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Asbestos Case Defense Win

30 Oct 2014 5:17 PM | Lynette Pitt (Administrator)
This asbestos case was tried before a jury for over three weeks in Greenville, South Carolina on Plaintiff's claims of negligence, strict liability, and breach of warranty.  Plaintiff alleged that her decedent died of mesothelioma as a result of exposure to asbestos from brakes and other friction products during the course of his 20-year career as a mechanic.  Although Plaintiff's original complaint named 38 defendants, only two defendants - Ford Motor Company and Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. - remained during the trial.  Among other things, the defendants argued that the decedent's alleged exposure to asbestos from brakes and friction products was not the cause of his mesothelioma because the type of asbestos fibers used in those products had a low level of toxicity and would not be of sufficient dose to cause or contribute to the decedent's mesothelioma.  The trial was bifurcated as to determination of liability and compensatory damages (Phase I) and punitive damages (Phase II).  After a day and a half of deliberations in Phase I, the jury returned a straight defense verdict in favor of the defendants.  Ford Motor Company was represented by NCADA members Kirk Warner and Chris Kiger of Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell, & Jernigan, LLP, as well as by Shep Wainger from the Norfolk office of McGuireWoods, LLP and SCDTAA members Danny White and Curtis Ott from Gallivan, White, & Boyd, PA.  


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