The Unreasonable Success of Asbestos Litigation
In asbestos litigation, the plaintiffs’ bar has apparently invented a perpetual motion machine that feeds on outrage that will never run out. Still, lawyers who have not filled their wallets with legal...
View ArticleLet Me Not Be Frank With You – Frank Subpoena Quashed
In June 2015, Honeywell International Inc. subpoenaed non-party witness Dr. Arthur Frank, to produce documents and to testify, in Yates v. Ford Motor Co., et al., No. 5:12-cv-752-FL (E.D.N.C.)....
View ArticleHagiography of Selikoff
The October 2015, Volume 58, Issue 10, is a “Special Issue” of the American Journal of Industrial Medicine dedicated to “Historical Perspectives,” of Selikoff. No serious historian need have applied;...
View ArticlePutting the Liability Spotlight on Employers
In 2013, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that employers could be directly liable to employees for injuries that become manifest outside the time limits (300 weeks) of the Commonwealth’s workman’s...
View ArticleThe Webb of Unsophistication in Products Liability Law
The Heart of the Matter The classic early cases in products liability law were about consumers hurt by consumer products, sold by manufacturers or dealers directly to consumers. The key component of...
View ArticleThe LoGiudice Inquisitiorial Subpoena & Its Antecedents in N.Y. Law
The plaintiffs’ bar’s inquisition into funding has been a recurring theme in the asbestos and other litigations.[1] It is thus interesting to compare the friendly reception Justice Moulton gave...
View ArticleHigh, Low and Right-Sided Colonics – Ridding the Courts of Junk Science
Not surprisingly, many of Selikoff’s litigation- and regulatory-driven opinions have not fared well, such as the notions that asbestos causes gastrointestinal cancers and that all asbestos minerals...
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Jersey Devil and the Occult (Asbestos)
Amosite Mine in Collingswood, New Jersey Amosite is a commercial term for the fibrous mineral grunerite (Fe7Si8O22(OH)2). Grunerite and its fibrous form, amosite, does not occur naturally in the...
View ArticleNew York Rejects the Asbestos Substantial Factor Ruse (Juni Case)
I recall encountering Dr. Joseph Sokolowski in one of my first asbestos personal injury cases, 32 years ago. Dr. Sokolowki was a pulmonary specialist in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and he showed up for...
View ArticleThe Slemp Case, Part 2 – Openings
“The Slemp Case, Part I – Jury Verdict for Plaintiff – 10 Initial Observations” (May 13, 2017) The legal community is still trying to grasp the enormity of the $110M verdict against Johnson &...
View ArticleSamuel Tarry’s Protreptic for Litigation-Sponsored Publications
Litigation-related research has been the punching bag of self-appointed public health advocates for some time. Remarkably, and perhaps not surprising to readers of this blog, many of the most strident...
View ArticleSeventh Circuit Franks ‘Every Exposure’ Theory for Extinction
In Krik v. Exxon Mobil Corp., no. 15-3112, 2017 WL 3768933, Slip op. (7th Cir. Aug. 31, 2017) [slip op. cited as Krik], a jury found that smoking cigarettes causes lung cancer, which is not...
View ArticleDisappearing Conflicts of Interest
As the story of who funded the opposition research into Trumski and the Russian micturaters unfolds, both sides of the political spectrum seem obsessed with who funded the research. Funny thing that...
View ArticleThe Amicus Curious Brief
Friends – Are They Boxers or Briefers* Amicus briefs help appellate courts by bringing important views to bear on the facts and the law in disputes. Amicus briefs ameliorate the problem of the common...
View ArticleDivine Intervention in Litigation
The Supreme Being, or Beings, or their Earthly Agents (Angels) rarely intervene in mundane matters such as litigation. Earlier this month, however, there may have been an unsuccessful divine...
View ArticleTremolitic Tergiversation or Ex-PIRG-Gation?
My first encounter with the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) was as an undergraduate when my college mandated that part of the student activity fee went to New Jersey PIRG. The college...
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Cartoon Advocacy for Causal Claims
I saw him today at the courthouse On his table was a sawed-in-half man He was practiced at the art of deception Well I could tell by his blood-stained hands Ah yeah! Yeah1 Mark Lanier’s Deceptive...
View Article“Each and Every Exposure” Is a Substantial Factor
“Every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings” … It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) Every time a plaintiff shows the smallest imaginable exposure, there is a full recovery. … The American tort system....
View ArticleCastleman-Selikoff – Can Their Civil Conspiracy Survive Death?
Several, years ago, I wrote about Barry Castleman’s 1979 memorandum to Irving Selikoff, in which Castleman implored Selikoff to refuse to cooperate with lawful discovery from defense counsel in...
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Selikoff Timeline & Asbestos Litigation History
The critics and cheerleaders of Dr. Irving John Selikoff agree that he was a charming, charismatic, and courageous man, a compassionate physician, and a zealous advocate for worker safety and health....
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