July 26, 2024
Pennsylvania National Mutual Casualty Insurance Co. cannot escape the long tail of asbestos, and must cover part of the litigation losses for an asbestos installation company that went out of business more than 30 years ago, the South Carolina Supreme …
January 26, 2023
Industrial conglomerate Koch Industries received nearly $2.5 billion in dividend payments last year from its Georgia-Pacific unit, which had spun off a subsidiary that took on its liability from asbestos litigation and then filed bankruptcy to limit lawsuit payouts, according …
June 24, 2022
Attorney Greg Gordon sat before a packed hotel ballroom of bankruptcy lawyers who had come to hear him hold court on his pioneering strategy for companies seeking to dodge billion-dollar lawsuits: the “Texas two-step.” The tactic has made the Jones …
July 23, 2020
A West Virginia judge urged parties in dozens of asbestos lawsuits to reach a settlement and avoid the “dreadful experience” of a live trial next week while the coronavirus pandemic rages on. Judge Ronald Wilson said Wednesday in a court …
May 9, 2016
A former New Jersey lawyer has been sentenced to serve two years in federal prison after admitting he fraudulently added defendants to more than 100 asbestos lawsuits in New York. Federal prosecutors say Arobert Tonagbanua deleted the names of actual …
April 27, 2016
A northeast Ohio court is trying to track down for heirs to hundreds of rubber workers who died or became very ill because of exposure to asbestos as it looks to pay out about $2 million in legal claims. Heirs …
September 8, 2015
When BASF SE acquired Engelhard Corp. nine years ago for $5 billion, executives unknowingly inherited a ticking legal time bomb. It all began decades ago over the seemingly mundane industrial product talc, used in everything from wallboards to handling auto …
January 21, 2015
U.S. personal injury lawyers allegedly concealed evidence and induced clients to commit perjury to drive up asbestos-related settlements and garner bigger fees, according to lawsuits unsealed on Tuesday in the bankruptcy of a gasket maker. The unsealed racketeering complaints alleged …
February 12, 2014
A judge who found what he called a “startling pattern” of abuse by plaintiffs’ lawyers may have shifted the landscape of asbestos litigation with a ruling in favor of manufacturers. In a decree last month, Judge George Hodges said the …
November 6, 2013
While generally not a material drag on the U.S. property/casualty industry’s earnings, industry losses from asbestos and environmental (A&E) claims resumed an upward climb in 2012, according to a new A.M. Best Co. report. The report said annual incurred A&E …