Junk Science Front and Center in Recent Judicial Hellholes Verdicts
The changes to Federal Rule of Evidence 702 last year were supposed to be a watershed moment for expert testimony
Judicial Hellholes
KEY PLAYERS RESPONSIBLE FOR SOUTH CAROLINA’S JUDICIAL HELLHOLES® STATUS IN NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Earlier this month, Judge Jean Toal, a former South Carolina Supreme Court justice, was ordered to oversee the high-profile case
Judicial Hellholes
Group of State AGs Join Efforts to Undermine Legitimate Use of Bankruptcy Process
Last week, a group of attorneys general inserted themselves into litigation involving Bestwall LLC in the U.S. Court of Appeals
Judicial Hellholes
New Jersey Appellate Court Rejects “Junk Science” in Talc Case
On April 28, 2021, the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division, found that a trial court improperly admitted expert
Points of Light
West Virginia Judge Acknowledges Abuse Fills Asbestos Docket
On February 5, 2020, Judge Ronald Wilson of Kanawha County trial court issued an order that expressly acknowledged “abuse” in his
Judicial HellholesFormer NY Speaker Sheldon Silver Convicted of Federal Corruption Charges in Second Trial
As reported by the New York Times, Sheldon Silver, former Democratic speaker of the New York State Assembly, was found
Judicial HellholesIntent on Making State a Judicial Hellhole- Maryland High Court Holds Statute of Repose Does Not Apply to Asbestos Claims
The Maryland Court of Appeals recently overturned the state appellate court’s Duffy v. CBS Corp. decision. In the case, which
Judicial HellholesWith ‘Epidemic’ of Multiple-Defendant Claims, Madison County Remains the Nation’s Leader in New Asbestos Cases
Perennial Judicial Hellhole Madison County, Illinois is not ready to give up its dubious distinction as the top asbestos litigation destination anytime soon.
According to a recent midyear report and earlier annual report by KCIC Consulting, Madison County’s asbestos filings increased by 5% from 2014 to 2015 and continued to increase during the first half of 2016. The riverside county of fewer than 270,000 people was home to 29% of the nation’s asbestos filings in the first half of 2016 – up from 25% of the nation’s asbestos filings in 2015. Now, the county sits atop the ranking with more than twice as many filings as second place Baltimore City.
Judicial HellholesTwo Terrible Asbestos Decisions by New York’s High Court Uphold NYCAL’s ‘Judicial Hellholes’ Reputation
As expected, New York’s highest court Tuesday upheld two plaintiff-favoring trial court decisions from the New York City Asbestos Litigation court, better known as NYCAL, assuring that the jurisdiction will again be ranked among Judicial Hellholes when ATRA issues its annual report this coming December
Judicial HellholesBucking National Trend, California Appeals Court Allows Discredited Asbestos Exposure Theory
Seemingly determined to keep California atop the Judicial Hellholes rankings, an appeals court there last week ignored precedent requiring trial judges to function as “gatekeepers” when it comes to the scientific validity of expert testimony and instead upheld a decision to let jurors play that critical role in their acceptance of a discredited theory of asbestos exposure
Judicial HellholesAnother Asbestos Defendant Seeks to Join RICO Litigation Against Plaintiffs’ Firms Accused of Fraud
Asbestos defendant John Crane Inc. this week filed motions in federal district court seeking to intervene in the Garlock Sealing Technologies-led fraud litigation against two plaintiffs’ law firms, Dallas-based Simon Greenstone Panatier Bartlett and the Shein Law Center of Philadelphia
Judicial HellholesCourts Increasingly Skeptical of Speculative Asbestos Claims
As the pool of potential claimants who’ve truly been sickened by exposure to asbestos dwindles, along with the pool of still solvent defendant companies, personal injury lawyers have filed increasingly speculative lawsuits. But many judges, to their credit, are holding the line against such claims
Points of LightSouthern Illinois Federal Court Shines Brightly in Dismissing Defendants from Non-Illinois Asbestos Exposure Claim
On February 17th and 19th, Judge Staci M. Yandle for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois granted seven motions to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction for defendants involved in a large multi-defendant asbestos case. In each claim, the plaintiff, a former Navy worker, fell far short of alleging sufficient contacts by the defendants to the state of Illinois to satisfy constitutional due process requirements.
Judicial Hellholes, Points of LightATRA Calls Corruption Arrest of NY Speaker Sheldon Silver a ‘Turning Point’
A spokesman for the American Tort Reform Association today called this morning’s arrest and filing of federal corruption charges against New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver a “turning point” in the effort to combat abuses in the nation’s #1 judicial hellhole
Judicial HellholesAsbestos Fraudsters Will Pay $7.3 Million to Settle CSX Transportation’s RICO Case against Them
ATRA Cites Settlement, Coming Garlock Revelations in Urging New Congress, State Legislatures to Pass Asbestos Claims Transparency Laws
Points of LightMadison County's New Asbestos Judge Carries on Tradition of Brazenly Favoring Plaintiffs
The latest in a long line of plaintiff-friendly asbestos judges in Madison County, Illinois, recently denied dozens of defendants’ perfectly persuasive motions for forum non conveniens in four separate cases, making it ironically clear that jurors, not judges, are asbestos defendants’ only hope for justice in this perennial Judicial Hellhole
Judicial HellholesCowardly NY Governor Admits Political Impotence, Calls Trial Lawyers 'Most Powerful' Force in State
After spending millions of taxpayer dollars on a delusional national advertising campaign aimed at bringing start-up businesses to a dying state controlled by personal injury lawyers (who in their right mind would bring a business to such a state?), New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has now admitted that those lawyers dominate state politics and he is powerless to push through a popular reform bill that actually could boost redevelopment efforts
Judicial HellholesNYC Asbestos Ruling Favors Personal Injury Lawyers over Those Who’ll Become Sick in Future
At the behest of powerful personal injury law firm Weitz & Luxenberg, New York Supreme Court Justice Sherry Klein Heitler Tuesday reintroduced punitive damages to New York City’s asbestos litigation (NYCAL) with an order that will enrich those lawyers at the expense of the many who will develop asbestos-related illnesses in the future
Judicial HellholesBaltimore Judge Rejects Mass Consolidation of Asbestos Lawsuits
A Baltimore judge has soundly rejected a proposal by the law firm of Peter Angelos to consolidate approximately 13,000 asbestos-related lawsuits involving different products, exposures, and illnesses, along with scores of defendants
Points of LightUsing RICO to Punish, Deter Plaintiffs’ Lawyer-Driven Fraud on Our Courts
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette this morning published American Tort Reform Association president Tiger Joyce’s op-ed, holding up the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act as a means to discourage plaintiffs’ lawyers from promulgating fraudulent lawsuits
UncategorizedWSJ Spotlights Asbestos Shenanigans in Judicial Hellhole
Picking up where the latest Judicial Hellholes report left off, the Wall Street Journal this week editorialized about the consolidation game that asbestos kingpin Peter Angelos is trying to play in Baltimore
Judicial Hellholes