N.J. Appellate Court Reverses $1.5 Million Asbestos Verdict, Remands on Issue of Apportionment

TRENTON, N.J. –– A New Jersey appellate court has reversed a $1.5 million verdict in an asbestos case, concluding that the defendant involved in the verdict offered hearsay evidence against the plaintiff and not against settling defendants.

In the June 29 opinion, the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, stated that it could not “sufficiently stress that allowing the admission of this evidence transformed the statements of the settling defendants into irrefutable admissions to be used against plaintiff, even though plaintiff did not make the statements.”

In light of this finding, the court reversed and remanded on the …