Court Should Scrap Reverse Bifurcation for Silica Trials, Defendant Says

PHILADELPHIA - Defendants in Philadelphia's coordinated silica litigation have asked the trial judge to break from the court's longstanding reverse bifurcation process used in asbestos litigation and order all-issues trials for the 40 silica cases pending on the court's docket. In Re Silica, March Term 2003, No. 0001 (Pa. Comm. Pls., Philadelphia Cty.).

In a motion filed July 6 in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court, Empire Abrasive Equipment Corp. says that allowing the bifurcated trials would prejudice defendants by preventing them from presenting exculpatory evidence at a meaningful point in the trial process.

Empire also says that the reverse bifurcation process …