Category: General

Superior Court of California, County of Alameda, September 3, 2020

In one of the first asbestos-related Zoom trials in the country, Honeywell International, Inc., successor in interest to Bendix Corp., won a defense verdict. The plaintiff, Ricardo Ocampo, alleged that he was exposed to asbestos from working as a janitor at various auto dealerships and manufacturing businesses between 1991-1997 and that his exposure caused him to develop mesothelioma.

The jury deliberated for two days before returning the defense verdict.…

NEW YORK – Utica Mutual Insurance Company and Clearwater Insurance Company, which entered into reinsurance agreements regarding umbrella policies that Utica issued to Goulds Pumps, will go to trial over whether Utica can recover from Clearwater certain defense costs it paid to Goulds in underlying personal injury actions by asbestos claimants.

Utica will be able to recover the costs from Clearwater only if the umbrella policies obligated Utica to pay defense costs to Goulds. Clearwater argued that the umbrella policies provided no such obligation. Specifically, …

LOUISIANA – The plaintiff, Terry Bondurant, alleged that his mesothelioma was caused in part by his service as a welder for the United States Navy aboard the USS Ticonderoga, and by his work as an electrician in civilian refineries and chemical plants. The plaintiff brought strict liability failure to warn and design defect claims against defendants GE and Westinghouse and others in Louisiana State Court, but specifically disclaimed “any cause of action for injury caused by exposure on a federal enclave and by any act …

Asbestos litigation has been consistently active throughout the United States since the first asbestos lawsuit was filed in the 1970s. As the population of asbestos plaintiffs has grown over the last 40 years, so have the funds paid by various asbestos defendants. This growing financial burden has caused numerous asbestos defendants to file for bankruptcy. In doing so, the insolvent defendants are required to create asbestos trust funds for the protection of future asbestos plaintiffs. To date, there are over 50 active asbestos bankruptcy trusts …

NEW YORK – A New York Appellate Court upheld the trial court’s finding that the plaintiff Pietro Macaluso’s use of a list of products to refresh his recollection of alleged exposure to asbestos was proper in a recent multi-million dollar verdict. The verdict was stipulated down to $10 million for pain and suffering, $9 million for Macaluso’s son’s loss of parental guidance, and $10 million for his daughter’s loss of parental guidance. The court also ordered a new trial on damages to $4 million for …