Ever wonder why asbestos plaintiff’s lawyers presently are spending so much time and energy trying to limit the time allowed for depositions of asbestos plaintiffs ? Obviously plaintiff’s lawyers on contingent fees prefer to spend less time in deposition than do defense lawyers being paid by the hour. But, some say there is more to it than just the time.
Consider, for example, yesterday’s post and today’s images of asbestos products made by entities now in chapter 11. Think about the verdicts plaintiff’s might lose if insurers paid for and co-defendants actually were fully organized and prepared to depose a plaintiff on the extent of his use of the thousands of asbestos-containing products made by any of the over 80 entities that have exited the tort system via chapter 11. Think also about the time that would be involved. Those are reasons why some say it’s perfectly obvious that asbestos plaintiff’s lawyers want to get shorter deposition time limits in place in order before the remaining co-defendants get organized and start using depositions to pose meaningful " product identification questions to plaintiff’s product identification witnesses.
