Court Upholds Defense Verdict, Proximate Cause Instruction

TRENTON, N.J. - A trial court did not err when, in charging a jury to determine the proximate cause of several asbestos-related claims, it failed to shift the burden of proof to defendants, a New Jersey appeals court has ruled, affirming a verdict in favor of the defendants in the case. Kelleher v. Okonite Cable Co., No. A-6212-97T5 (N.J. Super. Ct., App. Div.).

In an unpublished per curiam opinion issued March 21, the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, struck down an appeal by several plaintiffs who had also claimed the court erred when it instructed the jury to use …