LATEST INSIGHTS

Case Decisions / Expert Challenges / Louisiana / Motions in Limine
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Daubert Challenges Result in Experts Being Allowed to Testify Regarding General Causation; Not Specific Causation

In this federal court case, it was alleged that the plaintiff’s decedent was exposed to asbestos while serving in various job duties while in the U.S. Navy during the 1960s.  The plaintiff brought two Daubert motions seeking to preclude the defendants’ experts, Drs Michael Graham and Mark Taragin, from testifying. Dr. Graham is a forensic pathologist and Dr. Taragin is an epidemiologist.  The court granted in part and denied in part the plaintiff’s motions.

The court would allow each expert to provide general causation testimony …

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Case Decisions / Louisiana / Maritime/Admiralty Law / Summary Judgment
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Pain and Suffering Damages Found as Pecuniary Under Maritime Law; Summary Judgment Granted in Part and Denied in Part

The defendants moved for summary judgment arguing that the plaintiff, John Bell, lacked standing to pursue a wrongful death or survival action under the Death on the High Seas Act (DOHSA). Specifically, the defendants relied on the language in DOHSA, which stated that “when death of an individual is caused by wrongful act, neglect, or default occurring on the high seas beyond 3 nautical miles from the shore of the United States, the personal representative of the decedent may bring a civil action” and the …

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Asbestos Litigation Analysis
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Personal Jurisdiction Decision by Missouri Supreme Court to Significantly Impact Asbestos Litigation in Missouri

St. Louis City, Missouri is often termed a “judicial hellhole” for corporate defendants in product liability actions, most notably in asbestos litigation. Until recently, Missouri courts offered little guidance on what constituted general jurisdiction for corporate defendants in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s holding in Daimler AG v. Bauman, 134 S.Ct. 746 (2014). In Daimler, the Supreme Court held that absent exceptional circumstances, a company is only subject to general jurisdiction in its state of formation or where it has its principal …

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Significant Verdicts
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California Jury Awards $10 Million to Mesothelioma Plaintiff Who Worked with Asbestos Pipe

Plaintiffs Michael and Cindy Burch filed suit against various defendants, including a pipe manufacturer, alleging that Michael Burch developed pleural mesothelioma due to asbestos exposure. After a seven week jury trial, the jury found in favor of the plaintiffs and awarded $10 million. In doing so, the jury found that the pipe manufacturer misrepresented and concealed the health risks of handling and working with its product.

The plaintiff cut, drilled, and installed asbestos cement pipe while working for J.C. Plumbing Company and Valley Engineers in …

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California / Case Decisions / Summary Judgment
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Lack of Factual Basis for Plaintiffs’ Assertion of Causation Yields Grant of Summary Judgment

After the decedent died of mesothelioma, her husband and adult son filed a wrongful death and survivorship complaint against numerous defendants. W.W. Henry Company, predecessor to the Henry Company (who was also named and not a party to this motion) filed a motion for summary judgment based upon lack of exposure. The appellate court affirmed the trial court’s granting of this motion.

The plaintiffs alleged exposure to asbestos from the early 1970s-early 1980s during the decedent’s work as an art teacher and sculptor, and from …

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Case Decisions / Connecticut / Insurance Coverage
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Connecticut Appeals Court Adopts Continuous Trigger and Unavailability Rule of Insurance Allocation

R.T. Vanderbilt Company, Inc., which formerly manufactured and sold industrial talc that purportedly contained asbestos, brought this action seeking, inter alia, a declaratory judgment to determine its rights and obligations, and those of approximately thirty defendant insurance companies, as to the costs of defending and indemnifying the plaintiff in thousands of underlying lawsuits brought against it in the past several decades that alleged personal injuries resulting from exposure to asbestos. In this 147-page decision, the court determined a multitude of issues related to allocation of …

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Case Decisions / Maritime/Admiralty Law / Pennsylvania / Statute of Limitations
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“Discovery Rule” Applied for Plaintiffs’ Claim to Survive Two-Year Statue of Limitations

The plaintiffs asserted that the decedent, Joseph Conneen, was exposed to asbestos while working as a pipefitter and plumber from 1962-80 at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and Rohm and Haas. The decedent died of lung cancer. The complaint was filed on January 20, 2015. In March 2015, the case was removed to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania as part of MDL-875. Defendant Goulds moved for summary judgment on the basis of Pennsylvania’s two-year statute of limitations. The court denied this …

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Significant Verdicts
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Baltimore Jury Awards $14.5M to Former Steamfitter in Mesothelioma Claim

Plaintiff William E. Busch, Jr.  filed suit against various defendants alleging asbestos exposure between 1967 and 1976 from both his work as a steamfitter and from home renovation projects. Busch, Jr. was diagnosed with mesothelioma in March of 2016 and filed suit shortly thereafter on April 11, 2016 under Case No. 24X16000151.

On February 16, 2017, following a three week trial presided by Judge Shannon Avery in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County, the jury returned a verdict in plaintiff’s favor on counts of negligence …

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Bare Metal/Component Parts / Case Decisions / Illinois
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Madison County Jury Renders Defense Verdict for Brake Grinder Manufacturer

Plaintiffs Stan and Janet Urban, of West Bloomfield, Michigan, filed a lawsuit in Madison County, Illinois in March 2013. The plaintiffs alleged Mr. Urban developed mesothelioma due to asbestos exposure from using Ammco brake grinders while employed as a high school auto technology teacher. Defendant Hennessy Industries was the last remaining defendant at trial. Ammco is Hennessy’s predecessor. The jury disagreed with the plaintiffs’ request for $10 million, and rendered a verdict in favor of Hennessy.

The plaintiffs argued that Hennessy had the power to …

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Case Decisions / New York / Significant Verdicts
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New York Appellate Court Determines Causation Evidence Was Insufficient to Support Verdict in Mesothelioma Matter

In a significant decision concerning the causation standards in asbestos matters, on February 28, 2017, the Appellate Division, First Department in a 3-1 decision, affirmed the trial court’s decision to vacate an $11 million jury verdict against an automotive manufacturer.

By way of background, in Juni v. Ford Motor Company, Index Number 190315/12, plaintiff alleged that his mesothelioma diagnosis was caused by exposure to asbestos while working with various automotive parts (i.e., brakes, clutches and gaskets). Those products were alleged to contain …

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