Mealey's Asbestos
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December 16, 2024
U.K. Insurer Wins Stay Of Arbitration In Reinsurance Billings Dispute
NEW YORK — Saying in part that the U.S.-based defendant didn’t show “by a preponderance of the evidence that an agreement to arbitrate exists between the parties,” a New York federal judge cited “New York state law” in granting a U.K.-based insurer’s petition to stay arbitration.
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December 12, 2024
No Cert Petition Planned For Dismissal Of J&J Spinoff’s 2nd Chapter 11 Case
TRENTON, N.J. — There will be no U.S. Supreme Court petition filed by Johnson & Johnson (J&J) spinoff LLT Management LLC over the second dismissal of its Chapter 11 case, the Official Committee of Talc Claimants told a New Jersey federal bankruptcy judge in preparation for a hearing to decide if the case should be closed.
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December 12, 2024
Insurer Seeks Summary Judgment Argument In Asbestos Coverage Row
OMAHA, Neb. — National Indemnity Co. (NICO) has moved in Nebraska federal court for oral argument on pending motions for partial summary judgment in its suit to enforce obligations by defendants it calls reinsurers — one of whom is now insolvent — for liability NICO incurred related to claims for asbestos exposure.
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December 11, 2024
Judge Faults Lawyer Misconduct, Grants New Trial After $260M Talc Verdict
PORTLAND, Ore. — Failure to heed court orders and other misconduct reached the level that it likely influenced the jury and requires retrying a case that produced a $260 million asbestos-talc verdict that originally included $200 million in punitive damages, an Oregon judge said in granting Johnson & Johnson entities’ motion.
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December 11, 2024
South Carolina Judge Orders New Asbestos-Talc Trial Over Withheld Evidence
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Asbestos-talc companies filed a notice of appeal of a ruling finding that an attorney responsible for discovery committed fraud and “intentionally concealed documents” detailing sales of products, which a judge in South Carolina said in granting a new trial could have impacted the jury’s verdict in the companies’ favor.
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December 11, 2024
Son Takes Organ Loss Asbestos Case To Delaware Supreme Court
WILMINGTON, Del. — The son of a man injured at work appealed a Delaware state court decision affirming a ruling by the state’s industrial board that credited an employer’s expert’s impairment rating, a conclusion he said the court reached by ignoring that the workers’ compensation statute considers even partial loss of use of a body part a permanent loss.
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December 10, 2024
Plaintiff: Evidence Of Fraud Warrants Hauling Talc Company Back Into Suit
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — A Connecticut court should reopen a judgment dismissing asbestos-talc claims on jurisdictional grounds in the wake of evidence directly contradicting statements its counsel made in briefing about its presence in the state, a plaintiff tells a judge in a Dec. 9 memorandum.
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December 06, 2024
After Supplemental Briefing Judge Remands Shipyard Asbestos Exposure Case
SEATTLE — A complaint contained nothing that started the clock on removal, but that removal was premature because of the lack of any details linking a man’s allegedly fatal asbestos exposures to boilers supplied to a shipyard for Navy use, a federal judge in Washington said in remanding a case after supplemental briefing on the matter.
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December 06, 2024
Pennsylvania Top Court Agrees To Hear Corporate Veil Asbestos Liability Cases
HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court agreed to weigh in on whether suits against a lawfully dissolved limited liability company that are otherwise barred by state law can be revived by piercing its corporate veil and whether doing so promotes justice when there were reasonably foreseeable asbestos claims that could not be compensated.
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December 06, 2024
Product ID Part Of Evidence Keeping Boiler Company In New York Asbestos Case
NEW YORK — A boiler company’s argument that it didn’t manufacture the type of boiler that allegedly exposed a man to asbestos merely points to holes in man’s ability to link it to the product and does not warrant summary judgment in light of his product identification testimony, a New York justice said in denying the motion.
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December 06, 2024
J&J Contract Talc Manufacturer Stuck In New York Asbestos Suit
NEW YORK — A talc manufacturer’s arguments about contract specification and the lack of evidence about exposures merely points to holes in a woman’s case and does not eliminate the possibility of liability, a New York justice said in denying summary judgment.
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December 04, 2024
Judge Grants Contempt Hearing In Asbestos Dispute Over Expert Moline, Northwell
NEW YORK — A New York justice on Dec. 3 issued an order scheduling a show-cause hearing on a motion seeking to hold an asbestos expert and her employer in contempt of court for “brazenly” ignoring court rulings after the state’s high court denied leave to appeal a decision compelling production of the identities of participants in expert Jacqueline Moline’s asbestos-talc studies.
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December 03, 2024
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.
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December 03, 2024
Angelos, Asbestos Claimants Resolve Asbestos Malpractice Claims For $57M
BALTIMORE — A judge in Maryland granted final approval of a $57 million settlement resolving asbestos claimants’ legal malpractice claims stemming from Law Offices of Peter G. Angelos PC’s failure to file timely actions after learning about insurance proceeds available in a settlement.
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December 03, 2024
Union Carbide Prevails In Rare Rhode Island Asbestos Trial
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A Rhode Island jury returned a defense verdict for Union Carbide Corp. in a case alleging that a woman died after asbestos exposure suffered when she laundered her former husband’s clothing; the trial is the first time an asbestos case in the state has gone to jury in nearly 40 years, sources told Mealey Publications.
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December 02, 2024
Connecticut Judge Adds $7.5 Million To Vanderbilt Asbestos-Talc Award
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — A judge in Connecticut added $7.5 million in punitive damages to an asbestos verdict, turning away attempts to relitigate successor liability and saying the conduct in question and jury’s findings support the award. The amount represents half the compensatory damages granted by a jury earlier this year.
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November 26, 2024
Virgin Islands High Court: Conjunctive Discovery Rule Applies, Bars Asbestos Case
CHARLOTTE AMALIE, Virgin Islands — A man’s own deposition testimony shows that he could identify asbestos-containing insulation and knew of his occupational exposures when he was diagnosed with asbestosis, the Virgin Islands Supreme Court said in finding that the conjunctive reading of the discovery rule applies and the statute of limitations bars his case.
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November 26, 2024
Citing New Expert, Judge Certifies Class In Canadian Talc Case
NEW WESTMINSTER, British Columbia — A Canadian case alleging that perineal use of talc caused ovarian cancer will proceed as a class action after the judge found that newly submitted expert testimony sufficiently cured previous defects in the action.
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November 26, 2024
Cape Parties Notify Court Of English Asbestos Receiver Decision
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Third-party defendants notified the judge overseeing South Carolina asbestos litigation that an English court enjoined Peter Protopapas from acting as the receiver for Cape Intermediate Holdings Ltd.
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November 26, 2024
English Justice Enjoins South Carolina Receiver From Acting As Cape Agent
LONDON — A justice in an English court enjoined a receiver appointed by a South Carolina justice from acting on behalf of Cape Intermediate Holdings Ltd, saying that while the appointment might be viable elsewhere, English law clearly does not recognize his authority.
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November 26, 2024
California Judge Extends Time For Challenges To $16.6M Laboratory Asbestos Case
LOS ANGELES — A California judge reset deadlines in an asbestos case, giving the parties the month of December to brief a forthcoming motion for a new trial after a jury awarded $16,679,000 to a husband and wife in a mesothelioma case involving exposures to asbestos in laboratories along the West Coast.
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November 25, 2024
7th Circuit Affirms Dismissal To Arbitration In Preclusion Row
CHICAGO — Saying that neither Morgan v. Sundance, Inc. nor Section 13 of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) casts doubt on Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals precedent establishing “that the preclusive effect of an arbitral award is an issue for the arbitrator to decide, not a federal court,” a panel on Nov. 22 affirmed dismissal to arbitration of a lawsuit reinsurers filed over asbestos-related liabilities.
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November 25, 2024
Asbestos Case Involving Talc Pleurodesis Evidence Battle Settles Prior To Trial
LOS ANGELES — A couple asked a California court to vacate all hearing dates in a case in which they had moved to exclude any reference at trial to the talc pleurodesis procedure the man underwent, saying they had resolved the case with all of the remaining defendants.
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November 25, 2024
Missouri Jury Returns Defense Verdict For Employer In Asbestos Case
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Missouri jury found for a defendant in an asbestos case after the state’s appellate court allowed the suit to proceed against the woman’s employer after concluding that it didn’t comply with the state’s special mesothelioma insurance provision and the Missouri Supreme Court declined to step in.
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November 25, 2024
Oregon Judge Reduces $200M Asbestos-Talc Punitive Damages Award
PORTLAND, Ore. — After finding a $200 million punitive damages award constitutional in an asbestos case, an Oregon judge reduced that award to $120 million, citing evidence that Johnson & Johnson already ceased production of the talc-based baby powder at issue in the case and previously paid punitive damages for the conduct. J&J moved to stay enforcement of the judgment.