Ehrlich Law Firm obtains important victory in asbestos lawsuit; California Supreme Court then grants review

Waters, Kraus & Paul, with one of the premier asbestos-litigation practices in the U.S., hired the Ehrlich Law Firm to argue an important products-liability case, O’Neil v. Crane Co. in the Court of Appeal, Second District, Div. 5.  The issue in O’Neil was whether sailors injured by asbestos released during the maintenance of valves and pumps that were manufactured to contain asbestos within them, and that were insulated with asbestos, could be held liable on theories of strict products liability and negligence, even if the asbestos material in the equipment had been replaced with other asbestos material during the product’s life.  In Taylor v. Elliott Turbomachinery Co., Inc. (2009) 171 Cal.App.4th 564, the Court of Appeal , First District, held that the manufacturers could not be held liable because the asbestos was not “their” product.    Ehrlich convinced the court not to follow Taylor, and in a written decision the court held that Taylor had been wrongly decided.  (O’Neil v. Crane Co. (2010) 177 Cal.App.4th 1019.)  The Supreme Court later granted review to resolve the conflict between the positions advocated in O’Neil and Taylor.  Ehrlich is expected to argue the matter in the California Supreme Court.

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