PLAC joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and others in filing a comment with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to object to EPA's decision to include several paid experts for asbestos plaintiffs, but no defense testifying experts, on key peer review committees – the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) and TSCA SACC Ad Hoc Peer Reviewers – examining a March 2020 Draft Risk Evaluation for Asbestos (Link to report: www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2020-03/documents/...).

The draft report concludes that chrysotile asbestos poses an unreasonable risk to workers in the "processing and industrial use of asbestos-containing diaphragms, processing and industrial use of asbestos-containing sheet gaskets and industrial use of asbestos-containing brake blocks, aftermarket automotive asbestos-containing brakes/linings, other vehicle friction products, and other asbestos containing gaskets."

PLAC's comment asked EPA to modify the composition of the peer review committees to allow EPA to hear from all perspectives and be fully informed. As drafted, the report has the potential to negatively impact the asbestos litigation by bolstering the opinions of plaintiffs' experts in chrysotile asbestos personal injury cases.
Read the comment here

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PLAC is a specialty bar association focusing on complex litigation and regulatory issues in the area of product development and product liability. Our not-for-profit association of product manufacturers, suppliers, retailers and select regulatory, litigation and appellate professionals who work to shape the common law of product liability and complex regulation, provide guidance on changing regulations, and strategically help corporations manage risk throughout the entire product lifecycle. PLAC is a unique resource for companies who must defend their products’ integrity and their companies’ reputation.

PLAC recently filed a United States Supreme Court brief addressing the most significant unresolved issue about due process limits on state courts’ exercise of personal jurisdiction. In its recent jurisprudence, and most notably Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court, 137 S. Ct. 1773 (2017), the Court made clear that a state may exercise specific jurisdiction over a non-resident corporation only when plaintiff’s claim “aris[es] out of or relat[es] to” defendant’s in-state conduct. In Ford Motor Company v. Montana Eighth Judicial District Court and Ford Motor Company v. Bandemer, (Nos. 19-368, 19-369 consolidated), in-state plaintiffs brought product liability suits against an out-of-state vehicle manufacturer for injuries suffered in an in-state accident even though defendant had not designed, sold or manufactured the vehicle at issue in-state. The Montana and Minnesota Supreme Courts separately found jurisdiction because plaintiffs’ claims “related to” defendant’s in-state sales of similar vehicles, maintenance of dealership arrangements and the like. PLAC’s brief argued that under both the holdings and rationales of the Court’s jurisdictional cases, a court may exercise jurisdiction consistent with due process only if defendant’s in-state conduct forms an essential element of its alleged liability to plaintiff. The Court will schedule oral argument in the October 2020 term.

PLAC member David R. Geiger of Foley Hoag LLP and his colleague Stephen Stich authored PLAC’s brief.

Fall 2020 Conference:  PLAC's Fall Conference will be held at the new Four Seasons Philadelphia September 30 - October 2, 2020 in Philadelphia, PA.