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Mealey's Asbestos

  • April 23, 2026

    Gori Law Firm Calls Conduct Routine In Pipe Company’s RICO Case

    EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — Routine law firm activities such as prosecuting personal injury cases and rewarding attorneys for successful outcomes cannot form the basis for Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) claims, The Gori Law Firm and several individual defendants told a federal judge in Illinois in seeking to dismiss the suit against them.

  • April 23, 2026

    Judge: Nurse’s State Law Asbestos Claims Will Remain In Federal Court

    CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A court’s dismissal of claims giving rise to federal jurisdiction is not the same as recent U.S. Supreme Court precedent where a plaintiff excised those claims, a federal judge said in retaining jurisdiction over state law claims alleging asbestos exposure at a nursing school.

  • April 22, 2026

    Missouri Court Won’t Reconsider Workers’ Comp Asbestos Verdict Issues

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A defense verdict in which an employer raised the workers’ compensation exclusivity defense stands after a Missouri appellate court on April 21 denied reconsideration of its ruling affirming the jury and declined a request to transfer the case to the state’s top court for the second time.

  • April 22, 2026

    Mandate Issued In Railway ‘Common Carrier’ Case After Rehearing Denied

    PORTLAND, Ore. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals entered its mandate after declining to rehear its reversal of an $8 million combined judgment for the estates of two mesothelioma victims and directing the trial court to enter judgment for the defendant railroad company, which hauled asbestos-tainted vermiculite from a mine in Libby, Mont.

  • April 21, 2026

    Texas Supreme Court Won’t Review Single-Source Asbestos Causation Case

    AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Supreme Court declined to consider whether its dose-requirement precedent applies to single-exposure asbestos cases, with a concurring justice calling the lower court’s approach “troubling” and saying that the court eventually would have to address the issue.

  • April 21, 2026

    Causation, Additur Motions Fall Short, Leaving $250,000 Talc Verdict In Place

    PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania judge denied a pair of posttrial motions in the wake of a $250,000 asbestos-talc verdict, rejecting plaintiffs’ arguments that the award was too small given the suffering involved and Johnson & Johnson entities’ argument that causation was never established, according to separate docket entries.

  • April 17, 2026

    WWII Crude Oil Operations ‘Relate To’ Aviation Gas Contracts, Supreme Court Says

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Oil companies’ well drilling activities in Louisiana during World War II sufficiently relate to government contracts involving the production of aviation gasoline and trigger federal jurisdiction under 2011 amendments to the federal officer removal statute, the U.S. Supreme Court said today.

  • April 17, 2026

    Wisconsin Supreme Court Affirms Brewery’s Liability But Limits Asbestos Damages

    MILWAUKEE — A reasonable jury could conclude that Pabst Brewing Co. owned and controlled the premises and work where a pipefitter contractor suffered exposure to asbestos for liability under state law, but punitive damages are capped by the amount actually recovered and not the total amount awarded by the jury, a majority of the Wisconsin Supreme Court said in partially affirming a verdict.

  • April 15, 2026

    Talc Defendant Settles After Ruling Excludes Some Expert Genetics Testimony

    LOS ANGELES — A cosmetics company settled an asbestos-talc suit after a California judge excluded its expert’s testimony about the role a BAP1 gene mutation can have in mesothelioma but allowed testimony regarding the potential role of a second mutation and held a formal hearing on the issue.

  • April 10, 2026

    Reinsurer Removes Coverage Dispute Tied To Asbestos Claims To Federal Court

    CONCORD, N.H. — A reinsurer removed to New Hampshire federal court on diversity  jurisdiction grounds an amended suit brought by an insurer that ceded risk and alleges the reinsurer failed to pay more than $1.1 million under facultative reinsurance certificates tied to decades of asbestos-related claims against a valve manufacturer.

  • April 10, 2026

    Vice Chancellor Denies Reversal Of Gasket Company’s Dissolution

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A woman asserting an asbestos personal injury claim against a defunct gasket company failed to prove that the company’s certificate of cancellation should be nullified due to an improper dissolution, a Delaware vice chancellor ruled.

  • April 07, 2026

    Plaintiff/Defense Experts Testifying Since Jan. 1, 2002

    The following is a listing of plaintiff and defense experts who testified in trials covered by Mealey's Litigation Report: Asbestos since Jan. 1, 2002.

  • April 07, 2026

    Union Carbide: Registration, Actions In Asbestos Case Don’t Create Jurisdiction

    BISMARCK, N.D. — Registering to do business in North Dakota does not constitute consent to jurisdiction nor does participation in a previously dismissed asbestos case prior to trial require the conclusion that a company waived jurisdictional defenses, Union Carbide Corp. tells the North Dakota Supreme Court in a response brief.

  • March 26, 2026

    COMMENTARY: Genetic Predisposition May Be A Complete Defense In Certain Cases Alleging Asbestos Exposure Caused Mesothelioma

    By Connor Sears

  • April 06, 2026

    U.S. Supreme Court To Decide Veterans Claims Jurisdiction Question

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on April 6 agreed to decide what courts have jurisdiction over constitutional challenges to veterans’ benefits statutes — which are often in play in asbestos cases — after a man injured during a training exercise saw his 80% disability rating reduced to 10% based on a felony conviction.

  • April 06, 2026

    Asbestos Case Settles Prior To Punitive Damages Phase After Jury Awards $33M

    LOS ANGELES — A former Hollywood cameraman and a theatrical lighting company settled prior to the punitive damages phase of an asbestos trial after a California jury found that the company acted with malice and awarded more than $33 million in pain and suffering damages.

  • April 06, 2026

    Dueling Experts Prevent Summary Judgment In New York Asbestos Case

    NEW YORK — Dueling medical and industrial hygiene experts create genuine issues about whether a company’s talc could have contained asbestos levels sufficient to cause a man’s mesothelioma, a New York justice said in denying a motion for summary judgment.

  • April 06, 2026

    Judge Again Reinstates Decade-Old Employer Asbestos Injury Case

    SPOKANE, Wash. — In the wake of a judge once again reinstating a decade-old intentional injury mesothelioma case against a former employer based on recent Washington Supreme Court precedent, the defendant filed an answer and the federal judge in Washington overseeing the case set a hearing on its status.

  • April 03, 2026

    Mesothelioma Sufferer Wants 2nd Look At Workers’ Comp Exclusivity Defense Ruling

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict was not required to preserve a challenge to a workers’ compensation exclusivity defense in an asbestos case, and the court’s reliance on precedent to reach a contrary conclusion warrants reconsideration or transfer to the Missouri Supreme Court, a woman whose case has already been to the state’s top court once argues.

  • April 01, 2026

    Ohio Supreme Court Won’t Review Asbestos Summary Judgment Non-Ruling

    COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Supreme Court on March 31 declined to take up a case challenging an appellate court’s conclusion that there was insufficient evidence for it to review an asbestos summary judgment ruling.  The appellant had argued that the Ninth District Ohio Court of Appeals’ tactic of simply ignoring appellate issues has become a problem.

  • April 01, 2026

    Family Asks Texas Supreme Court For Prompt Resolution Of Asbestosis Causation Case

    AUSTIN, Texas — In a letter to the Texas Supreme Court, a family urges the justices to issue an opinion on the proper causation standard in asbestosis cases during the current term, noting that the parties completed merits briefing in January 2025, before any of the other cases on the court’s docket, and that prompt resolution would ensure that an aged man suffering from the disease can have his day in court.

  • March 31, 2026

    Plaintiff’s Talc Firm, Attorney Want Federal Disqualification Stayed

    TRENTON, N.J. — A firm on the asbestos-talc multidistrict litigation steering committee and one of its attorneys asked a federal magistrate judge in New Jersey on March 30 to stay his ruling disqualifying them, arguing that they are likely to prevail on their appeal of a ruling nationalizing a state rule on professional conduct.

  • March 31, 2026

    Family Renews Attempt At Getting Asbestos Case Sent Back To State Court

    NEW ORLEANS — After a judge continued an upcoming trial, a family filed a second motion for remand of their asbestos case, saying with the federal defenses removed from the case and only complex causation and virile share issues remaining, the chosen state court forum is the best place for the litigation.

  • March 31, 2026

    Judge Lifts Stay Of Asbestos Group’s East Wing FOIA Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge lifted a ruling staying the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization’s (ADAO) action seeking information on remediation steps taken during the White House East Wing demolition and scheduled briefing on motions for summary judgment after the group complained a stay would leave the case in limbo.

  • March 27, 2026

    Prejudice Tainted $6.6 Million Asbestos Verdict, Shipyard Argues

    NEW ORLEANS — A shipyard opposed the addition of pre- and postjudgment interest on a $6,625,000 asbestos verdict after previously arguing that it was prejudiced by comments made during the trial and that the plaintiff never established negligence.