Judge: No Reversal on Asbestos Defendant Punitive Damages Order
It’s been the standard in Florida courts and others across the country to bar plaintiffs access to punitive damages in asbestos litigation, even when it’s clear the defendants knew the dangers of their products and actively concealed them. However, one judge in New York City Asbestos Litigation Court defied the norm with an order that […]
Mesothelioma Plaintiffs May Seek Expedited Trial
Mesothelioma cases are fraught with a substantial amount of challenges from the start. Plaintiffs often do not know they or their loved one have suffered a tortious, asbestos-related injury until the condition has progressed to such a degree that the terminal illness is in its final stages. That means plaintiff lawyers must work quickly and […]
Beckering v. Shell Oil Company – Secondary Asbestos Exposure
Mesothelioma litigation poses many challenges for plaintiffs’ attorneys, including establishing proof of sufficient exposure and causation, defendant liability, and level of damages. Complications may be further compounded when taking on a case of secondary exposure. These are most often situations where women and children of workers exposed to asbestos were also made ill after coming […]
Evidence Spoliation in Asbestos Lawsuits
In any civil injury or wrongful death proceeding, it’s the strength of the evidence that wins the case. This can be especially challenging in mesothelioma litigation, where documents, testimony, and physical evidence date to incidents that occurred decades earlier. In these cases, perhaps more than others rooted in more recent torts, plaintiffs wrestle with the […]
Judge: Navy Asbestos Plaintiff Evidence Sufficient for Trial
Defendants in asbestos litigation will vigorously fight to have a case dismissed through summary judgment as a matter of law before it ever gets to the trial phase. There are various theories upon which they can be successful, and one of those involves insufficient evidence. If a plaintiff cannot provide enough evidence prior to trial […]
Court: Death on High Seas Act Partially Applied in Mesothelioma Case
A federal judge in Florida ruled the Death on the High Seas Act (DOHSA), which limits damages to survivors of sailors who die at sea, is only partially applicable in an asbestos-related wrongful death case where the decedent suffered some exposure while on a ship at sea. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District […]
Izell v. Union Carbide – Court Affirms $24M Mesothelioma Award
The $24 million award of both compensatory and punitive damages to a construction company owner and his wife following a mesothelioma diagnosis has been upheld by a California appeals court. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida partially granted the defense request to apply DOSHA as it relates to the limitation of […]
“Sophisticated User” Doctrine Rejected by Court in Mesothelioma Case
Judges on an appellate panel overseeing an asbestos lawsuit in California rejected an assertion by defendants that the case was collaterally estopped because of a Pennsylvania case involving the same plaintiff, when justices there granted summary judgment on the basis of the sophisticated user doctrine. The California case is not estopped because, justices ruled, it […]
Mesothelioma Cases Need More Proof Than Mere Perception
A California man with mesothelioma, likely as a result of exposure during his military service in the U.S. Navy, filed a lawsuit against defendants saying he “just knew” the products at issue contained asbestos. Unsurprisingly, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently upheld the trial court’s summary judgment in favor of the […]
Walston v. Boeing Co. – Workers’ Comp. Law Works Against Asbestos Victim
Workers’ compensation laws were generally written with good intentions. They provide fast coverage to workers injured on the job, without requiring employees to prove negligence. But matters become more complicated when the employee suffers a work-related illness that takes many years to develop. By the time the latent disease is diagnosed, he may not even […]
