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No Duty To Defend Contamination Suit Is Owed, Tennessee Federal Judge Says
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Insurers have no duty to defend their insured against an underlying environmental contamination suit because the underlying suit does not allege that the contamination was the result...
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Issues Of Fact Remain On Late Notice Issue, N.Y. Appeals Panel Determines
NEW YORK - Because issues of fact exist as to whether insurers waived their right to disclaim coverage based on late notice in an environmental contamination coverage suit, summary judgment in favor of...
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9th Circuit Finds Ruling In Coverage Case Did Not Allow For Collateral Estoppel
SAN FRANCISCO - The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on March 12 affirmed a portion of a trial court's decision allowing an insurer to assert policy defenses against the builders of an allegedly...
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Georgia Panel Reverses Ruling Against Insurers In Their Subrogation Recovery...
ATLANTA - A Georgia appeals panel on March 28 found that the record does not show that insurers' subrogation and assigned claims for contribution and indemnity are barred by a voluntary payment,...
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Building Compliance Costs Covered Under Insurance Policy, Appeals Panel Finds
TROY, Mich. - Costs to bring a building into compliance with the municipal code following an insured's alleged failure to properly cover the building's roof during repair work was a covered loss under...
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Excess Insurer Must Cover Portion Of Cleanup Costs, New York Federal Judge Says
NEW YORK - An excess insurer must contribute toward the cost of removing and cleaning an insured's wrecked dry dock because the excess policy includes the same terms and conditions as the primary...
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California Jury Awards $26.6 Million To Couple For Mesothelioma
LOS ANGELES - A California jury on March 19 awarded $26.6 million to a couple, finding the lone remaining defendant liable for a man's asbestos exposure and resulting mesothelioma, sources told Mealey...
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Maryland Top Court Receives Briefing On Causation Expert's Testimony
BALTIMORE - Parties recently briefed Maryland's top court on the appropriateness of expert causation testimony in an asbestos case that a lower court found unhelpful to the jury (Bernard Dixon, et al....
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9th Circuit Agrees To Rehear Asbestos Expert Admission Case
SEATTLE - The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on March 25 agreed to en banc rehearing after a panel vacated a $10.2 million award and found that a judge improperly admitted an asbestos expert...
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New York Justice Finds Expert Testimony Outweighs Inability To Quantify Exposure
NEW YORK - Expert testimony establishes an employer's knowledge of the dangers of asbestos and that exposure likely led to a man's lung cancer and he need not quantify the exposure, a New York justice...
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Texas Top Court Told Pulmonary Testing Law Is Constitutional
HOUSTON - The state Legislature may require plaintiffs to demonstrate impairment in pulmonary tests without impinging on constitutional rights of asbestos plaintiffs, and the law's safety-valve...
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Defendants Respond To Baltimore Judge's Consolidation Questions
BALTIMORE - A defendant told a Maryland judge on March 25 that consolidated trial of approximately 13,000 asbestos cases would involve cases of suspicious diagnoses and violate the defendants' due...
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8 Plaintiffs Proceed In 3 Trial Groups, New York Justice Says
NEW YORK - Similarities in exposures warrant consolidating eight plaintiffs into three groups for trial, a New York justice held March 20 in partially granting a plaintiffs' motion (In re: New York...
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New York Appoints Special Master Overseeing Discovery
NEW YORK - New York courts will engage a second special master to handle compliance with discovery rules and resulting disputes, according to a Feb. 15 amendment to the New York case management order...
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New York Special Master Sets Deadlines Governing Bankruptcy Trust Disclosures
NEW YORK - Hoping to have landed at a compromise on a contentious issue where "neither side wants to give an inch," a New York special master on March 12 established deadlines for when plaintiffs must...
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Louisiana Court Reverses Summary Judgment On Liability For 2 Defendants
NEW ORLEANS - A widow's evidence entitled her to summary judgment on the issue of whether asbestos exposure causes mesothelioma, but not on the liability of two defendants, a divided Louisiana appeals...
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Court: John Crane's Dismissal From Federal Action Bars State Action Against It
LOS ANGELES - John Crane Inc.'s dismissal from an asbestos action in federal court bars plaintiffs from pursuing the company in a subsequent state court action, a California appeals court held March 27...
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Judge Allows 3 Joined Asbestos Cases Against Railroad To Proceed
PINE BLUFF, Ark. - While three plaintiffs' occupations differ, their allegations regarding types and times of exposure warrant joinder and joint trial, an Arkansas judge held in denying a motion to...
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Parties Brief MDL Judge On Reconsideration Of Summary Judgment Rulings
PHILADELPHIA - A plaintiff whose claims against brake, clutch and lining manufacturers were extinguished by summary judgment rulings, and a truck manufacturer denied judgment recently asked the judge...
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Judge: Challenges To Secondhand Exposure Claim Fall Short
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - Although three defendants cast uncertainty on a woman's secondhand asbestos-exposure claims, this falls short of the necessary standard for summary judgment, a Connecticut judge...
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