In early 2008, U.S. District Judge James Giles brought together representatives of the plaintiffs and defendants in the asbestos multidistrict litigation to discuss expediting settlement negotiations. At the time there were 95,000 asbestos cases pending in Philadelphia’s federal court and the litigation was 16 years old.
Judge Giles urged attorneys to get the cases moving through discovery and to schedule asbestos cases for mediation. In re Asbestos Products Liability Litigation (No. VI). No. MDL-875 (E.D. Pa.).
Judge Giles has since left the bench and an order was issued on December 18, 2008 by Judge Eduardo C. Robrino, with regard to Administrative Order No. 12. (a 2007 order that required each plaintiff to submit information to the court’s new database). The database was intended to facilitate progress of the voluminous MDL claims.
Defendants filed a motion to dismiss cases which did not comply with Order No. 12. Denied.
