Asbestos News
Asbestos
Third Circuit cites no jurisdiction for insurer's appeal over asbestos litigation costs
PHILADELPHIA – Citing a lack of jurisdiction, a panel of judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled against an insurance company’s appeal connected to the costs it incurred in asbestos litigation from one of its customers.
Asbestos
Settlement ends Honeywell's 'ill-fated' funding of asbestos trust; Company claimed lawyers were bleeding it dry
ERIE, Pa. (Legal Newsline) - Likening the two sides to exhausted boxers or a quarreling couple, a bankruptcy judge approved a settlement between Honeywell and trustees overseeing a fund for paying asbestos claimants under which Honeywell will end its involvement for a lump-sum payment of $1.3 billion.
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Asbestos
Asbestos lawyers succeed in keeping info from public
ERIE, Pa. (Legal Newsline) - The public won't have access to information from a case that accuses an asbestos bankruptcy trust from giving out money to lawyers without double-checking their claims.
Asbestos
Attorney panel scrutinizes proposed legislation that would ban divisional merger bankruptcies
While legislation is pending in Congress that would require the dismissal of Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases in which the debtor has created a divisional merger, federal appeals court judges in Philadelphia heard arguments this week about whether Johnson & Johnson’s bankruptcy case was filed in good faith.
Asbestos
Honeywell says audit didn't scratch surface of asbestos lawyers' shenanigans
ERIE, Pa. (Legal Newsline) – Honeywell International calls claims submitted by asbestos lawyers “copy-and-paste” allegations that they have had to spend $128 million to resolve.
Asbestos
Judge dismisses fatal asbestos exposure claims against Eckel Industries, for lack of causation
PITTSBURGH – A federal judge has granted summary judgment to a company that employed a woman's husband at various naval shipyards over an 18-year period, finding that her 2020 death from mesothelioma and subsequent asbestos exposure claims failed due to a lack of causation.
Asbestos
Names of asbestos claimants to be redacted - for now - in upcoming trial over trust money
ERIE, Pa. (Legal Newsline) – The names of asbestos claimants will be redacted when a trial gets started in Pennsylvania federal court that will determine if millions of dollars have been rightfully handed out.
Asbestos
Trial approaches as Honeywell claims asbestos trust is giving away money; Trust wants to lead off
ERIE, Pa. (Legal Newsline) – Honeywell should have to bat second in an upcoming trial as it seeks to prove those in charge of doling out asbestos money are making it rain on plaintiffs lawyers.
Asbestos
Asbestos lawyer agrees to turn over some disputed records to company skeptical of claims
PITTSBURGH (Legal Newsline) – An asbestos lawyer accused of submitting false claims in order to take millions of dollars from a lightly supervised asbestos trust has reached an agreement on what materials he will hand over.
Asbestos
Honeywell, asbestos lawyer to argue over subpoena in Pittsburgh
PITTSBURGH (Legal Newsline) – Federal bankruptcy court in Pittsburgh will be the venue where an asbestos lawyer accused of pocketing millions of dollars by filling out inaccurate forms fights a defendant tired of paying him.
Asbestos
Oakmont woman says Giant Eagle's retailing and her use of talc-based hygiene products caused her ovarian cancer
PITTSBURGH – A Western Pennsylvania woman claims that she developed ovarian cancer after using talc-based personal hygiene products sold by the Giant Eagle supermarket chain, for more than half of her life.
Asbestos
Pittsburgh librarian and teacher sues board of education for her development of mesothelioma
PITTSBURGH – A longtime Pittsburgh school librarian and teacher now afflicted with mesothelioma has sued the city’s board of education, claiming its negligence in failing to remediate asbestos led her to develop the serious ailment.
Asbestos
Testimony that 'each and every breath' of asbestos contributes to disease allowed in lawsuit - for now
HARRISBURG – A Pennsylvania federal judge has denied a motion to exclude expert testimony in an asbestos exposure action, ruling that issues with the testimony may later be raised in a summary judgment motion or at trial.
Asbestos
School District of Philadelphia argues teachers union oversteps its authority in its asbestos lawsuit
PHILADELPHIA – The School District of Philadelphia believes that a lawsuit filed against it by the city’s public school teachers union alleging it mishandled reports of asbestos in its school buildings is an overstep of authority, and should be dismissed with prejudice.
Asbestos
Philadelphia teacher who threatened asbestos lawsuit against School District gets $850K settlement
PHILADELPHIA – A former local public school teacher whose plight called greater public attention to the issue of asbestos in Philadelphia schools has reached a financial settlement with the district.
Asbestos
Pa. Supreme Court considers itself a 'Super Legislature,' says civil justice group
HARRISBURG – The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania’s recent decision that the Fair Share Act does not apply to asbestos lawsuits is another example of the court showing off its power over legislators who enacted tort reform measures, the head of a state civil justice group says.
Asbestos
Supreme Court says tort reform law doesn't apply to asbestos lawsuits
HARRISBURG – According to a new ruling from the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the state’s Fair Share Act is not supposed to apply strict liability lawsuits such as asbestos cases, so verdicts will be evenly divided among multiple defendants rather than split according to the percentage each defendant is found liable.
Asbestos
Teachers union takes to court to fight Philadelphia School District over asbestos in classrooms
PHILADELPHIA – The union representing Philadelphia’s public school teachers has filed a lawsuit against the city’s school district, alleging its improper handling of asbestos contamination in its school buildings has put 125,000 students and 13,000 staff members at risk for serious health issues
Asbestos
Defendants waiting to see how Superior Court ruling that allowed incomplete testimony affects Pa. asbestos cases
HARRISBURG – In a seemingly unprecedented move, a recent decision from the Superior Court of Pennsylvania allowed deposition testimony and an affidavit from an “unavailable witness" who had not been vetted by all defendants before he passed.
Asbestos
Eight-day hearing on viability of witnesses in talc lawsuits set to conclude
TRENTON, N.J. – Eight days of scientific expert witness testimony in a New Jersey federal court, centered on whether Johnson & Johnson’s talc-containing baby powder causes women to develop both ovarian cancer and mesothelioma, will conclude Wednesday and ultimately determine if 12,000 lawsuits on the subject move forward.