Real-Time Court Decisions and Other Developments in Asbestos Litigation.
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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, …
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 …
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 …
Utica Mutual Insurance Company had issued multiple policies of insurance to Goulds Pumps. Goulds became the subject of thousands of asbestos bodily injury claims. Eventually, Utica reached a $325 million settlement with Goulds for payment under the various insurance policies on the asbestos claims. Utica then sought indemnity for portions of the settlement from its …
The plaintiff filed this appeal after the trial court dismissed the complaint for failure to state a claim. The trial court also denied the plaintiff’s motion for leave to amend on grounds of futility. Judgment was entered on behalf of Northrup Grumman. The court noted that its review of a denial of a motion for …