Issues Adopted in Newport News Asbestos Litigation

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - A flood of asbestos-related claims filed by shipyard workers in Newport News Circuit Court have been scheduled for consolidation and will be tried beginning in early 2002.

Court officials confirmed that the cases filed by the Law Offices of Peter T. Nicholl in Portsmouth, Va., will be tried beginning in February 2002. Subsequent trials of cases filed by additional firms have not yet been scheduled.

Only the alleged liability will be determined in the first phase of the consolidated trial. Thereafter, damages will be determined on a case-by-case basis, according to court sources. Approximately 40 defendants …