Toxic Tort

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The Court of Appeal has handed down its long-awaited decision in the appeal of the Employers’ Liability Insurance “Trigger” Litigation. In a long and complex judgment, which runs to more than 100 pages, the Court of Appeal has overturned the main finding of the first instance decision (the judgment of Burton J of November 2008). …
Read More UK: Court of Appeal Overturns EL Insurance Decision

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 UK: New Government Confirms Labour’s Pleural Plaques Decision

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 U.S. Lawsuits Based Upon Foreign Toxic Tort Liability: A Growing Threat?

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. 

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Read More UK: Alastair Darling’s Budget Proposes Tax Break for Asbestos Trusts

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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Read More UK: Government Announces its Decision on Pleural Plaques

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 UK: Insurers Appeal Decision by Scottish Court to Reject Challenge Over Compensation for Pleural Plaques