http://www.lexisnexis.com/mealeys/news.aspx Headline Asbestos Bankruptcy Legal News from LexisNexis® en-us http://www.lexisnexis.com/mealeys/images/lexismealeyslogo.gif 130 29 http://www.lexisnexis.com/mealeys/news.aspx Copyright 2013 http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-9%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%201%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEW YORK - A New York steamship and maritime company that is a defendant in 28 cases in a multidistrict asbestos litigation filed a notice April 16 in a Pennsylvania federal court that it has filed a voluntary Chapter 7 petition in New York federal bankruptcy court (In re: Asbestos Products Liability Litigation $(No. VI$), MDL No. 02-875, E.D. Pa.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-9%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%202%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' WILMINGTON, Del. - A federal bankruptcy judge in Delaware and Pennsylvania on April 9 established the protocol for debtor Garlock Sealing Technologies LLC to follow to obtain information about asbestos claimants filed in 12 other Chapter 11 cases, making clear that the information can be used only for the asbestos liability proceeding in Garlock's case (In re: W.R. Grace & Co., et al., No. 01-1139, D. Del. Bkcy.; See March 2013, Page 6). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-9%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%203%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' PITTSBURGH - Pittsburgh Corning Corp. (PCC) on April 10 filed amended proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law and a proposed order for confirming a plan of reorganization in its 13-year-old Chapter 11 case and requested that a Pennsylvania federal bankruptcy judge finally approve the plan before she retires next month (In re: Pittsburgh Corning Corporation, No. 00-22876, W.D. Pa. Bkcy.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-9%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%204%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' WILMINGTON, Del. - A federal bankruptcy judge in Delaware on March 29 closed the 11-year-old Chapter 11 case of aluminum manufacturer Kaiser Aluminum that was prompted in part by hundreds of thousands of asbestos personal injury claims (In re Kaiser Aluminum Corporation, et al., No. 02-10429, D. Del. Bkcy.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-9%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%205%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - A Texas federal judge on March 26 affirmed a $9.49 million fee award to a law firm that worked for ASARCO LLC in the company's Chapter 11 case. The award includes $5.2 million for defending the fee request for the firm's work on a multibillion-dollar fraudulent conveyance case that provides "an abundance of evidence" to support the additional fees, the judge held (In re: ASARCO LLC, et al. $(ASARCO LLC v. Baker Botts, LLP, No. 12-318, S.D. Texas$); See January 2013, Page 22). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-9%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%206%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' WILMINGTON, Del. - Chapter 11 debtor W.R. Grace and Co. on April 15 sought approval in Delaware federal bankruptcy court to sell more than 66 acres of unused land next to the company's Maryland headquarters for $13.1 million so the property can be used for residential development (In re: W.R. Grace & Co., et al., No. 01-1139, D. Del. Bkcy.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-9%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%207%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' WILMINGTON, Del. - A federal bankruptcy judge in Delaware on March 29 approved a request by Chapter 11 debtor The Flintkote Co. to add a Popeye's Chicken & Biscuits restaurant in Mississippi to its real estate management business over the objection of Flintkote's former parent (In re: The Flintkote Co., et al., No. 04-11300, D. Del. Bkcy.; See March 2013, Page 20). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-9%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%208%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' BALTIMORE - A Maryland federal bankruptcy judge on March 29 denied a request to reconsider her decision to lift the automatic stay in Lloyd E. Mitchell Inc.'s (LEM) Chapter 11 case so a confidential settlement among the debtor, two insurers and a law firm representing 9,000 asbestos personal injury claimants can be implemented, finding that an opposing law firm failed to show that lifting the stay is clear error or an injustice. On April 11, the opposing law firm appealed the ruling (In re: Lloyd E. Mitchell Inc., No. 06-13250, D. Md. Bkcy.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-9%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%209%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' PITTSBURGH - A Pennsylvania federal bankruptcy judge on March 22 granted a request by judgment creditors in Pittsburgh Corning Corp.'s (PCC) Chapter 11 case for payment of an administrative claim for making a substantial contribution to the company's reorganization but set the allowed amount for the claim at $160,000 less than what the creditors sought (In re: Pittsburgh Corning Corporation, No. 00-22876, W.D. Pa. Bkcy.; See March 2013, Page 15). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-9%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2010%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' WILMINGTON, Del. - W.R. Grace and Co. and its Chapter 11 debtor affiliates will pay more than $650,000 to settle a claim for past and future environmental remediation response costs for a chemical plant site in New Jersey, according to a notice of settlement and stipulation filed April 10 in Delaware federal bankruptcy court (In re: W.R. Grace & Co., et al., No. 01-1139, D. Del. Bkcy.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-9%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2011%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEWARK, N.J. - Reorganized Chapter 11 debtor G-I Holdings Inc. will pay $129,000 to settle claims related to environmental damage at a Tennessee site, according to a stipulation and order entered April 12 in New Jersey federal bankruptcy court (In re: G-I Holdings, Inc., et al., Nos. 01-30135 and 01-38790, D. N.J. Bkcy.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-9%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2012%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' WILMINGTON, Del. - A federal bankruptcy judge in Delaware on April 17 approved a settlement agreement between Chapter 11 debtor W.R. Grace & Co. and one of its insurers that will provide more than $900,000 to the debtor's asbestos personal injury trust in one lump-sum payment rather than in installments (In re: W.R. Grace & Co., et al., No. 01-01139, D. Del. Bkcy.; See March 2013, Page 18). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-9%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2013%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' BEAUMONT, Texas - A Texas appeals court on April 11 vacated an $8.7 million asbestos verdict handed down in 2003 against Quigley Co. Inc. after the parties settled, resolving an appeal put on hold by the defendant's bankruptcy (Quigley Co. Inc. and Pfizer Inc. v. Sammy Ray Acker, et al., No. 09-04-00032-CV, Texas App., 9th Dist.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-9%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2014%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' BALTIMORE - Arguments made by Porter Hayden Co. for summary judgment in a long-running coverage dispute with two insurance companies "border on frivolous" and "are in direct contravention" of a court order, the insurers argue in an April 1 response filed in Maryland federal court (National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, Pa., et al. v. Porter Hayden Co., No. 03-3408, D. Md.; See March 2013, Page 23). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-9%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2015%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' HARRISBURG, Pa. - The Pennsylvania House Committee on Judiciary on April 8 began considering a bill requiring disclosure of asbestos bankruptcy trust submissions and imposing liability with an eye toward recoveries from those trusts. http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-9%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2016%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Asbestos plaintiffs in Illinois would have 30 days from the beginning of discovery to provide all parties to the litigation a sworn statement identifying existing trust claims under legislation introduced March 6. http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-9%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2017%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' MADISON, Wis. - Legislation in Wisconsin would give tort plaintiffs 30 days to disclose any claims against asbestos personal injury trusts and provide liable defendants with offsets for recoveries from those trusts. http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-9%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2018%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' RALEIGH, N.C. - North Carolina lawmakers on March 26 began considering legislation limiting a successor company's liability to the fair market value of the total gross assets at the time of the merger. http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-9%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2019%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEW YORK - The U.S. trustee in the new Chapter 11 case of Rapid-American Corp. on March 28 appointed an Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors, according to a notice of appointment filed in a New York federal bankruptcy court (In re: Rapid-American Corporation, No. 13-10687, S.D. N.Y. Bkcy.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-9%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2020%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' CHICAGO - The U.S. trustee for Resillo Press Pad Co.'s Chapter 7 case on April 1 sought authority in Illinois federal bankruptcy court to abandon the estate's interest in $47,000 worth of personal property (In re Resillo Press Pad Co., No. 13-02916, N.D. Ill. Bkcy.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-9%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2021%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' PITTSBURGH - Following affirmation of confirmation of the Chapter 11 plan of reorganization for Global Industrial Technologies Inc. (GIT), a Pennsylvania federal bankruptcy judge on April 4 established a record date for the payment of claims by the debtor. On the same day, the bankruptcy judge set the same record date for GIT affiliate North American Refractories Co. (NARCO) (In re: Global Industrial Technologies, Inc., et al., No. 02-21626, and In re: North American Refractories Co., et al., W.D. Pa. Bkcy.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-9%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2022%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' SALT LAKE CITY - A trial judge properly rejected joint and several liability after concluding that a woman's asbestos claim arose at the time of her diagnosis, a Utah appeals panel held April 4. However, the panel affirmed the denial of post-trial motions challenging the more than $5 million verdict (Vickie Warren v. Georgia-Pacific, et al., No. 20110544-CA, Utah App.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-9%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2023%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEW ORLEANS - Prominent tobacco and asbestos litigator Richard "Dickie" Scruggs' guilty plea to bribing a judge who presided over a fee dispute has been affirmed by the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which said in an April 12 decision that he had demonstrated neither an absence of jurisdiction nor actual innocence (United States of America v. Richard F. Scruggs, also known as Dickie, No. 12-60423, 5th Cir.; 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 7410). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-9%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2024%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' LOS ANGELES - A California jury on March 19 awarded $26.6 million to a couple, finding the lone remaining defendant liable for a man's asbestos exposure and resulting mesothelioma, sources told Mealey Publications (Michael Sutherland and Suszi Sutherland v. Highland Stucco and Lime Products Inc., No. BC486980, Calif. Super., Los Angeles Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-9%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2025%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEW YORK - Hoping to have landed at a compromise on a contentious issue where "neither side wants to give an inch," a New York special master on March 12 established deadlines for when plaintiffs must disclose asbestos bankruptcy claims (In re: New York City Asbestos Litigation, No. 40000/988, N.Y. Sup., New York Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-9%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2026%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' LONDON - The United Kingdom Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on April 4 announced that an English crown court ordered a hotel chain to pay more than 200,000 pounds in fines for potentially exposing construction workers and guests to asbestos. http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-9%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2027%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' BAIE VERTE, Newfoundland - The Workplace, Health, Safety and Compensation Commission and other groups on April 10 announced the completion of a Baie Verte miners' asbestos-related registry. http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-8%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%201%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEW YORK - A former holding company facing hundreds of thousands of asbestos personal injury claims and owing more than $12 million in settlements with asbestos claimants filed a Chapter 11 petition March 8 in a New York federal bankruptcy court due to an increase in mesothelioma claims and decrease in insurance assets (In re: Rapid-American Corporation, No. 13-10687, S.D. N.Y. Bkcy.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-8%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%202%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' WILMINGTON, Del. - A Delaware federal judge on March 1 ruled that Chapter 11 debtor Garlock Sealing Technologies LLC can obtain documents filed by asbestos claimants' attorneys in nine other asbestos-related bankruptcy cases, finding that a bankruptcy judge erred and abused her discretion in denying Garlock access to the exhibits (In Re: Motions for Access of Garlock Sealing Technologies LLC, No. 11-1130, D. Del.; 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 28283). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-8%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%203%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEW YORK - Quigley Co. Inc. parent Pfizer Inc. and a Texas asbestos plaintiffs' law firm that was the only remaining objector to Quigley's Chapter 11 plan of reorganization have settled their 10-year-old dispute over prior settlement agreements between Quigley and the firm's asbestos claimants, according to a March 1 motion by the debtor in its New York federal bankruptcy case (In Re: Quigley Company Inc., No. 04-15739, S.D. N.Y. Bkcy.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-8%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%204%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' LOS ANGELES - A California federal bankruptcy judge on March 13 scheduled a confirmation hearing for an amended Chapter 11 plan of reorganization for Thorpe Insulation Co. after finding that all objections to the plan by nonsettling insurance companies that were remanded for resolution by the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals have been settled (In re Thorpe Insulation Co., No. 2:07-bk-19271, C.D. Calif. Bkcy.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-8%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%205%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' WILMINGTON, Del. - Confirmation of The Flintkote Co.'s Chapter 11 plan of reorganization should be overturned because the company failed to prove that it has a viable, ongoing business and did not show that it will be subject to future demands by asbestos claimants, Flintkote's former parent company says in a Feb. 28 brief on appeal in Delaware federal court (In re: The Flintkote Co., et al. $(Imperial Tobacco Canada Limited, et al. v. The Flintkote Company, et al., No. 13-227, D. Del.$)). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-8%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%206%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' PITTSBURGH - A request by judgment creditors in Pittsburgh Corning Corp.'s (PCC) bankruptcy case for payment of more than $230,000 for making a substantial contribution to the company's reorganization should be denied because any contribution the creditors made was done for their own best interests, PCC says in a March 5 response brief in a Pennsylvania federal bankruptcy court (In re: Pittsburgh Corning Corporation, No. 00-22876, W.D. Pa. Bkcy.; See February 2013, Page 20). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-8%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%207%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' LOS ANGELES - Reorganized Chapter 11 debtor Thorpe Insulation Co. and its asbestos trust received approval March 12 from a California federal bankruptcy judge for two settlements with insurance companies that have opposed Thorpe's reorganization; the deals will provide $57 million to the trust for payment of asbestos personal injury claims (In re Thorpe Insulation Co., No. 2:07-bk-19271, C.D. Calif. Bkcy.; See February 2013, Page 15). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-8%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%208%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' WILMINGTON, Del. - Chapter 11 debtor W.R. Grace & Co. will receive one payment of more than $900,000 from one of its insurers for its asbestos trust rather than in periodic payments as claims are submitted to the trust, the company says in a March 6 motion in Delaware federal bankruptcy court (In re: W.R. Grace & Co., et al., No. 01-01139, D. Del. Bkcy.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-8%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%209%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' WILMINGTON, Del. - A Delaware federal bankruptcy judge on March 4 issued final decrees closing the Chapter 11 cases of Durabla Manufacturing Co. and its Canadian affiliate, which were both forced into bankruptcy because of asbestos personal injury claims (In re: Durabla Manufacturing Co., No. 09-14415, D. Del. Bkcy.; See February 2013, Page 21). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-8%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2010%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' WILMINGTON, Del. - Chapter 11 debtor The Flintkote Co. sought approval Feb. 26 in Delaware federal bankruptcy court to add a Popeye's Chicken & Biscuits restaurant in Mississippi to its growing real estate management business and then on March 1 asked the court for authorization to purchase properties in the future without need for further court orders (In re: The Flintkote Co., et al., No. 04-11300, D. Del. Bkcy.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-8%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2011%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law on March 13 heard experts debate the need for more transparency from asbestos bankruptcy trusts and whether they should produce quarterly reports detailing the demands filed against them. http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-8%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2012%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' MADISON, Wis. - Wisconsin legislators on Feb. 15 introduced legislation providing 30 days from the filing of an asbestos action disclosure of both existing and anticipated claims against bankruptcy trusts. http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-8%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2013%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' PITTSBURGH - A bankrupt affiliate of Chapter 11 debtor Global Industries Technologies Inc. (GIT) can conduct an auction to sell a piece of land in Texas for which it already holds a purchase agreement for more than $1.2 million, a Pennsylvania federal bankruptcy judge ruled March 21 (In re: Global Industrial Technologies, Inc., et al., No. 02-21626, W.D. Pa. Bkcy.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-8%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2014%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' BALTIMORE - Reorganized building products business Porter Hayden Co. on March 1 sought a declaration in Maryland federal court that its massive payments to asbestos personal injury claimants over the years have exhausted insurance policies issued by two insurers, so the insurers owe the company millions in indemnification and defense costs (National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, Pa., et al. v. Porter Hayden Co., No. 03-3408, D. Md.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-8%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2015%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - With Chapter 11 debtor United Gilsonite Laboratories (UGL) working on getting a plan of reorganization confirmed within the next three months, a Pennsylvania federal bankruptcy judge on March 4 gave the company more time to remove claims and causes of action to district court (In re: United Gilsonite Laboratories, 11-2032, M.D. Pa. Bkcy.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-8%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2016%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' CHICAGO - A company holding a $3,400 state court judgment against Chapter 7 debtor Resillo Press Pad Co. can pursue its "nonbankruptcy remedies" in seeking to have the judgment paid with funds in the debtor's bank accounts, an Illinois federal bankruptcy judge ruled Feb. 20 in granting the company relief from Resillo's automatic stay (In re Resillo Press Pad Co., No. 13-02916, N.D. Ill. Bkcy.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-8%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2017%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEWARK, N.J. - Reorganized Chapter 11 debtor G-I Holdings Inc. has six more months to file objections to the allowance of claims, a New Jersey federal bankruptcy judge ruled March 6 (In re: G-I Holdings Inc., et al., Nos. 01-30135, 01-38790, D. N.J. Bkcy.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-8%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2018%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' CHICAGO - Resillo Press Pad Co., which filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in January due in part to asbestos personal injury claims, on March 13 established deadlines for the filing of claims against the debtor following a determination by the Chapter 7 trustee that there should be estate assets to pay creditors (In re Resillo Press Pad Co., No. 13-02916, N.D. Ill. Bkcy.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-8%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2019%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEW YORK - A New York jury on March 1 awarded $35 million on claims that a man's exposure to asbestos-containing insulation boilers led to his mesothelioma and death, holding lone remaining defendant Crane Co. 15 percent liable (Ivana Peraica Stamatakis, et al. v. Crane Co., et al., No. 190339/11, N.Y. Sup., New York Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-8%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2020%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' SAN FRANCISCO - An California asbestos plaintiff awarded more than $13 million objected to a judge's entry of judgment notwithstanding the verdict on the $6 million in punitive damages, saying in a March 5 filing that the motion was deemed denied as a matter of law (Melvin Desin v. Asbestos Corporation Limited, et al., No. CGC-11-275881, Calif. Super., San Francisco Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-8%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2021%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' LOS ANGELES - The evidence supports a jury's $5 million verdict against an asbestos supplier, and a judge violated legislative guidelines by granting preverdict motions as if they were a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV), a divided California panel held March 14 (William Webb and Jacqueline Webb v. Special Electric Company, Inc. and The Pep Boys Manny Moe & Jack of California, No. B233189, Calif. App., 2nd Dist.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-8%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2022%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' SYDNEY, Australia - An Australian tribunal on Feb. 26 awarded a former transportation worker who developed mesothelioma after asbestos exposure at a bus depot and his family damages, ordering the State of New South Wales to pay him $1,318,506.24 (Perez v State of New South Wales ($(2013$) NSWDDT 1, New South Wales DDT). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-7%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%201%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' PITTSBURGH - A Pennsylvania federal bankruptcy judge on Feb. 13 reconfirmed on remand the Chapter 11 plan of reorganization for Global Industries Technologies Inc. (GIT), finding that concerns of the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals about the legitimacy of a trust established by the plan to benefit silica claimants were "unfounded, mistaken, and without record support" (In re: Global Industrial Technologies, Inc., et al., No. 02-21626, W.D. Pa. Bkcy.; 2013 Bankr. LEXIS 594). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-7%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%202%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' SAN FRANCISCO - A California judge on Jan. 31 sided with insurance companies in a long-running dispute with Chapter 11 bankruptcy debtor Plant Insulation Co. over insurance policy coverage for asbestos personal injury claims, finding that the "completed operations" and "products hazard" definitions of the policies apply only where the bodily injury in a given policy period occurs after the operations have been completed or possession of the product has been relinquished (Plant Insulation Company v. Fireman's Fund Insurance Company, et al., No. 06-448618, Calif. Super., San Francisco Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-7%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%203%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' CHICAGO - A company that calls itself the "world's largest exclusive manufacturer of press pads" for the commercial laundry and dry-cleaning industry on Jan. 25 filed a voluntary petition for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Illinois federal bankruptcy court, due in part to pending asbestos litigation (In re Resillo Press Pad Co., No. 13-02916, N.D. Ill. Bkcy.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-7%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%204%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' WILMINGTON, Del. - By looking at the merits of asbestos personal injury claims filed against Specialty Products Holding Corp. and Bondex International Inc. and using a scientific method for forecasting liability, the legal responsibility of the companies for current and future asbestos claims can be estimated as low as $110 million, the Chapter 11 debtors say in a post-trial brief filed Feb. 8 in Delaware federal bankruptcy court (In re: Specialty Products Holding Corp., et al., No. 10-11780, D. Del. Bkcy.). (Debtors' amended post-trial brief available. Document #48-130225-013B.) But representatives for the asbestos claimants say in their Feb. 6 post-trial brief that the debtors' asbestos liability can be estimated as high as $1.84 billion, based on their experts' established method of determining what the victims of the debtors' asbestos-containing products would have received if the companies had remained in the tort system. http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-7%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%205%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' SAN FRANCISCO - Nonsettling insurance companies in Plant Insulation Co.'s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case are not entitled to full compensation for their contribution claims against settling insurers, so the injunction in Plant's plan of reorganization protecting the settling insurers is proper, Plant says in a Jan. 11 brief on the nonsettling insurers' plan confirmation appeal in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The nonsettling insurers respond in their Jan. 25 reply brief that provisions of the plan protecting settling insurers from contribution claims are not supported by evidence or the case record (In Re: Plant Insulation Company $(Fireman's Fund Insurance Company, et al., v. Plant Insulation Company, et al., Nos. 12-17466 and 12-17467, 9th Cir.; See January 2013, Page 9). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-7%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%206%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' LOS ANGELES - Reorganized Chapter 11 debtor Thorpe Insulation Co. and its asbestos trust received approval Feb. 6 from a California federal bankruptcy judge of a settlement with three insurance companies that have opposed Thorpe's reorganization. The deal covers three insurance policies and includes a $36 million payment by the insurers to the asbestos trust (In re Thorpe Insulation Co., No. 2:07-bk-19271, C.D. Calif. Bkcy.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-7%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%207%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' LOS ANGELES - A week after receiving approval for a $36 million settlement with three insurance companies, reorganized Chapter 11 debtor Thorpe Insulation Co. and its asbestos trust on Feb. 13 sought approval of two more settlements with insurers that have objected to Thorpe's reorganization that will provide $57 million more to the trust for payment of asbestos personal injury claims (In re Thorpe Insulation Co., No. 2:07-bk-19271, C.D. Calif. Bkcy.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-7%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%208%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' WILMINGTON, Del. - W.R. Grace & Co. will clean up a federal Superfund site in Nashville, Tenn., and pay the Environmental Protection Agency more than $150,000 for past cleanup costs plus the agency's future cleanup costs, according to a notice of settlement and settlement agreement filed Feb. 13 in Grace's Chapter 11 case in Delaware federal bankruptcy court (In re: W.R. Grace & Co., et al., No. 01-01139, D. Del. Bkcy.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-7%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%209%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEWARK, N.J. - Reorganized Chapter 11 debtor G-I Holdings Inc. will pay $85,000 to settle a claim for cleanup at a former chemical facility in North Carolina, according to a stipulation and order issued Feb. 4 by a New Jersey federal bankruptcy judge (In re: G-I Holdings, Inc., et al., $(f/k/a GAF Corporation$), Nos. 01-30135 and 01-38790, D. N.J. Bkcy.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-7%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2010%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' LOS ANGELES - Three asbestos personal injury trusts alleging that a San Francisco asbestos plaintiffs' attorney submitted questionable evidence in support of claims have conspired against the attorney in order to put him out of business, the attorney says in an answer filed Feb. 1 in a California federal bankruptcy court to the trusts' complaints against him (Thorpe Insulation Company Asbestos Settlement Trust v. Michael J. Mandelbrot and Mandelbrot Law Firm, No. 12-02183, C.D. Calif. Bkcy.; J.T. Thorpe Settlement Trust v. Michael J. Mandelbrot and Mandelbrot Law Firm, No. 12-02182, C.D. Calif. Bkcy.; Western Asbestos Settlement Trust v. Michael J. Mandelbrot and Mandelbrot Law Firm, No. 12-04190, N.D. Calif. Bkcy.; See October 2012, Page 4). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-7%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2011%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' PITTSBURGH - The Ad Hoc Committee of Judgment Creditors in the Chapter 11 case of Pittsburgh Corning Corp. (PCC) on Jan. 17 requested payment of an administrative expense claim of more than $230,000 for making a substantial contribution to PCC's reorganization (In re: Pittsburgh Corning Corporation, No. 00-22876, W.D. Pa. Bkcy.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-7%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2012%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' WILMINGTON, Del. - Reorganized gasket distributor Durabla Manufacturing Co. on Feb. 13 asked a Delaware federal bankruptcy judge to close its Chapter 11 case (In re: Durabla Manufacturing Co., No. 09-14415, D. Del. Bkcy.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-7%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2013%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' COLUMBIA, Md. - W.R. Grace & Co. on Jan. 24 announced in a press release that it will increase the amount of recorded asbestos-related liability against it to more than $2 billion. http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-7%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2014%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' WILMINGTON, Del. - A federal bankruptcy judge in Delaware on Feb. 4 granted an insurance company relief from the automatic stay in The Flintkote Co.'s Chapter 11 case so the insurer can file a declaratory judgment action against Flintkote to determine how much coverage is available to the debtor in its reorganization (In re: The Flintkote Co., et al., No. 04-11300, D. Del. Bkcy.; See January 2013, Page 19). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-7%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2015%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' JACKSON, Miss. - Mississippi legislation requiring asbestos tort plaintiffs to make disclosures regarding claims against bankruptcy trusts died in committee on Feb. 5, according to the state's website. http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-7%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2016%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' WASHINGTON, D.C. - The United States imported 1,100 tons of asbestos through July 2011, an increase of almost 6 percent but unlikely to signify a return of the industry, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)'s January Mineral Commodity Summaries. http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-7%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2017%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' SEATTLE - A Washington jury on Feb. 4 awarded $1.07 million to a woman with mesothelioma and her husband, who has asbestos-related pleural disease, sources told Mealey Publications (Phyllis Granville, Ronald Granville v. Domco Products Texas Inc., No. 12-2-02999-7, Wash. Super., King Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-7%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2018%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' CLEVELAND - An Ohio jury on Jan. 30 awarded a man's estate $2.6 million for his death from asbestos-related mesothelioma, finding the lone remaining defendant 6 percent liable (Joseph Bohazi, et al. v. Beazer East Inc., et al., No. CV-09-701166, Ohio Comm. Pls., Cuyahoga Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-7%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2019%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' DALLAS - A Texas jury on Jan. 22 awarded $4,725,000 to three women whose father died after exposure to asbestos while employed with Alcoa Inc. (Natalie R. Dean, et al. v. Alcoa Inc., No. 2009-06951-ASB, Texas Dist, Harris Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-7%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2020%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' SALT LAKE CITY - An expert's opinion that "every exposure" to asbestos contributes to mesothelioma demonstrates science's inability to establish a minimum exposure limit, a federal judge held Jan. 1 in excluding the testimony (Linda Smith, as personal representative on behalf of the legal heirs of Ronnie Smith, deceased v. Ford Motor Co., et al., No. 08-630, C.D. Utah; 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7861). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-7%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2021%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' LONDON - An England appeals court on Feb. 4 allowed an energy company's appeal of a decision that denied its claim for full indemnity against an insurer in relation to compensation it paid to settle a former employee's mesothelioma claim, finding that there was a causal link between the man's asbestos exposure at work during the policy period and his development of mesothelioma (International Energy Group Limited v. Zurich Insurance PLC UK Branch, No. $(2013$) EWCA Civ. 39, England and Wales App.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-7%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2022%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' EDMONTON, Alberta - A Canadian commission on Feb. 5 reversed a board's decision to deny compensation for occupational exposure to a former steel worker, finding that the medical evidence supported a finding that exposures to dusts and chemicals at work contributed to his development of tongue and oral cancer (Docket No.: AC0376-12-54, Decision No.: 2013-0010, Alberta Wrks. Comp. App. Comm.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=12-7%20Mealey%27s%20Asb.%20Bankr.%20Rep.%2023%20(2013)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' By Elihu Inselbuch Ann McMillan and Andrew Sackett For more than eighty years corporations that produced and distributed asbestos-containing products - and their insurance companies - have attempted to avoid responsibility for the deaths and injuries of millions of American workers and consumers caused by those products. Since before 1930, they have hidden the dangers of asbestos and lied about their knowledge of those dangers, lobbied to make it harder for workers to sue for their injuries, fought to weaken protective legislation, and to this day continue to deny responsibility. Most recently, these asbestos litigation defendants have created a myth of plaintiff wrongdoing - which they call "double-dipping" - as a pretext for so-called settlement trust "transparency" legislation. This is not what it pretends to be - an effort to make the tort system more responsive - but merely their latest affirmative effort to evade responsibility for their own malfeasance. It is a fundamental principle of American law that an injured person can recover damages from every entity that has harmed him, and as litigation progresses can settle his claim against one or another of the wrongdoers as he and they may agree. His compensation for his injury is, then, the sum of all the settlements reached. Only in the very rare case that goes to verdict, judgment, and payment (where the payment amount is reduced by an amount determined by the relevant state law to account for payments by settling co-defendants or bankruptcy trusts), is the victim's claim fully satisfied. Only if after verdict, judgment, and payment were a plaintiff to recover from a bankruptcy trust could he be overcompensated and be said to have "double-dipped." Out of the millions of trust claims filed and considered by trusts since 1988, defendants have identified just one case where a trust claim was filed by a plaintiff after judgment and paid by a trust. In that case the judgment was on appeal and had not yet been paid when the trust claim was filed. There is no "double-dipping" problem that needs to be fixed.