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NORTHERN CALIFORNIA RECORD

Wednesday, May 1, 2024

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Asbestos

Appeals court asked to halt asbestos trial after plaintiff's friendly, private chat with jurors

By John O'Brien |
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) – An asbestos defendant is appealing the rejection of its request for a mistrial after the plaintiff was left alone in a Zoom chatroom with the jury.

Asbestos

Jurors on Zoom now deliberating $70M asbestos case; Honeywell says evidence lacking

By Daniel Fisher |
ALAMEDA, Calif. (Legal Newsline)- A former car dealership maintenance worker who is seeking $70 million in damages over his asbestos-related cancer failed to prove he was ever exposed to a Honeywell product, the parent company of a brake manufacturer said in closing arguments in California’s first all-Zoom jury trial.

Asbestos

Evacuations during California wildfires complicate troubled virtual asbestos trial

By John O'Brien |
ALAMEDA, Calif. (Legal Newsline) – Things aren’t smoothing out in the nation’s first attempt at virtual asbestos trials in Alameda County, Calif.

Asbestos

No mistrial in virtual asbestos trial after plaintiff chatted with jurors about Zoom backgrounds

By John O'Brien |
OAKLAND, Calif. (Legal Newsline) – A friendly chat between a plaintiff and the jurors deciding his case was improper but isn’t enough for a mistrial, says the judge presiding over one of the first virtual asbestos trials during the coronavirus pandemic.

Asbestos

First asbestos trials on Zoom marred by distracted jurors and technical problems, defendants complain

By John O'Brien |
OAKLAND, Calif. (Legal Newsline) – Jurors are working on other things, joking with plaintiffs and possibly asleep during the first virtual asbestos trials caused by the coronavirus pandemic, say the companies facing millions of dollars in liability.

Asbestos

Asbestos testimony allowed against company ID'd by 'their K and stuff'

By John O'Brien |
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Legal Newsline) – A former maker of asbestos-containing pipe might have thought it had avoided paying a $1.6 million verdict, but the California Supreme Court has given new life to the lawsuit.

Asbestos

Jury finds J&J and Colgate-Palmolive liable for $12 million in woman’s mesothelioma suit

By John Sammon |
OAKLAND – A jury on Wednesday awarded plaintiff Patricia Schmitz $12 million in damages agreeing that Johnson & Johnson baby powder and a face powder product from Colgate-Palmolive called Cashmere Bouquet contaminated with asbestos had caused her mesothelioma.

Asbestos

Jury awards plaintiff in case against J&J, Colgate Palmolive $12 million

By Ann Maher |
OAKLAND - A jury has awarded a 61-year-old woman $12 million in damages in a verdict against Johnson & Johnson and Colgate Palmolive announced Wednesday.

Asbestos

Closing arguments heard in Schmitz mesothelioma trial, J&J lawyers argue disease was spontaneous

By John Sammon |
OAKLAND – Closing arguments were heard Monday in a trial over allegations that Johnson & Johnson baby powder and a face powder product called Cashmere Bouquet produced by Colgate-Palmolive caused a woman’s mesothelioma.

Asbestos

Plaintiff lawyer casts mineralogist witness for Johnson & Johnson as talc industry mouthpiece

By John Sammon |
OAKLAND – Plaintiff attorneys on Wednesday sought to portray a mineralogist expert witness for Johnson & Johnson as a paid professional hireling of the talc industry in a trial of a case alleging the company’s baby powder caused a woman’s mesothelioma.

Asbestos

Mineralogist called by defendants in Schmitz trial says no asbestos in J&J baby powder

By John Sammon |
OAKLAND – A mineralogist called by attorneys defending Johnson & Johnson said on Tuesday there was no asbestos found in the baby powder he tested from talc mines in Italy and Vermont.

Asbestos

Discussion over cleavage fragments repeats in J&J, Colgate-Palmolive powder trial

By John Sammon |
OAKLAND – A trial over allegations that Johnson & Johnson baby powder and a face powder product from Colgate-Palmolive called Cashmere Bouquet caused a woman’s mesothelioma returned again on Thursday to the issue of cleavage fragments and whether they are toxic or not.

Asbestos

Johnson & Johnson witness says he did not act not 'ruthless' regarding talc powder

By John Sammon |
OAKLAND – A top witness for Johnson & Johnson in a trial in which the company is accused of causing a woman’s mesothelioma along with Colgate-Palmolive on Wednesday denied the company had behaved badly in defending the use of talc powder.

Asbestos

Researcher says cleavage fragments don’t cause cancer in J&J talc trial

By John Sammon |
ALAMEDA – A cellular biologist and lung disease researcher on Thursday told a jury in a trial accusing Johnson & Johnson and Colgate-Palmolive of causing a woman’s mesothelioma that cleavage fragments are not a cause of the deadly disease.

Asbestos

Industrial hygienist says talc powder low risk while plaintiff attorney differs in J&J trial

By John Sammon |
ALAMEDA – An industrial hygienist called as a witness for attorneys defending Johnson & Johnson and Colegate-Palmolive on Wednesday told a jury Patricia Schmitz’s exposure to asbestos was no more than background level.

Asbestos

Plaintiff attorneys question motives of defendants' expert in Johnson & Johnson trial

By John Sammon |
ALAMEDA – Attorneys for plaintiff Patricia Schmitz on Tuesday went after an epidemiologist expert witness for Johnson & Johnson and Colegate-Palmolive questioning his fairness in declaring that asbestos did not cause the woman’s mesothelioma.

Asbestos

Defense makes case for spontaneous illness in Johnson & Johnson mesothelioma trial

By John Sammon |
ALAMEDA – Attorneys defending Johnson & Johnson and Colgate-Palmolive on Monday called as an expert witness an epidemiologist who said Patricia Schmitz’s mesothelioma was a spontaneous event caused for no known reason, and not a result of using baby powder.

Asbestos

Judge grants Honeywell's motion to dismiss market-share liability claim in asbestos lawsuit

By Scott Holland |
SAN FRANCISCO – A federal judge has dismissed part of a complaint from a man suing several companies alleging asbestos exposure led to his lung cancer.

Asbestos

Defense grills plaintiff witness about objectivity in Johnson & Johnson Colgate-Palmolive trial

By John Sammon |
OAKLAND – Attorneys defending Johnson & Johnson and Colgate-Palmolive on Wednesday questioned a plaintiff expert witness in an attempt to portray him not only as a highly paid mouthpiece for plaintiffs in asbestos trials. They also contended Dr. David Egilman served as a consultant who was paid by companies that used asbestos in their products and then criticized them for using the mineral.

Asbestos

Plaintiff recounts ordeal with mesothelioma in Johnson & Johnson, Colgate-Palmolive trial

By John Sammon |
OAKLAND – Plaintiff Patricia Schmitz on Monday told a jury about the suffering that goes with having mesothelioma, but said she would keep fighting the disease that has robbed her of the ability to do the most simple of tasks.