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Mealey's Asbestos Bankruptcy

  • June 13, 2025

    Federal Judge Rules On 8 Motions In Coverage Row Involving Insolvent Insurer

    OMAHA, Neb. — A Nebraska federal judge ruled that adherence to New York law precludes a reinsurer’s breach of warranty defense in National Indemnity Co.’s (NICO) suit to enforce its reinsurers’ obligations for incurred liabilities related to asbestos exposure; the judge also resolved seven additional motions pertaining to claims for novation and various coverage disputes, among others.

  • June 11, 2025

    Plaintiffs: Strong Advocacy, Not Talc Antics, At Heart Of Pro Hac Vice Opposition

    TRENTON, N.J. — Strong client advocacy is no reason to deny attorneys pro hac vice status, and a bankruptcy judge already evaluated and rejected Johnson & Johnson entities’ allegations of improper conduct by those lawyers, plaintiffs in a class action seeking medical monitoring for those exposed to consumer talc products tell a federal judge in New Jersey.

  • June 11, 2025

    Recent S.C. Supreme Court Ruling Does Not Help Defunct Talc Supplier, Claimants Say

    PHILADELPHIA — A recent South Carolina Supreme Court decision on the appointment of a receiver in state court for an out-of-state corporation does not support the arguments of defunct talc supplier Whittaker, Clark & Daniels Inc. (WCD) in support of a New Jersey federal bankruptcy judge’s denial of a motion by WCD’s receiver and asbestos claimants to dismiss the Chapter 11 case, the claimants tell the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a postbriefing letter in their appeal of the bankruptcy judge’s ruling.

  • June 10, 2025

    J&J Affiliate Cites ‘False Statements’ In Bid To Have Fraud Case Reinstated

    TRENTON, N.J. — “False statements” made by the author of a scientific study, including that none of the study subjects “identified any asbestos exposure apart from contaminated talcum powder,” are enough to show that trade libel and fraud claims leveled by Johnson & Johnson (J&J) spinoff Pecos River Talc LLC should be reinstated, the company says in a reply brief on its motion on appeal for relief from a New Jersey federal judge’s decision to dismiss Pecos River’s claims.

  • June 10, 2025

    3rd Circuit Stays J&J Action Seeking To Reinstate Suit Against Talc Expert

    TRENTON, N.J. — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals stayed briefing of an appeal in which a Johnson & Johnson entity seeks to revive its fraud and injurious falsehood case against expert Jacqueline Moline while a district court considers the company’s contention that newly discovered evidence warrants allowing the filing of an amended complaint.

  • June 06, 2025

    Amicus Backs Asbestos Talc Claimants In Appeal Of Revlon Bankruptcy Ruling

    NEW YORK — A New York federal bankruptcy court erred by approving a Chapter 11 plan of reorganization for cosmetics icon Revlon that lacks any consideration for people who develop an asbestos disease after the bankruptcy case ended, the American Association for Justice tells the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in an amicus curiae brief in support of asbestos claimants who appealed after they were barred from pursuing claims against the reorganized debtor.

  • May 30, 2025

    Bankruptcy Judge OKs Disclosures For Avon Affiliates’ Liquidation Plan

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware federal bankruptcy judge approved the disclosure statement for the Chapter 11 plan of liquidation for the U.S. divisions of cosmetics giant Avon after overruling all objections and finding that the statement “contains adequate information within the meaning of section 1125 of the Bankruptcy Code.”

  • May 29, 2025

    J&J Entity, Experts Debate Need For Study Identities, Asbestos-Talc Causation

    NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Discovery into whether there is asbestos in talc and if it causes mesothelioma is irrelevant to a trade libel case accusing experts of falsely identifying individuals with only talc-based exposures, a Johnson & Johnson entity argues in an opposition to a motion to compel filed in a federal court in Virginia.  Meanwhile, the experts urged the court to block the company’s attempts at a “freewheeling investigation” into the study participants, saying coded production of only facts about the individuals sufficiently protects the participants’ privacy.

  • May 27, 2025

    Asbestos Debtor Presperse Adds Insurer Information To Proposed Reorganization Plan

    TRENTON, N.J. — Raw materials supplier and Chapter 11 debtor Presperse Corp. has added substantial information about the coverage available from its historical asbestos insurers in redline versions of its proposed plan of reorganization and disclosure statement filed May 23 in New Jersey federal bankruptcy court.

  • May 21, 2025

    J&J Affiliate’s New Evidence Not Material, Talc Study Author Says

    TRENTON, N.J. — A motion filed by Johnson & Johnson (J&J) spinoff Pecos River Talc LLC in New Jersey federal court seeking to revive its dismissed trade libel and fraud action against the author of a scientific study should be rejected because the company’s new evidence is not material and will not change the disposition of the case, the study author argues in an opposition brief.

  • May 20, 2025

    Panel Finds No Error In Lower Court’s Coverage Determinations In Asbestos Suit

    COLUMBIA, S.C. — A trial court did not err in making coverage determinations based on two policies produced by a receiver who was appointed to manage asbestos bodily injury claims filed against an insured, because the insurer failed to submit any evidence to support its argument that some of the policies’ terms changed over the years and were not identical to the two policies produced by the receiver, the South Carolina Court of Appeals said.

  • May 20, 2025

    Parties To Libby, Mont., Fraudulent Claim Verdict Brief Attorney Fee Award

    MISSOULA, Mont. — Parties to Libby, Mont., fraudulent screening diagnosis case responded to a judge’s request for briefing on a pending motion for attorney fees in the wake of what the judge termed “significant developments” since the $1.4 million judgment against the medical provider for allegedly submitting fraudulent claims under a Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) program specifically designed for the asbestos-plagued town.

  • May 20, 2025

    Confirmation Hearing Paused For Talks Among Imerys Asbestos Talc Debtors

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware federal bankruptcy judge paused the confirmation hearings for the global reorganization plan of asbestos talc debtors Imerys Talc America Inc., Cyprus Mines Corp. and Imerys Talc Italy S.p.A. so the companies can “continue on a resolution of the ‘foreign claims’ issue” that was raised by the recent inclusion of their Italian affiliate in the joint Chapter 11 case.

  • May 16, 2025

    Meso Claimants, Asbestos Debtor Jointly Drop Appeal Due To Expected Settlement

    RICHMOND, Va. — A Virginia federal judge on May 15 approved a joint stipulation to dismiss an appeal by mesothelioma claimants over a bankruptcy court’s approval of an injunction that bars asbestos claims as part of an $18 million settlement between Chapter 11 debtor Hopeman Brothers Inc. and excess insurers.

  • May 15, 2025

    Third-Party Hospital: Ignore Tactics In Asbestos Spat, Impose Sanctions

    NEW YORK — Calling an asbestos defendant’s argument in briefing a “desperation tactic” that is both “immature and unprofessional,” a third-party hospital says in a reply brief that a New York federal court should impose sanctions for the undue burden and expense the defendant’s voluntary actions caused.

  • May 15, 2025

    Bankruptcy Judge Asks District Court To Decide If Asbestos Was In Debtor’s Talc

    HOUSTON — A Texas federal district court should decide the threshold question of whether any of the talc sold by BMI Oldco Inc. actually contained asbestos, before the talc mining company’s Chapter 11 case can go any further, the U.S. bankruptcy judge overseeing the case said in a May 14 report and recommendation issued sua sponte.

  • May 13, 2025

    Insurers Seek Changes In Chapter 11 Liquidation Plan Of Avon Affiliates

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware federal bankruptcy judge should not approve the disclosure statement for the Chapter 11 plan of liquidation for the U.S. divisions of cosmetics giant Avon unless the debtors correct their proposed plan voting and solicitation procedures and confirmation schedule to allow more time for review of the plan, the debtors’ insurers say in a May 12 objection to the plan and two joinders.

  • May 13, 2025

    California Jury Returns Asbestos Verdict For Johnson & Johnson

    LOS ANGELES — A California state court jury returned a verdict for Johnson & Johnson on claims that its baby powder caused a man’s mesothelioma, mooting a trial issue about how the verdict form should list potentially liable nonparty entities.

  • May 12, 2025

    Louisiana Jury Returns $3M Verdict For Family Of Mesothelioma Sufferer

    NEW ORLEANS — After a judge excluded evidence of an expert’s altercation at a conference as providing “very little probative effect,” a Louisiana jury returned a verdict of just over $3 million to the family of a woman who died of mesothelioma after using Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder during her life.

  • May 09, 2025

    Old Asbestos Trust Claim Bars Claim Of Surviving Son, Bankruptcy Judge Says

    CINCINNATI — The son of a man who died from mesothelioma after receiving a payment in 2001 from an asbestos trust in settlement of a nonmalignancy claim cannot have a malignancy claim for his father’s mesothelioma reviewed by the trust because the father’s settlement released the trust from future liability and the son sought review too late, an Ohio federal bankruptcy judge ruled.

  • May 09, 2025

    Ship Subcontractor Seeks Approvals For Bankruptcy Plan, Disclosure Statement

    RICHMOND, Va. — Defunct ship subcontractor and Chapter 11 debtor Hopeman Brothers Inc. and an asbestos claimants’ committee filed a joint motion asking a Virginia federal bankruptcy judge to schedule a combined hearing to approve the disclosure statement for its proposed plan of reorganization and consider confirmation of the plan, which would establish a trust with insurance proceeds and cash “to allow for resolution of the thousands of asbestos claims against Hopeman.”

  • May 08, 2025

    Canadian Court Grants Asbestos Corp. Protection As It Attempts Restructuring

    THETFORD MINES, Quebec — A Canadian court on May 7 granted an application to apply legal protections to Asbestos Corp. Ltd. as the company filed a Chapter 15 bankruptcy in U.S. court in the hopes of restructuring.

  • May 07, 2025

    Asbestos Corp. Seeks Canadian Law Protections As It Attempts Restructuring

    THETFORD MINES, Quebec — Asbestos Corp. Ltd. and its parent company announced May 6 that they would ask a court for legal protection under Canadian law as they attempt to restructure.

  • May 06, 2025

    Defendant: New Discovery Shows Moline’s Talc-Only Study Was False

    NEW YORK — Recent revelations show the identities of participants in asbestos expert Jacqueline Moline’s study on causation were always relevant but were withheld in an effort to further a litigation scheme, and the court should deny a motion for sanctions and instead award costs and fees associated with attempts to obtain what is now clearly relevant and discoverable evidence, an asbestos-talc defendant told a federal judge in New York on May 5.

  • May 06, 2025

    Kaiser/Hanson Permanente Trust Reports 91 Asbestos Claims Settled In 2024

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Kaiser Gypsum Asbestos Personal Injury Trust, established in 2021 by the confirmed reorganization plan of Chapter 11 debtors Kaiser Gypsum and affiliate Hanson Permanente Cement Inc., settled 91 claims last year for a total of $248,400, according to the trust’s 2024 annual report filed in North Carolina federal bankruptcy court.