Calif. Court For First Time Applies Iranian Law to Asbestos Claims for Strict Liability, Joint and Several Liability, Punitive Damages

LOS ANGELES –– A California state court has granted in part a motion to apply Iranian law in an asbestos case for the first time, concluding that while past courts were concerned about the religious influence on Iranian law, “all laws of civil redress have root in some religious tradition, and these laws do not radically or offensively differ from traditions in the law of the various United States.”

In an Oct. 24 ruling, the California Superior Court for Los Angeles County found that the defendants had presented evidence that Iranian law “does provide a remedy for worker injuries at …