Business and the Law; Judicial Struggle In Asbestos Cases
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LEAD: Asbestos litigation has turned into a kind of three-dimensional judicial chess game, with plaintiffs, defendants and judges all struggling among themselves. Asbestos litigation has turned into a kind of three-dimensional judicial chess game, with plaintiffs, defendants and judges all struggling among themselves. The central issue for all three groups is whether tens of thousands of asbestos personal-injury lawsuits should be consolidated into one or a few jurisdictions. And if the cases should be consolidated, which judges should supervise them? Right now, the cases are scattered throughout every Federal court and most state courts around the nation. In some areas, they are badly clogging the dockets. Asbestos personal-injury cases form the basis for the largest number of civil disputes around the nation, and some lawyers and scientists predict that they will increase drastically in the coming years as injuries from decades of exposure become apparent. The issues surrounding the consolidation of cases are expected to come in sharp focus this week, when judges begin to take steps to resolve what has turned into a clash of class actions. On Friday an unusual meeting will be held in Washington by six Federal judges with heavy asbestos dockets. One of those judges, Jack B. Weinstein of Brooklyn, traveled to Texas and Cleveland on Friday to discuss plans for coordination with two other judges. Judge Weinstein set off a mad scramble by lawyers and other judges last month when he indicated his intention to approve a nationwide class action. The judge’s move caused several parties to begin shopping for the best forum for their lawsuits and brought a reaction from other judges who did not want to see their cases transferred. Within a week of Judge Weinstein’s opinion, Federal District Judge Thomas D. Lambros of Cleveland approved a class action without any motion being made by a lawyer. Four Federal judges in Louisiana who are supervising more than 1,000 cases then fired off an order telling lawyers there basically to ignore Judge Lambros because he had acted improperly in approving the class action. At about the same time, plaintiffs’ lawyers asked Judge Robert M. Parker of Tyler, Tex., to approve a class action. The motion is still pending, along with one filed by an asbestos defendant, Eagle-Picher Industries, asking Judge Weinstein to approve a class action. ”Every hour brings me an order or fax from a court staking out turf in the class-action fight,” said a lawyer who represents a maker of asbestos. More : query.nytimes.com |