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Calif. jury awards $71M in asbestos case
OAKLAND, Calif. (Legal Newsline) – An Alameda County, Calif., jury has returned a verdict for $70,861,113 in favor of a former U.S. Navy machinist mate and nuclear inspector and against defendant John Crane Inc. in an asbestos personal injury case.
La. court's $3.8 million judgment in survival action asbestos case affirmed
BATON ROUGE, La. (Legal Newsline) – Appealing a $3.8 million judgment, a defendant named in a Louisiana asbestos case unsuccessfully argued the lower court erred by considering the surviving plaintiffs’ own pain and suffering in a survival action.
Shipbuilder earns summary judgment in asbestos case
PHILADELPHIA (Legal Newsline) – A federal judge in the asbestos multidistrict litigation has granted summary judgment in favor of Huntington Ingalls, Inc., in an asbestos case in which the claimant tried to hold a shipbuilder liable for potentially replaced products.
Asbestos judge rules plaintiff's evidence 'vague and speculative
PHILADELPHIA (Legal Newsline) – The asbestos multidistrict litigation judge has granted summary judgment to Nissan North American, Inc., over “vague and speculative” evidence alleging asbestos exposure from its vehicles.
Heidelberg earns summary judgment in asbestos case, alleged insufficient evidence
PHILADELPHIA (Legal Newsline) – Asbestos multidistrict litigation judge Eduardo Robreno has granted summary judgment for defendant Heidelberg USA, Inc., in an asbestos lawsuit, concluding the plaintiff provided insufficient evidence.
Paul Napoli returns to asbestos litigation after fight with leukemia
NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) – Senior Partner Paul Napoli of the Napoli, Bern, Ripka & Shkolnik law firm has resumed responsibilities in the firm’s asbestos docket after being cleared by doctors from leukemia.
Asbestos firm doesn't want N.C. federal court handling racketeering case against it
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Legal Newsline) – In a Nov. 3 motion to abstain, the Simon Greenstone law firm asked the North Carolina federal court to abstain from hearing Garlock Sealing Technologies’ racketeering case against it and require the plaintiff to pursue its claims in the state court where the tort settlements at issue were litigated.
Summary judgment denied over contradicting evidence on warning labels in asbestos case
PHILADELPHIA (Legal Newsline) – A Pennsylvania judge in the asbestos multidistrict litigation court has denied summary judgment on the grounds that sufficient evidence was provided and the parties presented contradicting evidence in regards to military specifications on warning labels.
Turnaround in U.S. Senate could propel asbestos transparency bill to Obama's desk
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) – Roughly one year after the Furthering Asbestos Claims Transparency Act, or FACT Act, was sent to the U.S. Senate, a legal reform group believes the coming GOP-controlled Senate could finally give the bill the momentum it needs to make it to the president’s desk.
Texas called 'center of gravity' for Garlock racketeering case against Waters & Kraus
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Legal Newsline) – An asbestos plaintiffs firm sued in one of Garlock Sealing Technologies’ racketeering cases has requested the lawsuit alleging fraud be transferred to Texas.
Seventh Circuit: Arbitration proper in asbestos insurance dispute
CHICAGO (Legal Newsline) – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has held that arbitration was proper in an asbestos insurance dispute in which the plaintiff rejected relief in arbitration only to seek the same relief in a court action.
Judge: Garlock bankruptcy case a 'long, strange trip,' ultimately led to public access
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Legal Newsline) – During the Oct. 16 hearing in which Judge George Hodges ruled in favor of Legal Newsline and unsealed essentially the entire record of Garlock Sealing Technologies' bankruptcy, he admitted that the bankruptcy proceeding should have been open to the public from the beginning.
Judge grants summary judgment for Ingersoll-Rand in asbestos case, denies it for others
PHILADELPHIA (Legal Newsline) – The asbestos multidistrict litigation court has ruled on several summary judgment motions in a case in which the plaintiff argued that asbestos from original component parts would have still been present in equipment aboard Navy vessels during his service.
Judge issues order detailing unsealing protocol in Garlock bankruptcy case
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Legal Newsline) – Roughly two weeks after Bankruptcy Judge George Hodges ruled in favor of Legal Newsline and other proponents of public access in the Garlock Sealing Technologies bankruptcy case by granting access to essentially the entire record, he released an order on Friday specifying what information is to be redacted and detailing the unsealing protocol.
Asbestos firm seeks to transfer racketeering case against it to New York
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Legal Newsline) – An asbestos plaintiffs firm sued by Garlock Sealing Technologies in a RICO lawsuit alleging evidence was withheld while in the asbestos tort system is seeking to transfer its case to a New York federal court.
Trial slots the 'trigger' for Madison County’s attractive asbestos docket
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (Legal Newsline) – As Madison County’s asbestos docket continues to make headlines as one of the largest dockets in the country thanks to an unbalanced scale tipping heavily towards out-of-state claimants, the jurisdiction’s approach to trial slots is being called into question by defense attorneys.
Pa. appellate court grants judgment for six asbestos defendants in case of 'mere speculation'
PHILDELPHIA (Legal Newsline) – A Pennsylvania appellate court has granted summary judgment for six asbestos defendants in a case in which the primary witness relied on his own “knowledge and belief” that the products at issue contained asbestos.
Defense attorneys give up on jurisdictional fight in Madison County’s asbestos docket
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (Legal Newsline) – Roughly one year after Associate Judge Stephen Stobbs took the bench as Madison County's asbestos judge and made several well-intended strides to improve the “national” docket, defense attorneys have given up on arguing that cases are being filed improperly in the jurisdiction after four similar motions were denied earlier this year.
Asbestos experts argue on role of Daubert factors in asbestos litigation
HARRISBURG, Pa. (Legal Newsline) – Toxic tort experts are in dispute over the proper employment of the Supreme Court’s Daubert ruling in regards to determining the sufficiency of evidence of causation and when it’s appropriate to address admissibility in asbestos cases.
Confirmation hearing scheduled for Bondex bankruptcy settlement agreement
WILMINGTON, Del. (Legal Newsline) – A Delaware bankruptcy judge has scheduled a confirmation hearing in the Bondex International bankruptcy settlement agreement.