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Meetings with Judge Jackson to discuss handling of asbestos litigation in San Francisco Superior Court begin October 27th

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October 21, 2014

Changes are afoot in San Francisco Superior Court. The San Francisco Bench elected Assistant Presiding Judge John K. Stewart as the incoming Presiding Judge, and has elected Judge Teri L.  Jackson Assistant Presiding Judge. Judge Stewart and Judge Jackson will begin their terms on January 1, 2015.  Judge Jackson will continue to preside over asbestos matters through 2015.

Judge Jackson scheduled a series of Town Hall Meetings designed to seek input from counsel and clients regarding the handling of asbestos litigation going forward in San Francisco:

  • October 27, 2014:  Judge Jackson will meet with the plaintiff bar at 1:30 in Department 503 of San Francisco Superior Court.
  • November 4, 2014:   Judge Jackson invited both defense counsel and clients to attend. She specifically scheduled the meeting to coincide with other events that week in San Francisco in the hope that clients could attend and provide their insights. This will also begin at 1:30 in Department 503.  She did not say how long it would last, but did indicate that she could be available until 5:00 PM.
  • November 19, 2014:  Judge Jackson invited both plaintiff and defense bar and again clients to compare notes at same time and location.

Plaintiffs have submitted some agenda items for discussion to the Court, but the Defense Committee has no knowledge what those are.  The Defense Committee received, and has proposed, the following items for discussion with the court:

  • Formulate a procedure without motions for defendants to obtain relevant asbestos bankruptcy trust documents and information from plaintiffs including such documents from out-of-state trust without requirement of commissions in such procedural and motions requirements.
  • Limit consolidation of plaintiffs’ cases to fewer cases.
  • Develop a priority list for sending cases to trial so that defendants can anticipate which cases up for trial call will probably be sent out to a trial department and plan and prepare accordingly.  Such provision would take under consideration preference over non preference cases, living over wrongful death cases, malignancy over non malignancy case, etcetera.
  • Reduce the frequency of the twice a week Mandatory Settlement Conferences in Brayton cases.
  • Provide a way to get reasonable settlement demands.
  • Institute judicially sanctioned process by which defendants can obtain dismissals in no id cases without extensive motions or procedural hurdles;
  • Develop an expedited procedure to handle old Pro per cases such as where the five year statute has ran or there has been a lack of prosecution so that defendants are not left to individual defendants having to bring motions to dismiss.  Defendants are seeking an expedited process to dismiss the entire action without extensive time and expense.

We will post updates to our website if additional agenda items are proposed prior to the Town Hall meetings, and will provide a summary of the items discussed once the Town Hall meetings conclude.

October 21, 2014

Changes are afoot in San Francisco Superior Court. The San Francisco Bench elected Assistant Presiding Judge John K. Stewart as the incoming Presiding Judge, and has elected Judge Teri L.  Jackson Assistant Presiding Judge. Judge Stewart and Judge Jackson will begin their terms on January 1, 2015.  Judge Jackson will continue to preside over asbestos matters through 2015.

Judge Jackson scheduled a series of Town Hall Meetings designed to seek input from counsel and clients regarding the handling of asbestos litigation going forward in San Francisco:

  • October 27, 2014:  Judge Jackson will meet with the plaintiff bar at 1:30 in Department 503 of San Francisco Superior Court.
  • November 4, 2014:   Judge Jackson invited both defense counsel and clients to attend. She specifically scheduled the meeting to coincide with other events that week in San Francisco in the hope that clients could attend and provide their insights. This will also begin at 1:30 in Department 503.  She did not say how long it would last, but did indicate that she could be available until 5:00 PM.
  • November 19, 2014:  Judge Jackson invited both plaintiff and defense bar and again clients to compare notes at same time and location.

Plaintiffs have submitted some agenda items for discussion to the Court, but the Defense Committee has no knowledge what those are.  The Defense Committee received, and has proposed, the following items for discussion with the court:

  • Formulate a procedure without motions for defendants to obtain relevant asbestos bankruptcy trust documents and information from plaintiffs including such documents from out-of-state trust without requirement of commissions in such procedural and motions requirements.
  • Limit consolidation of plaintiffs’ cases to fewer cases.
  • Develop a priority list for sending cases to trial so that defendants can anticipate which cases up for trial call will probably be sent out to a trial department and plan and prepare accordingly.  Such provision would take under consideration preference over non preference cases, living over wrongful death cases, malignancy over non malignancy case, etcetera.
  • Reduce the frequency of the twice a week Mandatory Settlement Conferences in Brayton cases.
  • Provide a way to get reasonable settlement demands.
  • Institute judicially sanctioned process by which defendants can obtain dismissals in no id cases without extensive motions or procedural hurdles;
  • Develop an expedited procedure to handle old Pro per cases such as where the five year statute has ran or there has been a lack of prosecution so that defendants are not left to individual defendants having to bring motions to dismiss.  Defendants are seeking an expedited process to dismiss the entire action without extensive time and expense.

We will post updates to our website if additional agenda items are proposed prior to the Town Hall meetings, and will provide a summary of the items discussed once the Town Hall meetings conclude.