Category: Significant Verdicts

Judge Hitting Mallet On Dollar
New York / Significant Verdicts
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$23 Million Verdict Awarded in Mesothelioma Case Against Valve Manufacturer

Jurisdiction: NYCAL

A Manhattan jury handed down a $23 million verdict Dec. 21 in a living mesothelioma case brought by the law firm of Weitz & Luxenberg. 

The jury awarded compensatory damages to 81-year-old plaintiff James McWilliams, designating $13 million for past pain and suffering and $10 million for future pain and suffering.

Mr. McWilliams was a career union steamfitter for Local 638 in New York City. 

The trial began in November before Justice Suzanne Adams. The six jurors found a valve manufacturer 90-percent liable …

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Law theme. Judge chamber.
Significant Verdicts
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$25 Million Verdict Awarded in Asbestosis Case Following Trial Against Gasket and Packing Manufacturer

Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania  

On Thursday, December 22, 2022, a Philadelphia jury handed down a $25 million verdict in an asbestosis case brought by the law firm of Nass Cancelliere. The award was comprised of $15 million in non-economic damages to 76-year-old plaintiff, Richard Daciw, and $10 million in loss of consortium damages to his wife, Winifred. John Crane, Inc. was the sole remaining defendant at trial. Twenty entities were included on the verdict sheet, comprised of both premises/employer defendants and …

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Money-wrapped by gavel
Asbestos Litigation Analysis / Significant Verdicts
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Jury Awards $36.5 Million in Compensatory and Punitive Damages to Former W.R. Grace Worker

The Asbestos Case Tracker has been following developing issues regarding hundreds of asbestos exposure cases involving plaintiffs who worked for W.R. Grace at the Libby, Montana mine and facilities. Recently, a Great Falls, Montana jury awarded $36.5 million dollars to Ralph Hutt, an Oregon man who worked at the Libby mine. Hutt’s matter is a bellwether case, which is the first of more than 800 cases filed against Maryland Casualty Company (MCC), provider of workers’ compensation coverage to Grace from 1963 until 1973, to go …

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Discovery / Louisiana / Significant Verdicts
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Court Denies Plaintiffs’ Motion to Compel Supplemental Discovery Against Defendant

In McCallister v. McDermott & Co., Inc., et al., the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana recently ruled on the plaintiffs’ motion to compel discovery directed to Armstrong International, Inc., requesting supplemental responses to interrogatories and requests for production. The plaintiffs initially served requests to Armstrong, which were responded to in a timely manner. Several months after receiving the responses, the plaintiffs’ counsel emailed Armstrong’s counsel, arguing that the responses were deficient and required supplemental responses within seven days. On …

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Significant Verdicts
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Beyond the Gateway Arch -Talc Litigation Update Nine Months After Mammoth St. Louis City Jury Verdict

 

In July 2018 a St. Louis City jury heard one of the first trials involving allegations of the development of ovarian cancer due to talc contaminated with asbestos.[1] In a decision that shocked both the plaintiff and defense bar, the jury awarded $25 million to each of 22 plaintiffs for a total of $550 million in compensatory damages. The jury then spent less than two hours deliberating punitive damages before returning with a total award of $4.14 billion against defendants Johnson & Johnson …

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California / Significant Verdicts
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Defense Verdict for Johnson & Johnson in California Asbestos-Talc Case

CALIFORNIA — On November 14, 2018, before the Honorable Timothy Canning, a Northern California state jury returned a defense verdict in favor of Johnson & Johnson (J&J). The jury found the defendant not liable for the plaintiff Carla Allen’s mesothelioma. The plaintiff initially filed suit earlier this year, pleading both negligence and strict liability causes of action, and alleged that defendants knew its talcum products contained asbestos and were likely hazardous to the health of consumers. The main allegation in this case centered on the …

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Oregon / Significant Verdicts
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Chanel Obtains Defense Verdict from Oregon Jury in Living Mesothelioma Claim

OREGON — An Oregon jury delivered a defense verdict for defendant Chanel on September 17, 2018 after a four-week trial in a living pleural mesothelioma claim. Chanel asserted an spontaneous etiology defense and the jury unanimously found that (i) Chanel was not negligent and (ii) was no defect in the Chanel cosmetic talc product allegedly used by plaintiff in this case.…

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California / Case Decisions / Significant Verdicts
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California Jury Finds Against Asbestos/Talc Defendants for $22.17 Million

CALIFORNIA — Earlier this week, an Alameda County, California jury awarded plaintiffs $22.17 million dollars, comprised of $17.6 million in compensatory damages and $4.6 million in punitive damages.  Defendants Imerys Talc America Inc. (40 percent) and Vanderbilt Minerals LLC (60 percent) were found liable.  Vanderbilt Minerals reportedly settled the case after the compensatory verdict.  The plaintiffs alleged that the 72-year-old decedent developed mesothelioma after working with paint made with talc that was contaminated with asbestos.  According to the plaintiffs’ closing arguments, the defendants had denied …

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California / Case Decisions / Significant Verdicts
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Los Angeles Jury Concludes Mesothelioma Not Caused By Asbestos

CALIFORNIA — The estate of Velma Searcy (plaintiffs) filed suit in the Superior Court of Los Angeles for the personal injuries and subsequent death of Velma Searcy at age 51. The plaintiffs argued that Searcy’s mesothelioma diagnosis and death was caused from occupational exposure to asbestos through Searcy’s work as an electrician in the aerospace industry. The plaintiffs’ claims also included allegations of take-home asbestos exposure as a child watching her father perform brake changes on various vehicles. Most of the defendants either settled with …

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Case Decisions / Expert Challenges / Florida / Significant Verdicts
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$8.5 Million Verdict Affirmed Against Premises Defendant

Plaintiffs Dennis Britt and Rosa-Maria Britt filed suit after Dennis Britt was diagnosed with mesothelioma. Britt ultimately passed away from the disease and Rosa-Marie Britt continued as personal representative of his estate and added a wrongful death claim.

Britt was an employee benefits advisor from 1978-1997 where he visited various commercial and industrial facilities to speak with, and enroll, employees of these facilities, some of which were owned and operated by the defendant. Prior to his death, Britt testified that during the course of his …

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