Mealey's Asbestos Bankruptcy
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March 11, 2024
Asbestos Talc Debtors Seek To Delay Adversary Ruling Due To Ongoing Mediation
TRENTON, N.J. — Defunct talc supplier Whittaker, Clark & Daniels Inc. (WCD) and affiliated debtors filed a stipulation on March 10 seeking entry of an agreed order by a New Jersey federal bankruptcy judge to have the judge hold off on issuing a decision on the debtors’ summary judgment motion in an adversary action for two months to allow mediation on a global resolution of all issues to continue.
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March 08, 2024
Mistrial Declared After Florida Jury Hangs In Ovarian Cancer Talc Trial
MIAMI — A Florida asbestos trial ended in a hung jury after the jury twice told the judge that it could not reach a decision despite a day and a half of deliberations about Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) liability for the death of an anesthesiologist from ovarian cancer. VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.
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March 07, 2024
LTL Management Says Appellee Arguments Backing Chapter 11 Dismissal Fail
PHILADELPHIA — A New Jersey federal bankruptcy court wrongly imposed an insolvency requirement in dismissing the second Chapter 11 case of Johnson & Johnson (J&J) spinoff LTL Management LLC, and the U.S. trustee, asbestos claimants and other appellees “do little to defend the lower court’s misunderstanding,” the debtor says in its appeal to the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals of the dismissal of its second attempt to reorganize through bankruptcy.
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March 07, 2024
New York Court: Evidence Behind $23M Asbestos Verdict Meets Causation Standard
NEW YORK — A New York appeals court found that a man’s testimony about the work he performed with valves and expert testimony detailing the levels of resulting exposure and how that impacted his risk of mesothelioma satisfied Nemeth v. Brenntag N. Am. and affirmed asbestos jury awards of $13 million in past pain and suffering and $10 million for future pain and suffering.
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March 05, 2024
Asbestos Claimants Appeal Denial Of Chapter 11 Dismissal Directly To 4th Circuit
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Asbestos claimants in the joint Chapter 11 case of Ingersoll-Rand and Trane spinoffs Aldrich Pump LLC and Murray Boiler LLC have appealed a North Carolina bankruptcy court’s decision not to dismiss the case directly to the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
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March 01, 2024
Talc Special Master Quashes Subpoena Seeking Moline Study Participants
TRENTON, N.J. — Because asbestos expert Jacqueline Moline will not testify at trial, and no other expert appears to rely on her study involving asbestos-talc exposure and mesothelioma, Johnson & Johnson’s subpoena seeking the names of individuals in the study is irrelevant, a special master in the federal talc multidistrict litigation said Feb. 29 in granting a motion to quash.
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February 29, 2024
In High Court, Kaiser Insurer Says It Has Standing ‘Twice Over’ In Chapter 11 Case
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The primary insurer of Chapter 11 asbestos debtors Kaiser Gypsum Co. Inc. and Hanson Permanente Cement Inc. is obligated to pay most of the debtors’ debts and is a creditor, giving it standing to object to the debtors’ reorganization plan, the insurer tells the U.S. Supreme Court in a reply brief on the merits.
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February 29, 2024
South Carolina Top Court Rejects Cumulative Exposure Argument, Affirms Verdict
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Expert testimony and other evidence that led to an asbestos verdict did not constitute cumulative exposure theory, and lower court rulings did not run afoul of the state’s causation standard, the South Carolina Supreme Court said Feb. 28.
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February 28, 2024
Judge: Former Libby, Mont., Asbestos Clinic Director Must Sit For Deposition
GREAT FALLS, Mont. — A federal judge in Montana overseeing an asbestos action against a railway denied two motions to quash a subpoena issued to the former director of a medical clinic in Libby, Mont., giving the parties two hours to depose the witness and circumscribing what may be asked at the deposition.
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February 27, 2024
4th Circuit Tosses Appeal Of Asbestos Coverage Row With S.C. Guaranty Association
RICHMOND, Va. — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Feb. 26 dismissed an insurer’s appeal of a district court’s order remanding to state court a receiver’s asbestos coverage suit against insurers and the South Carolina Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association, finding that the court does not have jurisdiction over the remand order.
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February 27, 2024
New York Jury Finds For AII In Barbershop Asbestos-Talc Case
NEW YORK — A New York jury returned a defense verdict for American International Inc. (AII) over claims that a woman suffered exposure to asbestos in talc used at the barbershop where her husband worked, sources told Mealey Publications.
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February 23, 2024
Bankruptcy Judge Again Denies Dismissal Of Georgia-Pacific Debtor’s Case
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The North Carolina federal bankruptcy judge in the Chapter 11 case of Georgia-Pacific spinoff Bestwall LLC issued a written decision for his denial of the two most recent motions by asbestos claimants to dismiss the case, saying most of the arguments were already decided in previous dismissal rulings and a challenge based on the debtor’s lack of financial distress fails.
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February 22, 2024
Whittaker, Clark & Daniels Granted More Time To File Chapter 11 Plan
TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey federal bankruptcy judge has given defunct talc supplier Whittaker, Clark & Daniels Inc. (WCD) and affiliates more time to file a plan of reorganization in their Chapter 11 case, saying the extension “is in the best interests of the Debtors’ estates, their creditors, and other parties in interest.”
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February 21, 2024
Nash Chapter 7 Trustee Opposes Dismissal Of Fraudulent Transfer Action
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — In a Feb. 20 opposition to a motion to dismiss, the Chapter 7 trustee for asbestos debtor The Nash Engineering Co. says that he has standing to pursue his claims in a fraudulent transfer adversary proceeding seeking the return of more than $59 million from a holding company and its members to the debtor’s estate and that the complaint contains enough facts to survive the dismissal bid.
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February 20, 2024
Parties In Appeal Over Asbestos Trust Expert’s Audit Finish Briefing
NEW ORLEANS — Parties involved in a dispute between a B-reader and a company that performed an audit that eventually led to his exclusion from an asbestos trust claim submission process briefed the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on whether litigation privilege precluded the suit and whether there was any link between the audit and his exclusion that would give the trial court jurisdiction.
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February 20, 2024
Reorganization Plan, Asbestos Trust Of Hess Unit HONX Confirmed
HOUSTON — The Chapter 11 plan of reorganization of Hess Corp. affiliate HONX Inc., which creates a trust with up to $187 million to resolve asbestos personal injury claims, was confirmed Feb. 16 in findings of fact and conclusions of law issued jointly by a federal judge and a federal bankruptcy judge in Texas after 99% of asbestos claimants voted to accept the plan.
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February 16, 2024
Talc Testing Claims Not Stayed By Barretts Minerals’ Bankruptcy, Judge Rules
HOUSTON — Claims against two affiliates of Chapter 11 debtor Barretts Minerals Inc. (BMI) involving the testing of talc for asbestos remain viable in the tort system while all other claims are stayed by the bankruptcy case, according to a joint stipulation and an order filed in an adversary action in a Texas federal bankruptcy court.
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February 16, 2024
Turbine Seller, Installer Can’t Be Strictly Liable In Maryland Asbestos Case
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A company that “wore two hats” in both selling and then subcontracting the installation of an asbestos-containing turbine at a power station cannot be held strictly liable because the turbine never truly left its possession or control, a Maryland court said in affirming summary judgment.
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February 15, 2024
Barretts Minerals Seeks More Time To File Reorganization Plan
HOUSTON — With mediation on a plan of reorganization and “robust marketing” of assets ongoing, Chapter 11 debtor talc mining company Barretts Minerals Inc. (BMI) seeks 90 more days to file a plan and solicit votes on it from asbestos personal injury claimants in Texas federal bankruptcy court.
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February 14, 2024
Claims Against LIGA Tossed In Asbestos Coverage Suit Involving Insolvent Insurer
NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana federal judge granted summary judgment to the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association (LIGA) and dismissed an asbestos liability suit against it, finding that the claims for asbestos-related lung cancer against LIGA, as the statutory obligor for a now-insolvent insurer, are not covered claims.
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February 13, 2024
Hospital Says Burden, Third-Party Status Warranted Quashing Asbestos Subpoena
RICHMOND, Va. — Third-party subpoenas fall under a higher standard that an asbestos defendant cannot meet given the evidence’s marginal relationship to the case, a hospital told the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Feb. 12, also arguing that the burden that disclosing anonymous study participants would impose supports a trial court’s decision to quash the subpoena.
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February 08, 2024
Dismissal Granted In Asbestos Liability Case Involving Guaranty Association
NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana federal judge on Feb. 7 granted a motion for voluntary dismissal of a man’s claim that he was exposed to asbestos through contact with a specific worker at a shipyard but keeping other claims regarding exposure against the shipyard, related parties, multiple insurers and the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association (LIGA).
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February 07, 2024
4th Circuit Defers Ruling On Sanctions In Asbestos Case Referral Appeal
RICHMOND, Va. — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals will defer any ruling on a separate motion for sanctions pending review of the merits of an appeal involving whether a trial court properly imposed sanctions for conduct in an asbestos bankruptcy trust referral fee dispute.
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February 07, 2024
5th Circuit Grants Summary Reversal Of Longshore Asbestos Case
NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals granted a joint motion for summary reversal in a Longshore Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) preemption “twilight zone” asbestos case.
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February 05, 2024
Rail Company Defends Need For Testimony Of Former Libby, Mont., Clinic Director
GREAT FALLS, Mont. — A railway tells a federal judge in Montana in opposition to a motion to quash the railway’s subpoena that trial preservation testimony is the best way to secure potentially admissible evidence from an asbestos clinic’s former medical director and that his status as a former employee doesn’t matter since he can testify about how a clinic patient described her exposures to asbestos.