Wash. Court Rejects Ford’s Efforts to Preclude Asbestos Plaintiffs From Extending Expert Deadlines

SEATTLE –– An effort by Ford Motor Co. to preclude asbestos plaintiffs from extending expert report deadlines has been rejected by a Washington federal court, which found that the plaintiffs could not have reasonably met the deadline, despite their diligence.

In the June 22 order, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington further opined that the plaintiffs should not be barred from performing testing on tissue when Ford’s co-defendants have been allowed to conduct such analysis.

Plaintiffs Leslie and David Jack moved to extend the deadline to disclose expert witness Dr. Donald Gordon’s opinion and …