Certification of Proximate Cause Issue Sought in Asbestos Case

TRENTON, N.J. - Plaintiffs in a New Jersey asbestos case are appealing to the state Supreme Court to determine whether an appeals court erred in March when it affirmed a jury instruction that based the determination of proximate cause on whether a single defendant's products had independently caused the injuries alleged. Kelleher v. Okonite Cable Co., No. A-6212-97T5 (N.J. Sup. Ct.).

In a petition filed in the New Jersey Supreme Court on May 21, plaintiffs in the state's last asbestos case to go to trial said the instruction that determined the products of lone defendants Okonite Cable Co. and Phelps …