Asbestos Plaintiffs' Firm Ordered to Pay $500,000 Sanction

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - A state court judge has ordered a Texas plaintiffs' firm to pay $500,000 in sanctions for engaging in forum shopping of an asbestos lawsuit that was eventually amended to include some 300 plaintiffs. Acosta, et al. v. Aluminum Company of America, et al., No. 02-01053 (Texas Dist. Ct., Nueces Cty.).

In an order signed Nov. 7, Judge Nanette Hasette of the Nueces County District Court granted a motion for sanctions against the Beaumont, Texas-based Provost Umphrey for 'engaging in conduct by deliberately circumventing Nueces County Local Rule 3a,' which requires random assignment of cases to the …