BALTIMORE (Legal Newsline) - Having failed to convince Maryland legislators to pass a measure that would turn them into courthouse gold, the Angelos law firm, which has driven asbestos litigation in the state for decades, is dumping hundreds of lawsuits a month in an acknowledgment it never had the evidence to back them up.
The powerful law firm started by Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos notified the judge overseeing asbestos litigation in Baltimore City Court that it will be disposing of “at least 350 cases a month for a significant number of months.”
The dismissals confirm what asbestos defendants have been complaining about for years: That the Angelos firm filed thousands of lawsuits on behalf of plaintiffs who couldn’t provide proof they had an asbestos-related disease, let alone were exposed to the cancer-causing fibers. What resulted was a backlog of nearly 30,000 cases, many of which sat on an inactive docket.
"We are working with the court to do what's in the best interest of the courts and our clients," Angelos firm lawyer Jay Miller told Legal Newsline.
Lawyers with the firm made a last-ditch effort to monetize the cases last year in the Maryland General Assembly by supporting a bill that would force courts to consolidate hundreds of lawsuits into a single proceeding, where defendants and their insurers would be forced to settle en masse. But opponents said the backlog in Baltimore courts was entirely due to the Angelos firm swamping the docket with poorly supported lawsuits that a system in place since 2017 was effectively weeding out.
In a May 20 letter to Judge W. Michel Pierson, the law firm asked the court to continue to suspend status conferences at which it was required to provide evidence or withdraw hundreds of older cases per month. Most of those lawsuits were filed in the early to mid-1990s and testimony during last year’s legislative debate suggested more than half of the 27,000 cases remaining on the docket weren’t supported by evidence such as a medical diagnosis, proof of exposure or witnesses to corroborate claims.
“In order to continue this process in an orderly and efficient manner, and focus their attention on the resolution of cases,” the Angelos firm said, it requested a continued stay of status conferences. The law firm said it should be able to resolve at least 350 cases a month “by dismissal or otherwise.”
After earning hundreds of millions from asbestos litigation, the Angelos firm may be turning its attention elsewhere. According to an analysis by consulting firm KCIC, the law firm filed 54% fewer asbestos lawsuits in 2019 than in 2018, bringing a virtual halt to filings outside of Baltimore. That report found 4,062 asbestos lawsuits were filed nationwide last year, roughly flat with 2018, but plunged 49% in the once-hot Baltimore market.
The Angelos firm didn’t even appear in the Top 10 for asbestos billings, which was led by Simmons Hanly Conroy. Simmons Hanly also is taking a lead role in what could be the biggest tort litigation of the current century against opioid manufacturers, distributors and pharmacy chains.