LATEST INSIGHTS

Coronavirus/COVID-19
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Promising Developments in Clinical Mesothelioma Vaccine Trials

Over the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the lives of the public in countless ways, claiming the lives of over half a million Americans. Individuals with underlying health issues, including patients with mesothelioma and other cancers, are at an increased risk of complications from COVID-19. However, in the past few months, great strides have been made with the development, approval, and administration of vaccines that target COVID-19, and the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation urges those receiving mesothelioma immunotherapy to get the COVID vaccine …

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Motion to Dismiss / New York / Personal Jurisdiction
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Plaintiff Allowed to Proceed with Jurisdictional Discovery as Door Manufacturer’s Motion to Dismiss Denied

Supreme Court of New York, New York County, February 16, 2021

In this action, plaintiff James Witte alleged asbestos exposure from supervising the installation of fire doors manufactured by T.M. Cobb Company in Manhattan. Cobb moved to dismiss the plaintiff’s complaint based on lack of personal jurisdiction. Cobb argued that the court did not have personal jurisdiction over them as they were incorporated in and have their principal place of business in California. Further, Cobb’s manufacturing and distribution facilities are located in four California cities. …

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Maritime/Admiralty Law / Summary Judgment
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Pump Manufacturer Granted Summary Judgment on Causation Grounds

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, March 1, 2021

Defendant Aurora Pump Company filed this instant motion for summary judgment and motion to strike. By way of background, plaintiff Ronald H. Berhmann worked on ships while serving in the U.S. Navy and while working in the Todd and Lockheed Shipyards in Seattle, Washington. Aurora manufactured pumps and asbestos-containing gaskets and packing for those pumps for use on ships. The plaintiff was an electrician, therefore, he did not work directly on pumps. Rather, …

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Louisiana / Remand/Removal
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Removal Deemed Timely in Navy Shipyard Case

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, March 2, 2021

Plaintiff Linda Crossland filed a motion to remand and defendants Avondale and Hopeman Brothers Inc. oppose the plaintiff’s motion. The plaintiff’s alleged exposure to asbestos was from asbestos fibers floating from Avondale Shipyards into her neighborhood, take home asbestos exposure from her father and husband’s work at Avondale, and from her own work at Avondale’s Main yard from 1966 through the 1970s. The plaintiff was deposed on December 11, 2020 and Avondale removed …

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Take-Home Exposure / Texas
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Summary Judgment Affirmed for Union Carbide Due to Lack of Causation

Court of Appeals of Texas, Fourteenth District, Houston, March 2, 2021

In this instant take-home exposure matter, the trial court granted defendant Union Carbide’s motion for summary judgment and the plaintiff now appeals the trial court’s order. The appellate court affirms the lower court’s decision. In response to Union Carbide’s motion, appellants offered several pieces of evidence including the decedent’s medical records, the deposition of all three of the decedent’s children (Ronda, Michelle, and Royce), Royce’s affidavit, and an expert affidavit from Dr. Richard Cohen.…

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Federal Officer Removal / Louisiana / Summary Judgment
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Court of Appeals Affirms Summary Judgment Finding No Evidence Decedent Exposed to Defendants’ Products

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, February 26, 2021

The plaintiffs claim their farther, a mechanical engineer at the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF), was killed by asbestos products sold and installed by defendants McCarty Corporation and Taylor Seidenbach, Inc.  Deteriorating asbestos and asbestos remediation occurred in the buildings in which the decedent worked.

The plaintiffs appealed the district court’s granting of summary judgment for the defendants concluding that the court found no evidence of decedent’s exposure to respirable asbestos at the MAF.  …

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Remand/Removal
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Plaintiff’s Remand Granted for a Second Time Due to Lack of Diversity

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana

The plaintiffs brought the instant action alleging that decedent John Brindell was exposed to asbestos-containing products during his employment for Puerto Rico Marine Management (PRMM) as a mechanic at the Port of New Orleans. The plaintiffs argue that the exposure to asbestos caused the decedent to contract mesothelioma. Before the court is the plaintiffs’ emergency motion to remand. Defendants Eaton Corporation, Pneumo Abex, LLC, Utility Trailer Manufacturing Company, Strick Trailers, LLC, CRA Trailers, Inc., and Great …

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Summary Judgment / Take-Home Exposure
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Summary and Post-Trial Motions for Judgment Upheld on Issues of Take-Home Exposure and Post-Sale Duty to Warn

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, February 22, 2021

The plaintiffs appealed the decision of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, granting summary judgment to Union Pacific Railroad Company (UP) and granting post-trial motions for judgment as a matter of law for Ford Motor Company and DCo, LLC in a case that arose out of the decedent Patrick Jack’s alleged mesothelioma. Mr. Jack alleged, inter alia, that he was exposed to asbestos via take-home exposure from his …

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New York / Summary Judgment
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Court Grants MSJ as Boiler Defendant Establishes Product Did Not Contain Asbestos

Supreme Court of New York, New York County

Defendant Cleaver-Brooks, Inc. filed a motion for summary judgment contending plaintiff John B. Daly, Jr. failed to produce any evidence that he was exposed to asbestos as a result of work on or in the proximity of products manufactured by Cleaver. The plaintiff alleges his mesothelioma diagnosis was caused by his exposure to asbestos while working as a steamfitter at Indian Point Power Plant in New York. The plaintiff testified to working around boilers that were manufactured …

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North Carolina / Summary Judgment
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Summary Judgment Granted to Four Defendants Based on Lack of Frequency, Regularity, and Proximity

U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina

The plaintiffs allege that Mr. Brock (the plaintiff) was exposed to asbestos-containing materials, products, and equipment throughout his 30-year career at R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and that this exposure in the course of his employment has resulted in his mesothelioma diagnosis. Four defendants, Covil Corporation, Daniel International Corporation, ViacomCBS Inc., a successor-in-interest to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, and Air & Liquid Systems Corporation, a successor-in-interest to Buffalo Pumps, Inc. have filed …

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