October 16, 2008
The Ohio Supreme Court this week has ruled that a 2004 law that imposed stricter rules on asbestos-related claims can be applied retroactively to those cases filed before the law was passed.
The state Supreme Court said Wednesday the law was valid because the changes were “remedial and procedural” and not in violation of the Ohio Constitution, which bars retroactive laws that change the nature or substance of a law.
The law in question, passed in September of 2004, requires the medical expert to actually treat the claimant instead of merely reading the medical records and the claimant is required to offer specific medical evidence that their condition was caused by asbestos exposure.
In Ohio there are about 40,000 cases that had been filed prior to law being passed and many of those are likely to be dismissed as a result of this week’s ruling.
Linda Ackison had filed a wrongful death suit in May of 2004 against Dayton Malleable and others claiming that long-term exposure to asbestos at work had contributed to the illness and death of her husband, Danny.
Richard Schuster, an attorney for Dayton Malleable called the ruling significant for the economy of Ohio as well as for the companies involved in the suit.
“For the businesses located here in Ohio, it will allow the cases to come off their books and allow them to focus on doing business and, hopefully, hiring people here in Ohio,” he said. “It really focuses the attention on those people who are ill, who have a real disease, and allows those cases to move through the courts, which have been clogged up by people who weren’t sick.”
Vin Green, an attorney for Ackison, condemned the ruling saying that the decision was a ruling on the side of big business and against the well-being of Ohio citizens who have been injured by asbestos exposure. He also called it “completely and totally inaccurate” to say that those filing asbestos claims weren’t sick. “If you have damage to the lining of your lungs, you are sick,” he said.
In Georgia, the retroactive portion a similar law was overturned and the legislature then passed a new law. Kansas has a similar law not yet challenged and a similar Florida law is being challenged in the courts.
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Asbestos, Court, Lung Cancer, Mesothelioma, lawsuits | Tagged: Asbestos, Mesothelioma, Lung Cancer, Asbestosis, Ohio Supreme Court, Dayton Malleable, Georgia Supreme Court | 
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Posted by Dave Austin
June 25, 2008
On Monday, the Supreme Court denied an appeal by W.R. Grace Company. This paves the way for a criminal trial against the company. In 2005 the company and several officers were indicted on charge related to improper disposal of asbestos-containing materials which was linked to many residents of Libby who are either currently suffering asbestos-related disease or who have died from such diseases.
The executives could be facing fifteen years in prison if convicted and the company could be facing up to 280 million dollars in restitution costs. W.R. Grace had already agreed to refund to the federal government 250 million dollars to cover decontamination costs in Libby. It has been estimated that W.R. Grace could, by the time the criminal trial is over, be paying out over a billion dollars.
“We will be prepared to defend ourselves,” stated Grace Spokesman Greg Euston.
Asbestos exposure has been conclusively linked to the onset of mesothelioma, a deadly form of lung cancer that has a survival rate of less than 1%.
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Asbestos, Court, Lung Cancer, Mesothelioma | Tagged: Asbestos, Libby Montana, Mesothelioma News, Supreme Court, WR Grace | 
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Posted by Dave Austin
June 3, 2008
A three-judge panel of the New Jersey Superior Court has determined that Spanish citizens who worked on U.S. Navy warships while docked in Spain can bring suit in the U.S. for the illnesses brought on by their asbestos exposure.
The plaintiffs, 15 Spanish citizens, contend that their illnesses developed because they worked on the navy vessels between 1950 and 1998. Suit is being brought against Owens-Illinois which manufactured the asbestos-based insulation in 2 plants in New Jersey.
Lawyers for Owens-Corning had argued that the case should be heard in a Spanish court and apparently had received a decision in their favor. This current ruling overturns that and sends the case back to Superior Court for trial.
In overturning the earlier ruling, the judges found that, wherever they are docked, Navy warships are considered U.S. territory and liability for the plaintiffs’ exposure should therefore be heard in a U.S. court, not a Spanish one.
This is significant and if the ruling sticks could mean many more mesothelioma lawsuits brought by foreign citizens in our courts.
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Asbestos, Court, Lung Cancer, Mesothelioma, lawsuits | Tagged: asbestos illness, Asbestosis, Mesothelioma, mesothelioma lawsuit, navy ships, New Jersey Superior Court, overseas asbestos exposure, owens-corning | 
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Posted by Dave Austin
May 29, 2008
The 4th District Court of Appeal in Florida has given new life to thousands of asbestos related lawsuits. What the court did invalidates the retroactivity feature of the 2005 law which would limit the number of people eligible to sue. Industry lawyers said that this ruling was likely to be appealed to the Florida Supreme Court partly because the 3rd District Court of Appeal had ruled that the retroactivity is valid.
Judge Gary Farmer wrote for the unanimous court that the Florida Asbestos and Silica Compensation Fairness Act “may not constitutionally be applied to eliminate the existing vested rights in the lawsuits pending when the act became effective” July 1, 2005. Judges W. Matthew Stevenson and Carole Taylor concurred.
Attorney Joel Perwin who helped handle the 4th District appealfor the plaintiffs has said that this means that there thousands of cases that were in the pipeline before the law was passed that now have new life. He said that there are limits to legislative power and that you don’t take away existing rights when you pass new laws.
The 2005 law set impairment standards for plaintiffs. People with nonmalignant asbestosis must have lost at least 20 percent of their breathing capacity to sue, and those with lung cancer would have to have asbestosis and diminished breathing capacity to discount the effects of smoking.
Attorney John Pelzer, who handled the appeal for the industry, said he was disappointed by the ruling.
The law was designed to “put people who were sick at the head of the line” for compensation from a limited fund ahead of people who were exposed to asbestos but not yet sick, said Pelzer, a partner at Ruden McCloskey Smith Schuster & Russell in Fort Lauderdale.
The 4th DCA ruling is an attempt “to undo that effort and put us back to what I call the Dark Ages of asbestos litigation where people who aren’t really sick are cutting in the line ahead of people who are sick,” he said.
No Comments » | Asbestos, Court, Lung Cancer, Mesothelioma, lawsuits | Tagged: 3rd district court of appeal, 4th district court of appeal, Asbestos, asbestos lawsuit, Asbestosis, Florida Asbestos and Silica Compensation Fairness Act, Florida District Appeals Court, Mesothelioma | Permalink
Posted by Dave Austin
February 28, 2008
This is possibly one of the largest asbestos verdicts in New Jersey.
The disease killed 50-year-old Mark Buttitta in 2002, although he had only handled auto parts containing asbestos while working summers at giant GM warehouses in New Jersey, Maimon said.
However, Buttitta’s father worked there, and his brother also spent summers at the warehouse, the lawyer said.
The three men wore the same work clothes for several days “bringing home cancer-causing fibers every day from work, unknowingly letting the microscopic fibers fragments waft throughout their home and settle,” said Maimon, who specializes in asbestos cases.
“Worse yet, as a young boy Mark would sit on his dad’s lap _ or next to him on the sofa _ every night to watch TV, and was innocently exposed to asbestos,” he said.
The six-person Bergen County jury on Tuesday found against Asbestos Corp. Ltd. of Canada, which provided material for GM brakes, and BorgWarner Inc. of Michigan, which made clutches.
Source: Newsday.com
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Posted by Dave Austin
February 26, 2008
Lawyers with W.R. Grace are getting more time to file an appeal to the United States Supreme Court, as well as to perhaps settle pre-trial issues in the government’s criminal case dealing with Libby asbestos.
If the high court accepts the case, then it would make a final ruling on whether the government can use certain evidence at trial.
Source: Montana’s News Station
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Posted by Dave Austin
February 23, 2008
Interesting abstract here on the difference between deterrence and compensation as it applies to possibly fraudulent claims.
Deterrence and compensation goals should be distinguished, and compensation priorities should change in response to the deterrence goal. This has immediate implications for the problem of handling marginal and fraudulent claims in asbestos litigation. Where the deterrence goals come to the forefront, for example in instances of reckless exposure, it may be desirable for courts to require defendants to pay damages that are not transferred to any claimants. Where the deterrence goals are less compelling, as in instances of ordinary negligence, the importance of weeding out marginal and fraudulent claims becomes paramount. I consider optimal penalties for attorneys who bundle fraudulent claims.
Social Science Research Network
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Posted by Dave Austin
February 21, 2008
Travelers Cos. Inc. announced Tuesday that the 2nd U.S. Court of Appeals has overturned a bankruptcy court’s approval of a $500 million asbestos-related insurance settlement. The decision, made late Friday, would reverse a $500 million settlement in March 2006 of certain insurance claims arising from a suit by Denver-based Johns-Manville Corp. The case has been remanded to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York for reconsideration. In its decision, the New York-based federal appeals court said the bankruptcy court that approved the settlement had no legal jurisdiction to do so.
Travelers, Manville’s longtime primary insurer, agreed in 2004 to settle three groups of “direct action” lawsuits filed against it by claimants allegedly injured by products made by Manville. The plaintiffs argued that Travelers violated state and common law in handling the claims and did not disclose what it knew of the asbestos hazards.
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Posted by Dave Austin
February 15, 2008
This is an excerpt from an article in West Virgina. Mesothelioma is not the only disease connected with asbestos. In this case the plaintiff is alleging that his lung cancer was caused by his lifelong exposure to asbestos.
CHARLESTON - A Boone County man has filed an asbestos lawsuit against 46 companies, claiming they in some way caused his lung cancer and deterioration of life.
James Paul Downs filed a suit Jan. 16 in Kanawha Circuit Court against the companies, which include Ashland Oil, Inc and DuPont, which are two that directly employed Downs.
Attorney Cindy Kilblinger is representing Downs, who filed the case with his wife, Ruth M. Downs.
According to the suit, James Downs was exposed to asbestos and other harmful dusts while working. He claims the companies in the suit manufactured, supplied, sold, distributed, used or installed the asbestos-contained products.
While handling the products, Downs claims he breathed asbestos and other harmful dusts, which caused his lung cancer.
Downs claims that along with lung cancer, he suffered great pain of body and mind, suffering, distress, fear, embarrassment, inconvenience, economic loss, including medical and pharmaceutical bills, and loss of quality of enjoyment of his life.
Ruth Downs claims she has suffered the loss of general services, companionship and society of her husband.
In the 12-count suit, James and Ruth Downs seek compensatory and punitive damages.
Source: West Virginia Record
No Comments » | Court, Lung Cancer, lawsuits | Tagged: Asbestos, asbestos exposure, Lung Cancer, west virginia | Permalink
Posted by Dave Austin
February 8, 2008
$15.3 Million was the answer for a 70+ yer old man who has mesothelioma.
A Baltimore jury ordered a sealant company yesterday to pay a 73-year-old man $15.3 million after determining that he developed mesothelioma from exposure to asbestos-containing products made by the company, the plaintiff’s lawyer said.
George J. Linkus worked at Key Highway Shipyard from 1952 to 1959, said his lawyer, David L. Palmer.
In 1954, Linkus moved to the machine shop and worked on lining valves using rope made by the defendant, John Crane Inc.
The jury found that the rope used by Linkus contained asbestos, Palmer said.
Mesothelioma is a cancer directly linked to asbestos. Yesterday’s verdict concluded a three-week trial.
This case shows how important it is to do a product search. One of the first things we do with a mesothelioma case is look to see what possible products a person is exposed to. You HAVE to do this and spend time thinking about it.
We could fill a book with the different types of products:
- raw insulation
- pipe lining
- sealants
- plaster
- and many others.
Source: http://www.baltimoresun.com
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Posted by Dave Austin
