Defendants Appeal Decision Allowing Plaintiff-Less Case to Proceed

JACKSON, Miss. - Several defendants in Mississippi have petitioned the state Supreme Court to reverse a lower court ruling that allowed a wrongful death silica case to proceed without a plaintiff. Pangborn v. Any Parties In Interest 1-30 on Behalf of All Wrongful Death Beneficiaries of Barber Luster, Deceased, No. 2009-M-00494-SCT (Miss. Sup. Ct.).

In a petition for interlocutory appeal filed March 26, the defendants ask the court to determine whether a lawsuit may exist when no specific plaintiff has been identified by plaintiffs' counsel.

The appeal follows a ruling by Claiborne County Circuit Court Judge Lamar Pickard, who denied …