WBD Team Wins Five-Day Wrongful Death Trial in John Crane Inc. Asbestos Case

The Womble Bond Dickinson team of Claire Weglarz and Mirna Scheffy won a five-day bench trial in San Francisco Superior Court for client John Crane Inc. On December 1, the court issued a Statement of Decision in favor of the client on all causes of action based on John Crane's affirmative defenses of Government Contractor – Design Defect and Government Contractor – Failure to Warn.

Plaintiffs, the decedent’s widow and children, claimed that the decedent died of mesothelioma caused in part by his work with asbestos-containing gasket and packing materials aboard Navy ships that our client sold to the Navy in the 1960s and 1970s. After five years of litigation, the parties agreed to bifurcate our client's government contractor defenses and try them before the liability phase of trial. The parties further agreed to waive jury for this portion of trial.

The experts presented at trial by John Crane were Ret. Capt. Margaret McCloskey and John Henshaw (CIH).

In addition to Weglarz and Scheffy, this case was supported by trial paralegals Melissa Kettler and Dana Lisenby.