Asbestos Lawyers Ask To Pare Down Massive Case

The Angelos law firm, which is attempting to consolidate thousands of inactive asbestos claims, has asked a judge to reduce the number of case to roughly 4,600, far less than the 13,000 cases they originally wanted to group together, reports the Baltimore Sun. 

The attempt to consolidate so many claims has been met with objections from the beginning.  In April, a Wall Street Journal editorial wrote:

“This opportunity comes courtesy of plaintiffs lawyer Peter Angelos, who last year took the audacious step of asking the court to consolidate 13,000 of his asbestos claims into a single suit. No court has agreed to a mass asbestos consolidation in more than a decade. Such cases involve too many plaintiffs, products, workplaces and diseases to make justice possible.”

A lengthy review of the 13,000 cases found that nearly 1,500 were duplicates, and 70% of the remaining diagnoses were done by a group of five doctors – with one doctor performing as many as 77 in a single day.

“Discovery is the best way for the judiciary to stop the avalanche of fraudulent claims so legitimate victims can get their day in court,” the Journal concludes.