CASE RESULTS

New Orleans, LA 03/24/2022 –

On December 17, 2021, approximately 2.5 hours after being duly charged by Civil District Court Judge Jennifer Medley, an Orleans Parish jury returned a verdict for the Stauder family in the amount of $10,354,620.31, which included $4.8 million in survival damages, and $5.5 million in wrongful death damages. In returning their verdict, the jury found that Union Carbide was at fault in causing Mr. David Stauder's development of mesothelioma and his ultimate death.

Plaintiff-Decedent, Mr. David Stauder, a union pipefitter, was exposed to asbestos while working at multiple facilities in Louisiana throughout the 1960s and 1970s, including at Defendant Union Carbide's facility in Taft, Louisiana. As a result of his exposure to asbestos, Mr. Stauder was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, a fatal and terminal cancer caused solely by asbestos exposure. Before succumbing to his illness, Mr. Stauder suffered for approximately 3 months. Our clients and surviving beneficiaries/daughters of Mr. Stauder, Jill Stauder and Shelley Stauder filed suit in Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans, against Union Carbide and others, alleging that his exposure to asbestos while working as a pipefitter caused his mesothelioma and death.

At trial, Plaintiffs proved that Mr. Stauder was substantially exposed to asbestos while working as a pipefitter at Union Carbide's facility in Taft, Louisiana over the course of a few months in the late 1960's and early 1970's, and that such exposure [to asbestos] was a substantial contributing factor in causing Mr. Stauder's mesothelioma and subsequent death. The entire in-person jury trial lasted 2-weeks.

Prior to trial, one of the Defendants' key expert witnesses, Dr. Jennifer Pierce, was excluded from rendering any dose reconstruction opinions or from testifying as to the credibility of any witness. Union Carbide's defense at trial was that Plaintiffs' fact witness, a co-worker of Mr. Stauder's, who testified that he saw and worked with Mr. Stauder at Union Carbide, was not a credible witness. Union Carbide also argued that Mr. Stauder worked at and was exposed to asbestos at several other facilities, and that those exposures were the cause of his development of mesothelioma.

Stauder v. Union Carbide et al., No. 2016-2190, Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans, 12/17/2021

Practice area(s): Civil Litigation

Court: Civil District Court of New Orleans, LA

June 2021

Plaintiff, Mr. Steven “Joe” Aaron, a lifelong resident of Ouachita Parish, worked and supported his family as a gas station and school bus mechanic throughout the 1960s and 1970s. In 2020, Plaintiff was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, a fatal form of cancer, which is only caused by exposure to asbestos. Plaintiff alleged and ultimately proved at trial that he was exposed to asbestos while servicing brakes and clutches on vehicles manufactured by Defendant Ford Motor Company. The trial lasted two and a half weeks.

On the eve of trial, Defendants improperly removed the case to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana (“EDLA”) on the basis of diversity. Plaintiff immediately filed his Emergency Motion for Remand and requested expedited consideration thereto. EDLA Judge Mary Lemmon found that removing Defendants failed to meet their heavy burden with regard to demonstrating complete diversity between the parties. On June 10, 2021,  approximately 72 hours after removal, the case was remanded back to the Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans, and jury selection commenced on June 14, 2021. To accommodate social distancing protocols, jury selection was conducted in the Chambers of the City of New Orleans' City Council. A jury of 12, plus two alternates, was sworn in by 5:00 pm on June 14, 2021.

On June 30, 2021, approximately one hour after being duly charged by the Trial Court Judge Ethel Simms Julien, the jury returned a verdict of $8,261,874.96, which included $6 million in general damages, and $2.26 million in special (medical expenses and loss of earning capacity) damages. In returning their verdict, the jury found that Ford Motor Company – and several other entities, none of whom were present at trial, except Ford - was at fault, and was strictly liable and had failed to warn Plaintiff of the hazards associated with asbestos exposure from their brake and friction products, and that such failure to warn substantially contributed to and caused Mr. Aaron to develop mesothelioma.

Aaron v. Bancroft Bag, Inc., et al., No. 2020-06964, Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans, 6/30/2021

Plaintiff's counsel: Lindsey Cheek and Jeanne Arceneaux of The Cheek Law Firm, LLC, New Orleans; Daniel Blouin, Donald Blydenburgh, Todd Neilson, and Casey Cira of Simmons Hanley Conroy, Alton, IL

Plaintiff's experts: Dr. Arnold Brody, Boca Raton, FL; Dr. Richard Cohen., Saratoga, CA; William Ewing, CIH, Kennesaw, GA; Robert Johnson, Los Altos, CA; Dr. Marty Kanarek, Madison, WI; Dr. James Millette, Lilburn, GA; and Dr. Brent Staggs, Little Rock, AR.

Practice area(s): Civil Litigation

Court: Orleans Parish Civil District Court

November 2020

$10.3 million recovered for a living 74 year old career longshoreman who developed mesothelioma after being exposed to raw asbestos fibers while working on the Mississippi River.

More than $8.1 million recovered for a career pipefitter who developed mesothelioma after working with asbestos in numerous refineries and industrial facilities in Louisiana.

Successful reversal of trial court's decision to 1) exclude one of Plaintiff's key experts, and 2) grant major Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment.

More than $4 million recovered for a woman diagnosed with mesothelioma after sustaining exposure to asbestos from washing her husband's clothes when he was working as a pipefitter at various refineries.

$3 million recovered from a single defendant for a client who was diagnosed with mesothelioma after working on the river in his youth as a longshoreman.

More than $1.7 million recovered for a client who worked as a mechanic with asbestos-containing brakes and friction products for several years and had passed away after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

$2.5 million recovered for 78-year-old shipyard worker with mesothelioma.

More than $2.5 million recovered for a shipyard and petrochemical laborer with mesothelioma.