3rd Cir. Reinstates Maritime Asbestos Cases, Says Defendants Waived Personal Jurisdiction

PHILADELPHIA — A federal appellate court has reinstated 30-year-old asbestos exposure cases filed by merchant mariners, ruling that the defendant shipowners waived their personal jurisdiction defense by continuing to litigate the cases in an Ohio federal court.

In an April 9 precedential opinion, a panel majority of the 3rd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania abused its discretion in ruling that the defense was properly preserved.

In the mid-1980s, merchant mariners filed thousands of lawsuits in a maritime asbestos docket (MARDOC) in the Northern District of Ohio against shipowners, alleging …