MP Jonathan Djanogly, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice, has confirmed to Parliament that the new Government will not seek to overturn the House of Lords' decision that asymptomatic pleural plaques were not compensatable. He also confirmed that the Government would " proceed with the implementation of the previously announced limited extra-statutory scheme to provide one-off payments to individuals who had begun, but not resolved, a legal claim for compensation for pleural plaques at the time of the House of Lords judgment." read more
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In July 2009 in New Castle County in the State of Delaware, three separate plaintiffs filed civil suits against E. I. Du Pont De Nemours and Company, Inc. (“DuPont”) alleging that their work at a DuPont textile plant in Mercedes, Argentina from 1961 to 2002 caused them to be exposed to and inhale asbestos fibers. read more
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We first reported on this secondhand exposure lawsuit here.
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Following the Government's announcement last month ( as previously reported here), The Mesothelioma Lump Sum Payments (Conditions & Amounts) (Amendment) Regulation 2010 has come into force.
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Alastair Darling's 2010 Budget includes provisions designed to help asbestos trusts which were set up by companies prior to 24 March 2010 to meet their asbestos liabilities. Under the proposal, the trustees of such a trust would be exempt from income tax, capital gains tax and inheritance tax retrospectively from 6 April 2006. read more
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Research carried out by a team at the Erasmus Medical Centre in the Netherlands on ten people with malignant mesothelioma has shown that a vaccine may aid victims of the disease. read more
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In a statement issued by Justice Secretary Jack Straw, the Government has set out its decision on pleural plaques. As previously reported here, the House of Lords' decision in Johnston v NEI International Combustion [2007] UKHL 39 found that asymptomatic pleural plaque claims were not compensatable under the current laws.
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Two identical bills are proceeding through Parliament in an attempt to permit compensation for asymptomatic pleural plaques. read more
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As previously reported here, the Scottish Court of Session rejected insurers' challenges, by way of judicial review, to the Damages (Asbestos-related Conditions) (Scotland) Act 2009 by a judgment handed down by Lord Emslie on 8 January 2010. read more
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The criminal proceedings in Turin against the former heads of asbestos giant Eternit ( as previously reported here) have taken a new turn. A civil case has been linked to the criminal trial and both the European Union (EU) and the Italian Government have been named as civil defendants. It has been reported that 4,000 people have asked to join the case as plaintiffs, and 3,000 people are due to give evidence.
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The UK's Asbestos Working Party (AWP) has published its revised projection of the cost to employers' liability insurers of the UK's asbestos liability problem. The AWP has modelled "alternative scenarios" that suggest the cost of future claims will be between about £5 billion and over £20 billion for the period 2009 to 2050. read more
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The Scottish Court has upheld legislation that maintains the right to compensation for pleural plaques sufferers in Scotland. In 2007, the House of Lords ruled that pleural plaques sufferers had no legal right to compensation as the "damage" was insufficient to be actionable in English law. read more
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In November 2008 we reported here that the English High Court had ruled that employers' liability policies, however they are worded, are triggered by exposure to asbestos and not when, many years later, the tumour develops. read more
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The United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia recently held that an insurer had a duty to defend under a CGL policy and umbrella policy against claims relating to a hotel guest’s alleged contraction of Legionnaire’s Disease from a dirty hot tub. read more
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In Sienkiewicz v Greif (UK) Ltd, the Court of Appeal considered the combined effect of the House of Lords' decisions in Fairchild v Glenhaven Funeral Services and Barker v Corus and section 3 of the Compensation Act 2006 on liability for mesothelioma claims. read more
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The Insurance and Reinsurance Department of Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge invites you to join them for "Up Against A Chinese Drywall: Recent Developments in the Ongoing Products Liability and Coverage Litigation" - a complimentary 60 minute webinar to be held Tuesday, October 27, 2009 at 12:00pm EDT / 4:00pm GMT. read more
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A new study has revised the projected rate of UK mesothelioma deaths. Mesothelioma is an invariably fatal cancer with a latency period of between 15 and 60 years. To all intents and purposes the only cause is exposure to asbestos. read more
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The Insurance and Reinsurance Department of Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge invites you to join them for "Up Against A Chinese Drywall: Recent Developments in the Ongoing Products Liability and Coverage Litigation" - a complimentary 60 minute webinar to be held Tuesday, October 27, 2009 at 12:00pm EDT / 4:00pm GMT. read more
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Earlier this month, a California appellate court held that the government contractor immunity defense applies to a boiler manufactured to United States Navy specifications, shielding the manufacturer from a design defect claim. read more
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As previously discussed here, and here, the estate of Amanda Satterfield brought suit against Alcoa for her death from mesothelioma at the age of 25. The suit alleged that her death was the result of secondhand exposure to asbestos clinging to her father’s work clothes, who was an Alcoa employee.
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Legislation recently introduced in the United States Senate could help homeowners haul foreign manufacturers of allegedly defective Chinese drywall into court. The Foreign Manufacturers Legal Accountability Act of 2009, introduced by Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D- RI), Jeff Sessions (R-AL) and Dick Durbin (D-IL), seeks to make it easier to bring foreign companies before American courts. read more
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Under the Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969, which came into effect in 1972, it is compulsory for all employers to have insurance. read more
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The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recently held that where an insured “incurs covered costs as a result of ongoing environmental contamination occurring over more than one year and the insurer provided coverage for less than the full period of years in which contamination occurred,” the loss should be pro rated among all the insurers on the risk during the relevant period. read more
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Northern Ireland's Finance Minister, Nigel Dodds, has announced he is to recommend a change to the law, similar to that recently enacted in Scotland, which will allow individuals with pleural plaques to claim compensation. read more
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The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently conducted comparative testing on drywall manufactured in China and the United States. As reported here, here, and here, Chinese drywall emits fumes that allegedly smell like rotten eggs, cause health problems and corrode metal in thousands of new homes built between 2002 and 2007. Complaints have been registered nationwide but are concentrated in the Southeast, particularly in Florida.
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EAPD is delighted to announce that it will again this year host a half-day insurance seminar which will be repeated in Bermuda, New York and Boston. read more
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Four insurers, Aviva, AXA Insurance, RSA and Zurich, yesterday initiated judicial review proceedings regarding The Damages (Asbestos-related conditions) (Scotland) Act. read more
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The trial has begun in Turin, Italy of two former heads of Eternit, Stephan Schmidheiny and Baron Louis de Cartier de Marchienne, who are accused of failing to ensure adequate safety standards at the asbestos plants run by Eternit in Italy in the 1980s and 1990s. read more
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Historically, builders used drywall (a/k/a sheetrock, gypsum board or wallboard) that was manufactured in the United States for residential construction. However, during the construction boom years of 2002-2007, a shortage of domestic drywall forced many builders to purchase product that was manufactured in China. read more
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In November 2008 we reported that the English High Court had ruled that employers' liability policies, however they are worded, are triggered by exposure to asbestos and not when, many years later, the tumour develops.
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On 11 March the Scottish Parliament voted to pass the Damages (Asbestos-related Conditions) (Scotland) Bill, previously reported here, which is intended to restore the right of claimants in Scotland to obtain compensation for pleural plaques.
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In the recent case of Downs v Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs [2008] EWHC 2666 Mr Justice Collins was asked to consider whether the defendant was complying with EC Directive (91/414/EEC) (the Directive) which was implemented in the UK by the Plant Protection Products Regulations 2005. read more
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The Decision
On 21 November, Mr. Justice Burton handed down his long-awaited decision in the six test cases comprising the Employers’ Liability Policy ‘Trigger’ Litigation. read more
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At London's Royal Courts of Justice today Mr Justice Burton handed down a hugely important decision regarding the trigger for employers' liability policies in the context of long tail asbestos diseases. read more
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On Friday 21 November the High Court is expected to publish its keenly awaited decision in the asbestos employers' liability "trigger" test cases, which will decide which employers' liability policies should respond to asbestos claims. read more
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On 26 June 2008 we reported that the Scottish Parliament had proposed a bill to reinstate compensation for individuals who have pleural plaques, thereby reversing in Scotland the effect of the House of Lord's decision in Johnston v NEI International Combustion. The Justice Committee of the Scottish Parliament have now issued their report regarding the Bill. read more
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A Pennsylvania federal court recently ruled that a group of defendant insurers in an asbestos coverage case would not be permitted to join a number of additional insurers as defendants in the action as their request for joinder was untimely. read more
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In James River Ins. Co. v. Ground Down Engineering, Inc., No. 07-13207 (11th Cir. August 20, 2008), the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that a Florida state appellate court erred by refusing to give effect to an absolute pollution exclusion in a professional liability policy. read more
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A petition for damages recently filed in the Circuit Court of Missouri, St. Louis County, alleges that Doe Run Resources Corporation, one of the world’s largest lead producers, its related entities, and six Doe Run officers and directors released lead and other toxic substances from the company’s metallurgical complex in Peru, injuring numerous children. read more
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A Florida appellate court recently held that the retroactivity limitation for asbestos lawsuits under the state’s 2005 Asbestos and Silica Compensation Act rendered the entire Act unconstitutional. read more
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The Minnesota Supreme Court recently affirmed the transfer of an insurance coverage action to a group of Minnesota judges specially assigned to hear asbestos cases. In re Continental Cas. Co. v. 3M Co., Docket No. A07-784 (Minn., May 29, 2008). read more
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The U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals recently certified to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court critical questions regarding allocation of loss to multiple insurers for long-term environmental contamination. read more
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The United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois recently adopted a restrictive view of the government contractor immunity defense when it remanded an asbestos-related lawsuit to Illinois state court for lack of federal subject-matter jurisdiction. read more
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EAPD's Vince Vitkowsky has written an opinion article for the Dow Jones website, marketwatch.com., which addresses the impact of cross-border litigation on business risk. read more
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The Scottish Government has published a consultation paper on its proposal to introduce legislation before the summer recess in order to overturn the House of Lords' 17 October 2007 decision ( Rothwell v Chemical Insulating Company Ltd [2007] UKHL 39) that asymptomatic pleural plaques are not compensable ( click here to view further information on this judgment).
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A trial commencement date of 3 June 2008 has been set for the six lead test cases in the employers' liability 'trigger' litigation. read more
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A New York appellate panel recently affirmed a lower court’s decision finding that each worker's injuries from exposure to chemicals found in popcorn flavoring resulted from separate occurrences for purposes of applying a “per occurrence” deductible under certain general liability insurance policies. read more
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In a matter of first impression, the New Hampshire Supreme Court recently held that a pro rata allocation method, as opposed to a joint and several approach, should be applied in an environmental coverage action for purposes of allocating long-term pollution damage among multiple triggered insurance policies. read more
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The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California recently granted an insurer’s motion to intervene in an indemnity dispute between another insurer and an asbestos product supplier. read more
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Three recent Massachusetts cases touched on issues of significance to insurers doing business in and around the Commonwealth. read more
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In a recent decision, Florida’s First District Court of Appeal enforced an express New York choice of law/forum selection provision in an environmental liability policy insuring a gas station located in Florida. read more
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On July 17, 2007, New York Attorney General ("NYAG") Andrew M. Cuomo filed suit against the ExxonMobil Corporation and ExxonMobil Refining and Supply Company “to force the cleanup of a 17-million-gallon oil spill in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and to restore Newtown Creek, the contaminated waterway separating Queens from Brooklyn.” read more
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The Travelers Companies, Inc. has announced a settlement with ACandS Inc. to resolve all current and future asbestos-related coverage claims. ACandS, an insulation contractor, has been undergoing Chapter 11 reorganization since 2002, and its bankruptcy counsel has described the Travelers insurance coverage as “the most important asset of ACandS’s bankruptcy estate.” read more
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On June 11, the United States Supreme Court has paved the way for additional litigation under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (“CERCLA”). read more
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On May 30, the U.S Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that an insured's broad allegations of pollution over a course of decades are enough to trigger a liability insurer's duty to defend environmental contamination lawsuits. read more
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