Appeals Court's Reduction of Virile Shares Boosts Recovery in Louisiana Asbestos Verdict

NEW ORLEANS - A Louisiana appeals court has altered a nearly $500,000 asbestos personal injury award in a case where several asbestos product manufacturers, distributors and insurers were found liable for causing an insulator's asbestosis. Hoerner, et al. v. ANCO Insulations, Inc., et al., No. 2000-CA-2333 (La. Ct. App., 4th Cir.).

The Jan. 23 decision, which likens the asbestos case and litigation in general to the movie Forrest Gump, boosted the actual verdict nearly $50,000 after liability was reversed with regard to several defendants, and, as a result, the virile shares of non-settling defendants increased.

"Borrowing a phrase from …