Real-Time Court Decisions and Other Developments in Asbestos Litigation.
Back in 2009, Salvador Parra filed suit in the trial court of Jones County, Mississippi against 19 companies for asbestos exposure. He amended to clarify he was a Louisiana citizen but was employed in Mississippi in 1968-69 in multiple towns including Sandersville (Jones County). Parra died in 2011, at which point his wife, Peggy Parra, … Continued
Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit On appeal, the Fourth Circuit affirmed a bankruptcy court’s denial of a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Founded in 1927, Georgia-Pacific LLC is a multibillion-dollar corporation that operates primarily in the pulp and paper industry. In 1965, Georgia-Pacific bought and then merged … Continued
Court: United States Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Ninth Circuit Debtor Ben Nye Co. Inc., a manufacturer and distributer of theatrical makeup, filed for subchapter V bankruptcy in March 2024. Its proposed bar date order and subchapter V plan were each confirmed by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California shortly … Continued
Earlier this year, at least four asbestos bankruptcy trusts including WR Grace, Babcock & Wilcox, Pittsburgh Corning and Owens Corning, issued notices regarding their intent to destroy data and documents submitted by claimants that have qualified for payment. Pursuant to these proposed record retention policies, the trusts plan to begin the destruction of data and … Continued
Superior Court of Delaware, New Castle Although this action – In Re: Asbestos Litigation; Ladonna Sue Braxton, Individually and as Independent Executrix of the Estate of Marvin Jerry Braxton Jr., deceased, vs. J-M Manufacturing Company, Inc., et al. – is venued in Delaware, the case is governed by Texas law. The sole defendant is J-M … Continued
Jurisdiction: United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey Whittaker, Clark & Daniels Inc. and its affiliates (Debtors) initiated this bankruptcy action with the Federal District Court of New Jersey. They previously filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to address and resolve existing and future claims alleging injuries from exposure to products containing talc, … Continued
Court: U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware Avon Products Inc., a U.S.-based “non-operational” holding company, announced Monday that it is seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to “address its debt and legacy talc liabilities.” In recent years, hundreds of talc lawsuits have been filed against Avon. Its court filings state the company no longer … Continued
On June 25, 2024, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals rendered an opinion affirming the New Jersey Bankruptcy Court’s decision to dismiss LTL Management/Johnson & Johnson’s second bankruptcy case for “want of good faith because it was not in financial distress” in IN RE: LTL Management, LLC. In 2021, Johnson & Johnson first attempted to … Continued
With more than two dozen jury trials scheduled over the next year involving contaminated talc claims related to its ubiquitous baby powder, discussions are already at Johnson & Johnson to puts its talc unit, LTL Management, back into bankruptcy for a third time. J&J’s worldwide vice president of its talc litigation, Erik Haas, revealed during … Continued
Court: United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, Charlotte Division As previously reported here in the Asbestos Case Tracker, in 2017 Bestwall LLC became solely responsible for all asbestos-related liabilities of Georgia-Pacific LLC following a divisional merger. After the restructuring, Bestwall filed a voluntary petition for chapter 11 bankruptcy in the … Continued