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Behrens and Gay
SPRINGFIELD – Illinois should copy states that reformed asbestos litigation, according to a report the Illinois Civil Justice League released on April 29.
Author Mark Behrens of Washington proposed to eliminate excessive naming of defendants and to prevent double recovery on claims through trusts and courts.
Four states already have passed laws against excessive naming and 16 states have passed laws against double recovery.
Unsurprisingly, the report found that 47 percent of American asbestos plaintiffs filed suit in Illinois last year and almost a third sued in Madison County – the epicenter for asbestos litigation for nearly two decades.
The report Behrens co-authored with Mary Margaret Gay of Jackson, Miss. also found that the number of defendant companies totals more than 11,000, and more than 900 have been named in Illinois.
CHARLESTON – Gov. Jim Justice has signed legislation making changes to how asbestos lawsuits are filed.
Justice signed House Bill 2495 on April 15. The law, which will go into effect this summer, requires plaintiffs in asbestos cases to file a sworn information form that specifies evidentiary basis for each claim and provide supporting documentation.
The intent of the legislation is to stop the practice of over-naming of asbestos defendants in which plaintiffs’ lawyers name companies as defendants then often dismiss the claims against companies with no liability after months or years of litigation. Behrens
Supporters of the new law say this tactic has unnecessarily driven up litigation costs, contributed to corporate bankruptcies and slows resolution of cases, delaying recoveries for plaintiffs.
CHARLESTON – A new report calls West Virginia the epicenter for the over-naming of defendants in asbestos litigation, with one recent case having 210 defendants.
The study, released January 18 by the Mississippi law firm of Gay Jones & Kuhn, also says the high rate of dismissals in such cases validates the over-naming problem. It says there is an increasing trend of plaintiffs attorneys to “sue first and discover facts later.”
“Asbestos litigation continues to create problems for businesses and West Virginia is the epicenter,” attorney Mary Margaret Gay writes in the report. “Over-naming of defendants in asbestos litigation, who have little or no known liability for asbestos-related products, is a serious issue and it is trending upward for companies.”
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