Calif. Bridge Welders See IHI Insurance Dwindling, Want 1 Joint Trial

OAKLAND, Calif. - California bridge welders' apprehension that defendant IHI Environmental Inc.'s insurance coverage will soon be exhausted led to their suggestion in the latest joint Case Management Conference Statement that all bridge welders' claims against IHI be tried jointly, in one trial. In re: Welding Product Cases, JCCP No. 4368 (Calif. Super. Ct., Alameda Cty.).

Plaintiffs added, however, that because they made a "reasonable demand" for the $2 million policy limits two years ago, IHI's insurer could be liable for a bad faith judgment.

In the Joint Case Management Conference Statement filed on June 17, a week before the …