Maryland High Court Reinstates Trial Court Judgments Totaling More Than $4 Million in 4 Asbestos Cases

BALTIMORE –– The Maryland Court of Appeals has reinstated more than $4 million in asbestos judgments entered in four asbestos cases, disagreeing with an intermediate appellate court’s findings and instead ruling that the state of the law during the trial did not require “use” plaintiffs to formally join in the proceedings.

In the July 21 opinion, the high court also reversed the intermediate appellate court’s finding that the jury should have been instructed on the apportionment of damages between for respective harm caused by smoking and asbestos exposure, finding that such an instruction supports a comparative negligence system, something …