Calif. Appellate Court Affirms Order Refusing to Seal Documents in Asbestos Case

LOS ANGELES –– A California appellate court has affirmed a trial court order rejecting an asbestos defendant’s efforts to seal parts of the record, agreeing with the lower court’s assessment that “under these circumstances a sealing order would have served no purpose.”

In the June 8 order, the California Second District Court of Appeal additionally noted that at the time the defendant request the order, the documents were “readily knowable.”

The plaintiffs asserted the claims on behalf of William Paulus, a former plumber. Paulus allegedly came into contact with asbestos-containing pipes, which led him to develop mesothelioma. The plaintiffs argued …