylvania Jury Returns $400,000 Verdict In Asbestos-Talc Case

PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania jury returned a $400,000 verdict for a woman allegedly exposed to asbestos in consumer talc products, sources told Mealey Publications.
November 21, 2022
Asbestos Pipe Maker Escapes Punitive Damages After Court Reverses

NEW YORK — Even assuming they are true, allegations that a pipe manufacturer committed gross negligence by not labeling every length of asbestos-containing pipe with a warning still does not show the type of malice required for a punitive damages claim, a New York appeals court said.
November 21, 2022
Trustee Says Insurers’ Asbestos Coverage Suit Still Stayed By Nash Chapter 7 Case

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A declaratory judgment action by insurers seeking a ruling on available coverage for asbestos claims against Chapter 7 debtor The Nash Engineering Co. remains barred by the bankruptcy automatic stay and should stay that way to give the trustee the chance to investigate the coverage and then negotiate with the insurers for a settlement, the trustee said in a status report in Connecticut federal court.
November 21, 2022
Judge Stays Case For Global Mediation Between W.R. Grace Insurer, Plaintiffs

GREAT FALLS, Mont. — A federal judge granted a joint motion to stay a case so that the parties can determine whether global mediation could result in a settlement of claims that W.R. Grace & Co.’s insurer sold off its liabilities to a third party that improperly delays claim payment so it can profit off the float.
November 17, 2022
J&J Asbestos-Talc Fraud Plaintiffs Defend Class, Concealment Claims

TRENTON, N.J. — A putative class alleging that Johnson & Johnson withheld or destroyed evidence that its industrial talc contained asbestos told a federal judge in New Jersey that they meet all the requirements of a fraudulent concealment claim and that the alleged scheme and presumed reliance on public statements warrant denying a motion to dismiss and a motion to deny class certification.
November 16, 2022
Judge Denies Motion To Appeal Order In Dispute With Insurance Guaranty Association

NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana federal judge denied creditors’ motion to file an appeal of a Louisiana federal bankruptcy court’s interlocutory order in a bankruptcy suit involving the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association (LIGA) and alleged insurers of an insulation supplier that was also a defendant in separate personal injury asbestos suits, finding that the creditors failed to show “that the bankruptcy court’s order limiting the scope of the corporate deposition presents an issue of law, let alone a controlling issue of law.”
November 10, 2022
Hess Debtor HONX Says Claimants’ Appeal Of IME Order Should Be Tossed

HOUSTON — Hess Corp. Chapter 11 debtor HONX Inc. has asked a Texas federal court to dismiss an appeal by asbestos claimants over the appointment of an independent medical examiner (IME), calling the appeal “a deeply misguided effort to challenge an order by the bankruptcy court that is not even close to immediately reviewable.”
November 10, 2022
Mark Lanier Launches U.K. Firm, Files 1st Asbestos-Talc Claim

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, United Kingdom — The U.S. attorney behind a $4.7 billion verdict against Johnson & Johnson recently partnered with barristers in the United Kingdom and on Nov. 9 filed their first claim against talcum powder manufacturers for allegedly failing to disclose the presence of asbestos in its talc, according to a press release.
November 09, 2022
New York Jury’s $2M Award Stands As Judge Denies Asbestos Post-Trial Motion

BUFFALO, N.Y. — After a New York jury awarded a couple $2 million for the man’s mesothelioma, a justice denied a post-trial motion, saying that the plaintiffs properly established causation and that the record didn’t support a superseding cause instruction.
November 04, 2022
Judge Finds For Plaintiff On Asbestos Liability, Orders Trial On Damages

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — A defendant’s deficient response to an amended complaint leaves no genuine issue of material fact regarding liability and an upcoming trial will focus only on damages, a federal judge in Virginia said in ruling on a plaintiff’s motion for judgment on the pleadings.
November 03, 2022
Missouri Jury Awards Family $6M For Woman’s Fatal Mesothelioma

ST. LOUIS — A Missouri jury found Ford Motor Co. liable for a woman’s fatal mesothelioma, awarding her family $6 million, sources told Mealey Publications.
November 03, 2022
Bankruptcy Court Sets Deadlines For Non-Asbestos Claims Against Hess Debtor

HOUSTON — A Texas federal bankruptcy judge on Nov. 2 gave non-asbestos claimants in the Chapter 11 case of Hess Corp. affiliate HONX Inc. until Jan. 20 to file proofs of claims that arose before the debtor filed its bankruptcy petition.