Fifth Circuit Grants Mandamus Petitions, Orders Friction Claims Back to Federal Court

NEW ORLEANS - The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has granted mandamus petitions in five friction product asbestos cases, reversing federal court orders that remanded the claims to state court earlier this year. In Re: DaimlerChrysler Corp., et al., No. 02-10029 (5th Cir.).

In a five-page order issued March 8, the federal appeals panel said that because the cases had previously been provisionally transferred to Delaware, along with thousands of additional friction product claims, their subsequent remand by a Texas federal district court was without effect and beyond the court's jurisdiction.

The lawsuits had been removed to federal court …