Crown Cork Files Global Motion for Dismissal from Asbestos Suits

PHILADELPHIA - Crown Cork & Seal has filed a motion in Philadelphia asking the court to dismiss it from all pending and future asbestos cases on account of a recent change in the law that caps a company's asbestos liability when the liability is assumed through a corporate merger. In Re: Asbestos Litigation, Oct. Term 1986, No. 001 (Pa. Comm. Pls. Philadelphia Cty.).

The company filed its motion for summary judgment Feb. 7 in Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas arguing that it has already paid asbestos-related legal bills in gross excess of what the law now requires. The 'global' motion …