2BInformed: The Future of Fluoride in Drinking Water, the New TSCA Fees Rule, and the Drinking Water Contaminant Candidate List 5
DynCorp's 'Strategic' Defense In Drug Crop Spraying Suit
On July 9, 2025, in Hammond Power Solutions Inc. v. National Union Fire Insurance Co., the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s decision granting summary judgment to the insurer and finding, under...more
Jurisdiction: Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit - Mr. May died from Mesothelioma and the plaintiffs filed a wrongful death and survival action alleging the decedent was exposed to asbestos while working as a...more
Jurisdiction: Court of Appeal of California, Second Appellate District, Division Six - Plaintiff Easterling brought this claim based on his diagnosis of lung cancer, which he attributes to asbestos exposure during his work as...more
Plaintiffs in toxic tort cases must prove both general and specific causation, generally through the testimony of experts. Experts must establish that a specific chemical exposure can (and did) cause the specific injury at...more
Court: Appellate Court of Maryland - A Maryland appellate court has affirmed a lower court’s decision that granted summary judgment to the defense in a toxic substance exposure case....more
The Texas Fourteenth Court of Appeals upheld summary judgment for Exxon Mobil corporation in Stanley Cole v. Exxon Mobil Corp. (No. 14-22-00756-CV), a premises liability case involving alleged exposure to olivine dust. The...more
In a toxic tort case, plaintiffs must establish general causation. If a substance is incapable of causing the type of injury plaintiff claims, then it certainly didn’t cause theirs. Under Texas law, toxic tort plaintiffs must...more
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit - Plaintiff Harry Marsh worked as a merchant mariner from 1944 to 1992. He was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2018 and subsequently sued the owner of every vessel he...more
New York’s Appellate Division, First Department affirmed a decision of the Bronx County Supreme Court, which precluded plaintiff’s expert evidence submitted in opposition to a summary judgment motion and following a Frye...more
You might recall previous entries discussing Parr v. Aruba – a suit for personal injuries from oilfield pollution (and a $2.9MM verdict for the plaintiffs). Not all similar suits have the same result....more
In Schiffer v. CBS Corporation (filed 9/9/15; modified 9/30/15), the California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, affirmed summary judgment in favor of the defendant asbestos insulation manufacturer finding...more
Issuing an opinion that could lower the bar for proving toxic tort causation, the Michigan Court of Appeals held that direct expert testimony may not be necessary to prove causation in a toxic tort case and that a plaintiff...more