Rhode Island Court Rejects Efforts to Obtain Court Order Compelling Production of Settlement Details

PROVIDENCE, R.I. –– A Rhode Island court has rejected defense efforts to obtain an order compelling asbestos plaintiffs to provide settlement details, saying that the information would only be relevant to the action of apportioning damages.

In the May 10 opinion, the Rhode Island Superior Court found that the settlement themselves are inadmissible and the defendants had failed to prove how the production of the settlement agreements “is reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.”

In three motions, defendants Rhode Island Hospital and The Miriam Hospital sought the production of documentation pertaining to settlements the plaintiffs reached …