Broadcast Date: Tuesday, December 12, 2023
from 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm (ET)
Overview:
Asbestos litigation remains a dynamic and pivotal facet of the legal realm, holding profound consequences for both victims and implicated industries. In this enlightening session, we will unravel the intricate factors that shape legal proceedings involving asbestos. Our panel of experts will delve into crucial subjects, encompassing recent advancements in diagnosing and treating asbestos-related diseases, navigating the complexities of jurisdictional challenges within asbestos cases, and elucidating the strategic approaches employed by plaintiff firms to construct formidable cases. Furthermore, we will scrutinize contemporary trends within asbestos litigation, dissecting the legal intricacies and regulations that exert influence on this legal domain.
Join us in this webcast, where we will dissect asbestos litigation from multiple perspectives, offering invaluable insights beneficial to legal practitioners, medical professionals, risk management specialists, and anyone seeking to remain well-informed in this ever-evolving legal landscape.
Key Topics to Be Discussed:
- Asbestos-Related Diseases
- Jurisdiction in Asbestos Cases
- Plaintiff Firm Strategies
- Current Asbestos Litigation Trends
Credit:
Course Level: Intermediate
Advance Preparation:
Print and review course materials
Method of Presentation:
On-Demand Webcast
Prerequisite:
General knowledge of asbestos litigation
Course Code:
1410935
NY Category of CLE Credit:
Areas of Professional Practice
Total Credits:
2.0 CLE
How to Claim CLE Credits Per State:
https://knowledgewebcasts.com/how-to-claim-cle-credits-per-state/
CLE State Requirements:
https://knowledgewebcasts.com/cle-state-requirements/
CPE State Requirements:
Speaker Panel:
Melissa M. Malloy , Partner
Asbestos Defense Attorney
Pierce Davis & Perritano LLP
Melissa M. Malloy focuses her practice on the defense of toxic tort actions. For the past thirteen years, as a member of a National Coordinating Counsel team, she has assisted in the nationwide defense of an equipment manufacturer in the asbestos litigation. Her work includes the investigation of key facts, the development of expert strategy, the preparation of dispositive motions, and trial preparation and appellate support for federal and state cases filed in jurisdictions across the United States.
Ms. Malloy previously served as an appellate law clerk to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the U.S. Virgin Islands for three years. She is currently a member of the Defense Research Institute. She is admitted to the state bars of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, the U.S. District Courts for the Districts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Meghan L. Riordan, Partner
Asbestos Defense Specialist
Pierce Davis & Perritano LLP
Meghan L. Riordan is a Partner with Pierce Davis & Perritano LLP.
Ms. Riordan is highly experienced in a variety of civil litigation areas, including product liability, premises liability, general liability. She has defended numerous corporations in occupational exposure cases, including a substantial number of asbestos lawsuits, throughout her legal career. Ms. Riordan has participated in all phases of the defense of these matters, from initial discovery through dispositive motions, expert discovery, settlement negotiations, and trial. Ms. Riordan regularly litigates cases in both state and federal courts in Massachusetts and has been consistently successful in obtaining favorable outcomes for her clients. She represents a broad range of manufacturers and suppliers of various types of products and equipment, including those involved in the construction trade, HVAC, automotive industry, aviation industry, talc industry, marine applications, and various manufacturing.
Gerard T. Cicero, Partner
Bankruptcy & Corporate Restructuring Specialist
Brown Rudnick LLP
Gerard Cicero is a partner in the Firm’s Bankruptcy & Corporate Restructuring Practice Group. He represents tort victims, bondholders, foreign representatives, official and ad hoc committees of creditors and equity interest holders and post-confirmation trustees in both Chapter 11 and 15 cases.
Gerard is recognized by the Legal 500 US for Restructuring (including Bankruptcy): Corporate.
Prior to joining Brown Rudnick, Gerard served as an intern in the Employment Litigation Department at the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General.
Longxuan Wang, Consultant
Economist
NERA Economic Consulting
Longxuan Wang provides trusted economic analysis in litigation and advisory matters pertaining to securities and finances and mass torts. He has experience managing and consulting on over 50 cases involving securities class actions, mass tort and product liability forecasts, breaches of contract, investment valuations, and regulatory investigations. Mr. Wang works with clients in various markets and jurisdictions including the US, Canada, Mexico, and China.
Mr. Wang has extensive experience applying economic, statistical, and financial models to the quantification of damages and potential exposures. Mr. Wang has assessed the potential exposure from product liability and mass tort issues for pharmaceutical companies, consumer product companies, industrial machinery manufactures, and providers of pest control services. In addition, he has performed damages analyses for matters involving alleged violations of securities and ERISA laws, alleged collusive trading strategies in sovereign bonds markets, and alleged breaches of contract.
Agenda:
Segment 1
Melissa M. Malloy , Partner
Pierce Davis & Perritano LLP
In an asbestos case, several important early stage litigation considerations can greatly impact the outcome for the client; and those considerations vary depending upon whether the client is the plaintiff or the defendant.
- Plaintiff:
- Identifying the injury-producing product
- Determining who can be held legally responsible for the injury
- Employer
- Premises Owner
- Contractors/Subcontractors
- Chain of Distribution
- Successor Liability
- Determining where action can/should be filed
- State v. Federal
- Personal Jurisdiction
- Defendant:
- Timeliness of action
- Statute of Limitations
- Statute of Repose
- Determining if action is barred as a matter of law
- Workers’ Compensation Act (employer)
- Outside chain of distribution (product defendants)
- Not a foreseeable plaintiff (“take-home” exposure)
- Determining if other parties can/should be added to action
- Determining whether action can/should be moved to another jurisdiction
- Personal Jurisdiction (different state)
- Removal (federal court)
- Forum Non Conveniens (different venue in state)
- Timeliness of action
Segment 2
Meghan L. Riordan, Partner
Pierce Davis & Perritano LLP
Understanding disease:
- Investigating alternative sources of exposure to asbestos during fact discovery/depositions of Plaintiffs in Mesothelioma cases;
- Alternative causes in Lung Cancer cases;
- Developments in germline genetic mutation defense.
Plaintiff Firm Strategies:
- Chrysotile-only case where Plaintiff seeks to exclude evidence at trial by Defendants of an “unknown source” of amphibole exposure;
- Affidavits executed by Plaintiffs/co-workers and produced prior to depo (and best way for Defendants to address it during deposition/trial).
Jurisdiction:
- Ways to lay the foundation for a Motion to Dismiss for Forum Non-Conveniens (or, in the alternative applying Foreign law) during Plaintiff’s deposition.
Segment 3
Gerard T. Cicero, Partner
Brown Rudnick LLP
- What You Need To Know Immediately Upon a Bankruptcy Filing
- Stays of Litigation against the Debtor and Non-Debtors
- What is the Automatic Stay, What Does it Enjoin
- Non-debtors, Temporary Restraining Orders, and Responding to an Adversary Complaint
- Stipulated Solutions
- First Steps to Participate in the Case
- Interacting with the U.S. Trustee’s Office and Committee Formation
- Representing Your Clients and Rule 2019
- First-Day & Second Day Relief “Traps” & Immediate Discovery Options and Tactics
- Venue
- Debtor-in-Possession Financing
- Sales and/or Chapter 11 Plan moving forward on Day 1
- Stays of Litigation against the Debtor and Non-Debtors
- Types of Bankruptcy Design and Pitfalls
- What is the Ultimate Goal of a Corporate Group?
- “Cap” and “Capture” Liability & Minimize Funding Obligations
- The Texas Two-Step & Recent Developments:
- What Is It?
- The Fourth Circuit’s Dismissal Standard
- The Third Circuit’s Dismissal Standard
- Recent Legislative Efforts
- Variations on the Texas Two-Step, Control of Estate Claims & Back-Door Releases without 524(g) Vote
- The Aearo (3M) Example
- Control of Estate Causes of Action (Including Alter-Ego, Successor, Veil-Piercing Claims) Through Declaratory Judgement and Later Rule 9019 Settlement.
- Control of Estate Causes of Action (Including Alter-Ego, Successor, Veil-Piercing Claims) Through DIP Financing and Section 363 Sale.
- Other Bankruptcy Design to Be Aware Of:
- Bar Dates (when they are and are not useful)
- Claims Estimation (when it may be or may not be useful)
- Vote Aggregation – the LTL 2.0 Example
- Exclusivity and Creditor Proposed Plans
- What is the Ultimate Goal of a Corporate Group?
Segment 4
Longxuan Wang, Consultant
NERA Economic Consulting
- Overview of the statistical model for estimating potential asbestos exposure
- Estimating mesothelioma background rate
- Estimating population with occupational exposure to asbestos
- Review of recent trends in asbestos litigation based on filings of public companies
- Number of claims
- Claim resolution amounts
- Dismissal rates
- Data from asbestos trusts
- Disease distribution
- Valuation of claims
Date & Time:
Tuesday, December 12, 2023
12:00 pm to 2:00 pm (ET)
Who Should Attend:
- Product Liability Lawyers
- Environmental Lawyers
- Toxic Tort Attorneys
- Mass Tort Litigation Attorneys
- Insurance Lawyers
- Risk Assessment Managers
- General Counsel from Manufacturing Companies
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