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Asbestos Not Blamed For Carpenters Death  

INDUSTRIAL exposure to asbestos did not play a part in the lung cancer which killed a Dursley man, a coroner has ruled.

Deputy county coroner David Dooley recorded a verdict that Frederick Rudd, 74, a retired carpenter/joiner of Rock Road, died from natural causes.

Mr Dooley said at the inquest in Gloucester that the level of asbestos fibres found in Mr Rudd's body was not high enough to prove that it was due to industrial exposure to the deadly mineral. . . .

Mr Rudd had come into contact with asbestos during the building work and used to cut and saw it to shape, she stated.

He had also been a lifelong smoker, although he had given up in 1998 because he was fed up with getting chest infections in winter.

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CLINICAL GUIDELINES FOR ADULTS EXPOSED TO THE WORLD TRADE CENTER DISASTER (PDF) 

The risk and severity of many WTC-related diseases are heightened by tobacco use. Exposure to secondhand smoke may also exacerbate WTC-related diseases. All WTC-exposed people and their family members who use tobacco should be advised to quit, and all who attempt to quit should be provided with medications to help them quit. Smokers can access the Smokers’ Quitline by calling 311. Information on the treatment of nicotine addiction is available at: www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/chi/chi21-6.pdf

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• Weitz & Luxenberg Wins $37 Mil Asbestos Verdict in Two Lung Cancer Cases 

On Friday, May 11, 2007, Weitz & Luxenberg, P.C., a staunch protecter of the rights of workers who have been recklessly exposed to asbestos, won Phase II of a reverse-bifurcated lung cancer trial against Robert A. Keasbey Company. The company was a former insulation contractor that also distributed asbestos products in the New York metropolitan area.

James C. Long, Jr., Weitz & Luxenberg trial team attorney and lead counsel said, “Our clients suffered greatly. We are pleased that the jury was receptive to the evidence that established the substantive role that exposure to asbestos plays in the development of lung cancer and other debilitating diseases.” . . .

This was the first time that an asbestos defendant brought forth a full tobacco company liability case, calling pulmonologist Dr. Hans Weill, and a tobacco historian, Dr. Louis Kyriakoudes, to the stand in an effort to again try to blame smoking as the sole or overwhelming cause of the lung cancers.

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• Law Firm Wins $37 Mil Asbestos Verdict in Two Lung Cancer Cases 

On Friday, May 11, 2007, Weitz & Luxenberg, P.C., a staunch protecter of the rights of workers who have been recklessly exposed to asbestos, won Phase II of a reverse-bifurcated lung cancer trial against Robert A. Keasbey Company. The company was a former insulation contractor that also distributed asbestos products in the New York metropolitan area.

James C. Long, Jr., Weitz & Luxenberg trial team attorney and lead counsel said, “Our clients suffered greatly. We are pleased that the jury was receptive to the evidence that established the substantive role that exposure to asbestos plays in the development of lung cancer and other debilitating diseases.” . . .

This was the first time that an asbestos defendant brought forth a full tobacco company liability case, calling pulmonologist Dr. Hans Weill, and a tobacco historian, Dr. Louis Kyriakoudes, to the stand in an effort to again try to blame smoking as the sole or overwhelming cause of the lung cancers.

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• Cigar smoker's wife blames asbestos for husband's lung cancer 

Attorney Bryan Blevins of Provost Umphrey will represent Lula Delafosse, the wife of the deceased Louis Delafosse, in a suit against the A.O. Smith Corp., along with 42 other major corporations, for distributing products containing asbestos throughout Jefferson County.

This is the fifth case of its kind in the last two months. Provost Umphrey is best known for organizing asbestos and benzene class-action lawsuits against chemical refineries.

Delafosse filed the lawsuit with the Jefferson County District Court on May 2. Judge Donald Floyd, 172nd Judicial District, will preside over the case. The suit names corporations from aerospace giant Lockheed Martin to iron supplier Zurn Industries for manufacturing and distributing asbestos laced products.

A lung cancer patient, Louis was around 87 years of age when he passed away, the suit said.

Medical records attached to his lawsuit state Louis, a WWII veteran, had significant occupational exposure to asbestos, probably while working at John Dallinger Steel, Inc. from 1941 to 1942 and 1955 to 1983.

The document also says Louis was an avid cigar smoker.

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NYU Medical Center Partners With Rosetta Genomics to Develop a Line of Diagnostic Tools for Lung and Mesothelioma Cancers 

Rosetta Genomics, Ltd. (NASDQ: ROSG) announced today that it has partnered with NYU Medical Center with the aim of developing a line of early detection diagnostic products for lung, and Mesothelioma cancers. The early detection test will mainly target over 45 million Americans who are at an increased risk of lung cancer due to smoking, as well as those who have been exposed to asbestos fibers. The test will utilize Rosetta Genomics' proprietary protocol to extract microRNAs from a simple blood draw.

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Study looks into possible cancer link with asbestos 

Neighbors of two plants that made products containing asbestos were about 50 percent more likely to get lung cancer than residents living elsewhere in the state, a new study indicated.

Using data from the U.S. census and the Utah Cancer Registry, a Utah Department of Health study identified about 70,000 people who lived in the 2-mile radius around both vermiculite processing plants and traced their cancer incidence over 28 years.

The number of cases of respiratory cancer in the area was significantly higher than other areas of the state, but cases of the specific cancer directly linked to asbestos -- mesothelioma -- were significantly lower, said Wayne Ball, lead epidemiologist with the state Department of Health. . . .

Other factors, like smoking, could have also caused the cancers, Ball said.

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Lorillard Tobacco Company Comments On Decision in Ohio Personal Injury Case 

Late yesterday a Cuyahoga County Ohio state court judge issued an order and opinion that make a significant statement about the consequences of litigation fraud and abuse.

Judge Harry Hanna revoked the law firm of Brayton Purcell’s admission to the Ohio court for violating legal and ethical standards through a series of improper and deceptive acts in pretrial discovery.

"We are pleased with Judge Harry Hanna's decision in the Kananian case" said Ronald S. Milstein, Lorillard's Senior Vice President of Legal and External Affairs. "We hope our efforts to bring to the court’s attention this reckless abuse of the judicial system and Judge Hanna’s refusal to tolerate such deception will make a loud and clear statement to all that our process of jurisprudence must be conducted in the most impartial manner possible to effectively enforce the law.”

“Lorillard also hopes that Judge Hanna’s decision will benefit other companies that may be subject to unethical conduct in asbestos personal injury and mass tort litigation.”

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Law Blog Lawyer of the Day: Christopher Andreas 

On Monday we posted on colleague Paul Davies’s story on an Ohio court lambasting a plaintiffs’ firm in an asbestos case brought against a tobacco manufacturer. Judge Harry Hanna criticized the law firm for, among other things, one of its attorneys wearing a t-shirt in a deposition that read: “Killer smokes — Kent cigarettes — 1952-1956 — made by Lorillard Tobacco.” After reading the article we thought to ourselves, “Gee whiz, we’d love to get our readers a photo of this guy in his killer tee.”

Well, the intrepid Davies came through for us in a big way. At left: Christopher Andreas, a junior partner at Brayton Purcell in Novato, Calif. The photo was captured from the videotaped deposition.

Judge Harry Hanna came down hard on Andreas, questioning Andreas’s “appearance, attitude and veracity” and finding that he “lied to the court” on several instances.

“For an officer of the court to show such lack of respect is shocking,” Judge Hanna wrote.

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EDITORIAL: Cuyahoga Comeuppance ($$) 

The judicial hammer finally came down last week on the California law firm of Brayton Purcell, one of the giants of the asbestos bar. All the firm had done was file a false claim, lie in court and obstruct discovery. . . .

Judge Hanna has now opened the door to more scrutiny of "double dipping" and the rampant fraud inherent in asbestos trusts. The goal should be for more judges to allow for the discovery and admissibility of trust forms in ongoing litigation. His opinion is required reading for other judges, who can start asking whether similar dishonesty is destroying the integrity of their own courts.

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Plaintiffs' Team Takes Hit on Asbestos ($$) 

In the latest setback for plaintiffs' attorneys involved in large-scale asbestos litigation, an Ohio state court judge barred a California law firm from appearing in his court after finding that its lawyers had lied and obstructed the discovery process in a case involving an asbestos claim.

In a harshly worded opinion issued late Thursday, Judge Harry Hanna listed more than a dozen instances where attorneys from the Novato, Calif., law firm Brayton Purcell LLP either lied to the court, intentionally withheld key discovery materials, or distorted the degree of asbestos exposure alleged.

The ruling is one of a number in the past several years that have gone against asbestos plaintiffs, including several in Mississippi, for years regarded as a plaintiff-friendly state. Other states have erected legislative hurdles, making asbestos claims more difficult to win. . . .

Specifically, Judge Hanna signaled out Christopher Andreas, a junior partner at the firm. The judge questioned Mr. Andreas's "appearance, attitude and veracity" during a deposition in which he wore a T-shirt that read: "Killer smokes -- Kent cigarettes -- 1952-1956 -- made by Lorillard Tobacco."

An attorney for Mr. Andreas and Brayton Purcell said "none of the skirmishes were material to the substance of the case."

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No Way To Treat A Judge  

An Ohio judge has removed the prominent Novato, Calif. law firm of Brayton Purcell from an asbestos lawsuit against Lorillard Tobacco, saying the firm made “patently false” statements about filings it made with bankruptcy trusts and evidence in the case.

The judge’s action on Thursday comes a few weeks after Brayton Purcell withdrew from the lawsuit by the heirs of Harry Kananian, a World War II veteran who died of mesothelioma, a cancer usually attributed to asbestos. The judge refused to dismiss the lawsuit against Lorillard, a Loews (nyse: CG - news - people ) unit, saying it would be unfair to the plaintiffs since they did nothing wrong.

The suit illustrates a pattern defense lawyers have complained bitterly about, in which plaintiffs first tap trusts set up by bankrupt asbestos manufacturers, then pursue solvent companies without disclosing prior payments. Lorillard is a frequent target because it manufactured cigarettes with asbestos-containing filters for a few years in the early 1950s. Brayton Purcell lawyer Chris Andreas is one of the few attorneys to have won such a suit against Lorillard.

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U.S. Chamber Applauds Ohio Judge for Standing Up to 'Double-Dipping' by Trial Lawyers in Asbestos Case 

"Judge Harry Hanna should be commended for taking the time to investigate corrupt 'double-dipping' by some asbestos plaintiffs' lawyers. His opinion exposes a world of fraudulent asbestos claims, where the lawyers allege injury as a result of exposure to one product after collecting from a bankruptcy trust by asserting the same injury occurred from another product, and elaborate schemes to keep those claims hidden from asbestos defendants and the courts. This type of activity hurts injured victims with legitimate claims by diverting money from a limited pool of available funds through deceit and deception.

"Asbestos defendants should have a legal right to know when a plaintiffs' lawyer is 'double-dipping,' as well as alleging conflicting sources of exposure in multiple claims. Defendants should also have a right to know how much money a plaintiff has collected from other sources for the same injury. We believe judges should require disclosure of this kind of information as a matter of course. If they fail to do so, legislative remedies may be in order.

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• Ohio Judge Finds Calif. Firm Submitted Fraudulent Asbestos Claim Forms 

An Ohio state court judge upbraided the Brayton Purcell law firm in Novato, Calif., and one of its partners Thursday, finding that they lied to the court, submitted fraudulent asbestos claim forms and broke other rules.

As a result, the judge said in a published ruling that they had forfeited pro hac vice privileges to practice law in the asbestos litigation hotbed of Ohio's Cuyahoga County.

Judge Harry Hanna's ruling offers a rare glimpse behind the scenes of a heated discovery fight, one that portrays the plaintiffs firm and partner Christopher Andreas as sloppy and deceitful in their representation of the estate of Harry Kananian, who died from mesothelioma, a cancer caused by asbestos exposure.

The decision won't put an end to the underlying claims Kananian's estate brought against Lorillard Tobacco, maker of Kent cigarettes. But it jeopardizes the ability of Andreas and the Brayton firm to practice in the Ohio county, which includes Cleveland; whether the ruling will sully their reputations elsewhere is unclear. . . .

When lawyers for Lorillard moved to disqualify the California firm and its partner in November, they contended that Andreas and the Brayton firm had submitted inconsistent claims to asbestos trusts in order to hit up multiple defendants for Kananian's exposure, then lied in court to cover their tracks. . . .

The judge also criticized Andreas for showing up at a deposition last summer wearing a T-shirt that said, "Killer Smokes -- Kent Cigarettes -- 1952-1956 -- Made by Lorillard Tobacco." . . .

As part of Thursday's order, Hanna denied Lorillard's request to dismiss the case, saying that Kananian's family and its current counsel did nothing wrong.

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• Lorillard Tobacco Company Comments on Decision in Ohio Personal Injury Case 

Judge Harry Hanna revoked the law firm of Brayton Purcell's admission to the Ohio court for violating legal and ethical standards through a series of improper and deceptive acts in pretrial discovery.

"We are pleased with Judge Harry Hanna's decision in the Kananian case," said Ronald S. Milstein, Lorillard's Senior Vice President of Legal and External Affairs. "We hope our efforts to bring to the court's attention this reckless abuse of the judicial system and Judge Hanna's refusal to tolerate such deception will make a loud and clear statement to all that our process of jurisprudence must be conducted in the most impartial manner possible to effectively enforce the law."

"Lorillard also hopes that Judge Hanna's decision will benefit other companies that may be subject to unethical conduct in asbestos personal injury and mass tort litigation."

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