Insurance Coalition Wants Bright-Line Sophisticated User Standard for All Silica Claims

AUSTIN, Texas - A consortium of insurance companies has filed an amici curiae brief in a silica case on petition for review before the Texas Supreme Court, asking the justices to adopt a bright-line, objective standard for applying the sophisticated user doctrine to all silica cases. U.S. Silica Company v. Estate of Donald Tompkins, et al., No. 03-0195 (Texas Sup. Ct.).

The brief, filed Sept. 25 in U.S. Silica v. Tompkins by the Coalition for Litigation Justice, says adopting a universal objective standard would prevent the wasting of judicial resources that accompanies a subjective application of the doctrine on a …