Calif. Appellate Court Stays Order Requiring Prepayment of Jury Fees in Asbestos Trial

SAN FRANCISCO –– A California appellate court has granted a petition seeking the stay of a pretrial order issued in six consolidated asbestos trial groups that required the parties to provide an advance deposit of voir dire and jury fees.

According to its online docket, the California 1st District Court of Appeal stayed the case on Aug. 9, one day after defendants Foster Wheeler LLC and Union Carbide Corp. filed a petition arguing that the prepayment for the jury-related fees was “unconstitutional.”

In the docket entry, the appellate court requested a response from the San Francisco Superior Court.

The dispute …