Court Denies Motion to Lift Stay on Welding Rod and Asbestos Exposure Lawsuit

BATON ROUGE, La. -- A Louisiana federal judge has denied a motion to lift a stay in which plaintiffs in a welding rod and asbestos exposure lawsuit argued that a transfer to the welding rod products liability MDL would unfairly segregate the complaint and preclude the plaintiffs from having a single trier of fact to allocate fault. McKeithen, et al., v. Exxon Mobil Corporation, et al., No. 04-365 (M.D. La.).

Judge Ralph E. Tyson of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana entered the one-page order on July 8 denying the plaintiff's motion to lift the stay, …