US asbestos law firm defeats racketeering lawsuit by PVC pipe maker JM Eagle
March 19 (Reuters) - A federal judge in Chicago has dismissed a lawsuit by plastic pipe maker JM Eagle against a U.S. law firm that filed hundreds of asbestos personal injury cases against it.
JM Eagle failed to show that law firm Simmons Hanly Conroy and the asbestos plaintiffs, witnesses and other groups the firm works with were operating as an enterprise under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman said, opens new tab in his Tuesday ruling.
With the two federal RICO counts dismissed, Gettleman said he was also dismissing JM Eagle's remaining state law claims against the law firm.
JM Eagle and its attorneys at Steptoe LLP did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Simmons Hanly in a statement praised the decision for dismissing what it called a "baseless and retaliatory" lawsuit. The firm said it would "not be intimidated by unwarranted legal attacks designed to smear its reputation and derail its pursuit of justice for victims of asbestos exposure."
JM Eagle, which calls itself the world's largest plastic and PVC pipe manufacturer, was previously known as J-M Manufacturing. The company said it sold "a limited amount" of cement pipes that contained asbestos from 1983 to 1988.
JM Eagle had accused Simmons Hanly of suppressing evidence, using perjured or falsified testimony and statements, and committing fraud in the course of recovering billions of dollars from asbestos defendants in thousands of cases.
The plastic pipe maker said Simmons Hanly has filed more than 430 cases against JM Eagle since 2001, with more than 75 of them settling. The law firm's website said Tuesday it has recovered more than $10.2 billion from defendants in asbestos cases nationwide.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
4 minutes ago
- Reuters
Sean 'Diddy' Combs' ex accuses him of abuse but testifies she still loves him
NEW YORK, June 10 (Reuters) - An ex-girlfriend of Sean "Diddy" Combs who accuses him of kicking, punching and dragging her testified at his sex trafficking trial on Tuesday that she still loves the hip-hop mogul. "He was my baby," said the woman, who is testifying under the pseudonym Jane to protect her privacy. Asked under cross-examination by defense lawyer Teny Geragos if she currently loves Combs, Jane said, "I do." The woman said she enjoyed taking care of Combs, bathing him and falling asleep with him while watching television after "hotel nights," their phrase for drug-fueled encounters in which she would have sex with male entertainers while Combs watched. The questioning was part of Combs' strategy to portray Jane as a willing participant in the sexual encounters with him, not a victim of sex trafficking as prosecutors allege. Combs, 55, and the founder of Bad Boy Records, has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors say Combs used force and threats of cutting off financial support to coerce women into taking part in the encounters, sometimes known as "Freak Offs." Over three days under questioning by prosecutors in Manhattan federal court, Jane said that she agreed to have sex with a male escort in front of Combs early in their relationship but that he later dismissed her requests to stop and threatened to stop paying her rent. On Monday, Jane said Combs kicked, punched and dragged her during an altercation at her Los Angeles home last June. Later that night, he told her to perform oral sex on a male entertainer even though she said she did not want to, Jane said. Under questioning by Geragos on Tuesday, Jane said she researched the terms "cuck" and "cuckold" during her relationship with Combs to try to understand his desires. The words refer to men who enjoy watching female partners with other men, Jane said. "I just wanted to know why my partner wanted so many of these nights and what was driving him," Jane said. Combs' defense lawyers are expected to cross-examine Jane until Thursday. Testimony is in its fifth week. Combs could face life in prison if convicted on all counts. Also known throughout his career as Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, Combs turned artists like Notorious B.I.G. and Usher into stars, elevating hip-hop in American culture and becoming a billionaire in the process.
Reuters
9 minutes ago
- Reuters
Denmark picks French, German and Norwegian air defence suppliers
COPENHAGEN, June 10 (Reuters) - Denmark will acquire short-range air defence systems from MBDA France, Germany's Diehl Defence and Kongsberg Gruppen ( opens new tab of Norway, the Nordic country's defence ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in February ordered the military to go on a buying spree to beef up the country's defences in preparation for potential future Russian aggression in Europe. Denmark will spend over six billion Danish crowns ($919 million) on the artillery acquisition, with the first deliveries expected in 2026, the defence ministry said. Denmark received 10 offers, including from suppliers in Turkey, Israel and Italy, and decided in the end to buy systems from French and German suppliers and to lease one from Norway's Kongsberg, it added. ($1 = 6.5304 Danish crowns)
Reuters
9 minutes ago
- Reuters
China is only 3-6 months behind US in AI, Trump official says
WASHINGTON, June 10 (Reuters) - China is three to six months behind the United States in artificial intelligence, White house AI and crypto czar David Sacks said Tuesday at an event in Washington, warning that excess U.S. AI regulation could damage American innovation in the industry. "China is not years and years behind us in AI. Maybe they're 3-6 months,' said Sacks, speaking at the AWS summit in Washington. "It's a very close race."
