Donoughe, et al. v. Hobart Brothers Company, et al.

Case Updates

The Pennsylvania trial court denied NCLC’s petition to join an amicus brief in support of a rehearing to reverse the Philadelphia trial court’s decision.

NCLC filed an application to join Ford and GM’s amicus brief in support of rehearing. The brief urged the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to reverse the Philadelphia trial court’s practice of resolving damages before liability in asbestos cases. This reverse bifurcation procedure requires juries to make damages decisions in a vacuum. Because asbestos litigation has migrated far beyond the asbestos manufacturers themselves and now concerns peripheral defendants, requiring juries to consider first damages increases the likelihood of confusion and prejudice.