Bill on Bankruptcy: The Market's Unquenchable Thirst for Junk
Court: Appellate Court of Maryland - A Maryland appellate court has affirmed a lower court’s decision that granted summary judgment to the defense in a toxic substance exposure case....more
Court: Washington Superior Court, Pierce County - A Washington state court in April awarded $16 million to the estate of decedent Steven Korzerke after a default judgment was entered against defendant Asbestos Corp. LTD, a...more
Jurisdiction: Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans, State of Louisiana - A Louisiana Jury returned a plaintiff’s verdict May 7 after an eight-week trial against Johnson & Johnson and Pecos River Talc LLC....more
On February 7, 2025, Judge Walker, sitting in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, ruled that the Plaintiff (a subsidiary of a parent company engaged in nationwide talcum powder litigation)...more
Jurisdiction: Broward County Circuit Court - A Florida jury on April 23 handed down an $18 million verdict in aperitoneal mesothelioma case brought by the law firm of Maune Raichle Hartley French & Mudd, LLC....more
Asbestos workers in the state of Louisiana who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma cancer or asbestos lung cancer may be eligible to file a lawsuit or bankruptcy trust claim against the companies responsible for their...more
Court: Florida – 17th Judicial Circuit Court - Plaintiff, Denise J. Guth Cook alleged asbestos exposure from consumer talc products and automobile parts. She specifically alleged bystander and household exposure from...more
Can AI or Chat GBT write poetry, perhaps by accident. But an insurance underwriter came up with the phrase: “Taking the suddenness out of accident.” Now that’s poetry. The poet was describing the “occurrence” definition in an...more
Jurisdiction: Calif. Super., Los Angeles Co. - Plaintiff Jose Estrada filed suit alleging exposure to asbestos from a variety of products, including automobile parts during his employment at a tire store. Mr. Estrada was...more
For the first time in nearly 40 years, an asbestos case was tried to verdict in Rhode Island. This case, The Estate of Bonnie Bonito, resulted in a full defense verdict!...more
In this asbestos action, plaintiff Michele Salvemini alleges exposure to asbestos while working as a marine engineer and shipyard mechanical worker on various merchant and U.S. Navy ships from 1974 to 2007. During this...more
On December 21, 2024, Governor Kathy Hochul of New York vetoed, for a third time, the Grieving Families Act (“Act”), a significant bipartisan legislative proposal in New York aimed at reforming the state’s wrongful death...more
Jurisdiction: Court of Appeals of Minnesota - Appellant Westrock Minnesota Corporation f/k/a Waldorf Corporation (Waldorf), challenged the district court’s ruling, denying summary judgment on respondent’s asbestos-related...more
Workers whose jobs involved exposure to asbestos – including boilermakers, boiler workers, carpenters, factory workers, laborers, pipe coverers, and pipefitters – may be in danger of developing mesothelioma, asbestos lung...more
In Perkins v. United States, Plaintiff Tristan Perkins sued the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”) for her mother Geraldine Perkins’ (“Decedent”) alleged wrongful death due to asbestos exposure. Alleging...more
The 2024-2025 Judicial Hellholes report shines its brightest spotlight on 10 jurisdictions that have earned reputations as Judicial Hellholes. Asbestos litigation continues to be a trend within numerous jurisdictions....more
The Estate of Nicholas Barone trial in Bridgeport Superior Court in Connecticut before Judge William Clark concluded with a $15 million plaintiff’s verdict on 5/16/2024. The jury also awarded punitive damages, the exact...more
Released yearly in December, the American Tort Reform (ATR) Foundation publishes its annual “Judicial Hellhole” rankings for the upcoming year. The Hellholes represent the worst of the worst jurisdictions to defend tort...more
Jurisdiction: Superior Court of Rhode Island, Providence - Plaintiffs alleged decedent Peter A. Lowe Sr. was exposed to asbestos while employed with his father’s company – Lowe Excavating and Construction – from approximately...more
Jurisdiction: United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana - Plaintiffs Claudette Washington Skidmore and Courtney Skidmore Williams brought claims against several defendants after the death of their...more
Jurisdiction: Supreme Court of New York, New York County - This action arises out of plaintiff Hydraulic IP Holdings LLC’s attempt to enforce a judgment entered against non-party Grace Apparel LLC. Plaintiff’s complaint...more
Jurisdiction: Supreme Court of New York, New York County - Plaintiff Lita Goldstein was diagnosed in March 2022 with mesothelioma. She initiated a suit against several defendants in May 2022, including Kolmar Laboratories...more
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...more
It’s not often that the U.S. Supreme Court weighs in on insurance issues. That’s because the McCarran-Ferguson Act gives states the primary authority to regulate the business of insurance. So when the Supreme Court speaks on...more
Plaintiff Marvin Evans was diagnosed with lung cancer in September 2022. Subsequently, the plaintiff sued a number of defendants in the Civil District Court for Orleans Parish, alleging that his lung cancer was caused by...more