Defendants Welcome a New Madison County Asbestos Judge With A Defense Win in a Mesothelioma Trial in
Georgia-Pacific won a mesothelioma trial late last week in Madison County. Jeff Hebrank of HelplerBroom tried the case for GP, and Carson Menges of Flint & Associates LLC in Glen Carbon tried the case for the plaintiff, Mr. James Reef. The case is the first to go to verdict in Madison County in some time, and occurs at the start of the tenure of the latest "asbestos judge" (Steve Stobbs) in Madison County. However, some prior rulings in the case apparently were made by Judge Harrison. The Madison County Record includes articles with more details about the case – see here as to the verdict and closing arguments, see here, here , here and here for summaries of some trial events.
According to the articles, jurors were allowed to pose questions to be asked of the witnesses, and GP won despite a litany of questions to experts about GP’s involvement in funding some of the medical studies cited by the experts.