NY State Senate Bill 2019-S7659

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Judiciary Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
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Delivered to Governor
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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Feb 04, 2020	referred to judiciary

2019-S7659 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A53
Current Committee:: Senate Judiciary
Law Section:: Civil Practice Law and Rules
Laws Affected:: Add Art 99 §§9901 - 9907, CPLR
Versions Introduced in 2017-2018 Legislative Session:: S2511, A10964

2019-S7659 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to truth and fairness in asbestos litigation; provides for requirements in trust claims.

2019-S7659 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S7659

SPONSOR: BRESLIN
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation to truth
and fairness in asbestos litigation

 
PURPOSE OF THE BILL:

The bill will amend the Civil Practice Law and Rules to improve the
transparency of asbestos trust claims.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section one creates a new Article 99 of the CPLR entitled "Truth in
Asbestos Trust Claims."

§ 9901: Defines the terms used in Article 99.

§ 9902: Requires that any claimant who has filed a civil action in the

New York courts for an asbestos related injury must file all of the
claimant's asbestos trust claims no later than 45 days after the
commencement of the civil action. This section also provides a mechanism
for claimants to avoid filing claims with certain asbestos trusts if the
anticipated costs and fees associated with such a filing would exceed
the expected recovery from the asbestos trust.

§ 9903: Requires the claimant to notify all defendants in the civil
action of the filing of each asbestos trust claim 30 days after the
commencement of discovery. The section further requires that the claim-
ant must produce to each defendant the asbestos trust claim materials
relating to each of the asbestos trust claims filed by the claimant.

§ 9904: Requires the trust claims to be made and the sworn statements
and asbestos trust claim materials, prior to the commencement of trial
in an asbestos related civil action.

§ 9905: Allows a defendant to, not less than 90 days before trial,
request that the court require a claimant to file an additional asbestos
trust claim that the claimant has not already filed.  Provides mech-
anisms for the claimant to respond to the motion. Allows the court to
determine whether there is a sufficient basis for making the additional
asbestos trust claim.

§ 9906: Provides rules for considering trust claim material evidence.

§ 9907: Allows for the filing of a motion for sanctions against the
claimant if it is determines that the claimant made additional changes
undisclosed asbestos trust claims after a judgement was rendered in the
claimant's civil action. Also, this section allows for an adjustment of
a judgement in asbestos cases up to one year after the judgement to
account for any asbestos trust payments actually obtained by the claim-
ant in connections with a trust claim filed after the judgement.

Section two sets the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The purpose of this bill is to promote fairness in the civil justice
system by promoting transparency in New York courts with respect to when
trust compensation is available. This legislation promotes the principle
that plaintiffs should not receive duplicate compensation for the same
injury from asbestos civil claims and in asbestos lawsuits.

Under New York law, defendants in a civil action should only be respon-
sible for their proportionate shares of a claimant's noneconomic damages
such as pain and suffering, which is typically the largest component of
damages asserted by asbestos claimants, unless a defendant's share of
fault exceeds 50% in which case the defendant is liable for the loss.
The bill furthers this goal and promotes greater fairness in the judi-
cial system by prohibiting claimants and their lawyers from delaying
asbestos trust submissions until after their court cases have been
resolved, thereby depriving defendants of materials and evidence during
the discovery process that could mitigate their liability. Claimants
instead would be required to promptly submit claims to appropriate bank-
ruptcy trusts in advance of trial and to make their claims-submission
materials available to state court defendants.

Widespread use of asbestos products ended several decades ago. Due to
long latency periods from exposure to the onset of an asbestos-related
disease, however, asbestos-related personal injury claims continue to be
brought in large numbers today in New York's court systems. However, in
recent years, there has been a fundamental shift in the way asbestos
claimants are compensated.

First, the litigation landscape has changed dramatically, as the largest
and historically most culpable defendants have declared bankruptcy and
exited the civil justice system. In response to this phenomenon, plain-
tiffs' lawyers have cast an ever-widening net in the search for solvent
defendants. Over 8,500 companies, many of small and medium size, involv-
ing a broad variety of industries, have now been sued in asbestos liti-
gation. The relative fault of these defendants, who used to be peripher-
al defendants prior to the bankruptcies - if they were sued at all - is
marginal as compared to the former, now bankrupt, target defendants.

Second, the former target defendants have been replaced by bankruptcy
trusts. Beginning in 1982 with asbestos giant Johns-Manville, over 100
former asbestos manufacturers, including most of the largest and histor-
ically most culpable companies, have exited the civil justice system
through bankruptcy. As part of their bankruptcy proceedings, these
companies set up trusts. These trusts, which operate independently of
the civil justice system, pay billions of dollars each year to asbestos
claimants that concurrently file claims in the civil justice system, and
will continue to pay tens of billions of additional dollars for years to
come. Since 2008, asbestos bankruptcy trusts have paid over $17 billion
to asbestos claimants.

As a result, there are now two paths to compensation for asbestos claim-
ants, the civil justice system and the trust system, and there is very
little transparency between them. A typical asbestos claimant collec-
tively can recover hundreds of thousands of dollars from numerous trusts
by submitting documentation establishing the claimant's disease level
and degree of exposure to asbestos from products manufactured by the
bankrupt company. Because these claims and their supporting submissions
can be used as evidence in the civil justice system by defendants,
plaintiffs' attorneys may seek to avoid providing this information to
the defendants in civil actions even when state discovery rules mandate
the timely production of this evidence.

One tactic that has emerged is that plaintiff law firms are delaying
their clients' submission of trust claims until after their state court
cases against solvent defendants have been concluded. This is made
possible by "statute of limitations" provisions instituted and main-
tained by the trusts that permit an asbestos claimant a minimum of 3
years from the date of their disease diagnoses to file compensation
claims with the trusts. Plaintiff law firms use this 3-year window to
first file a civil complaint in New York courts and collect damages from
solvent defendants in the civil action, waiting until afterward to file
their bankruptcy trust claims with no coordination of liability or
payments between the two compensation systems. This practice can unfair-
ly distort and inflate the liabilities of solvent civil defendants by
facilitating the suppression of evidence in asbestos actions currently
being litigated in New York courts.

This unfairness recently was documented in detailed, evidence-supported
findings by a federal bankruptcy judge in connection with the Garlock
asbestos bankruptcy. See In re Garlock Sealing Techs, LLC, 504 B.R. 71
(W.D.N.C. Bankr. 2014), the judge in that case found that asbestos liti-
gation nationally has been "infected with the manipulation of exposure
evidence" by plaintiff law firms. Citing specific cases, including those
within New York's own judicial system, the bankruptcy judge concluded
that a pervasive practice exists to suppress exposure evidence in New
York courts and courts across the nation.

Since 2012, eight other state legislatures have passed similar asbestos
bankruptcy trust transparency laws in reaction to this growing problem.
In New York, courts already have mandated through standing discovery
orders the disclosure of trust submissions that have been made by claim-
ants. These requirements, however, do not address the delayed-submission
phenomenon to which this bill is addressed. This bill seeks to close the
trust-instituted procedural loophole in order to help ensure that the
parties and the court have full access to exposure evidence needed to
establish the equitable allocation of liability to defendants in the
civil justice system.  The solution to this problem is straightforward,
which is to require asbestos claimants and their attorneys to file
asbestos trust claims concurrently with the active civil lawsuit and
furnish their submissions to the defendants in the civil action in
advance of any trial in a New York court. Accordingly, this bill would
promote fairness in the civil justice system by requiring asbestos
claimants to 1) timely file their trust claims; 2) provide notice to
defendants in the civil action of the filing of the trust claims, and;
3) produce to those defendants the trust materials and documentation
submitted by the claimants to support their trust claims.

Historically, New York State has always been a leader in implementing
innovative and successful legislation and court administrative proce-
dures to efficiently and equitably adjudicate civil litigation.  This
situation should be no different. This bill neither denies the avenue to
justice for deserving asbestos claimants, nor does it let current
responsible asbestos defendants off the hook. The bill simply promotes
fairness by requiring that the finders of fact in New York's judicial
system have the full complement of evidence to correctly allocate
liability among culpable parties from both compensation systems. This
bill furthers the goal of creating a legal environment for all New York-
ers, creating new and better standards for transparency, efficiency and
justice.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2018 Session  S.2511A (Bonacic) - Passed Judiciary, Discharged from
Finance, Died in Rules

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTS ON FINES, TERMS OF IMPRISONMENT OR OTHER PENAL SANCTIONS:

None - the sanctions authorized in the bill are all civil sanctions, not
criminal penal sanctions.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect 30 days after it becomes law.

2019-S7659 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7659
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 4, 2020
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. BRESLIN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary
 
 AN ACT to amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation  to  truth
   and fairness in asbestos litigation
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section 1. The civil practice law and rules is amended by adding a new
 article 99 to read as follows:
                                ARTICLE 99
                      TRUTH IN ASBESTOS TRUST CLAIMS
 SECTION 9901. DEFINITIONS.
         9902. REQUIREMENT TO MAKE TRUST CLAIMS.
         9903. NOTICE OF TRUST CLAIM; PRODUCTION OF TRUST CLAIM MATERIAL.
         9904. FAILURE TO MAKE TRUST CLAIM OR PROVIDE  NOTICE  AND  TRUST
                CLAIM MATERIAL.
         9905. IDENTIFICATION  OF  ADDITIONAL  ASBESTOS  TRUST  CLAIMS BY
                DEFENDANTS.
         9906. EVIDENCE OF TRUST CLAIMS.
         9907. MOTION FOR SANCTIONS.
   § 9901. DEFINITIONS. AS USED IN THIS  ARTICLE:  (1)  "ASBESTOS  TRUST"
 MEANS  A  GOVERNMENT-APPROVED OR COURT-APPROVED TRUST, QUALIFIED SETTLE-
 MENT FUND, COMPENSATION FUND OR CLAIMS FACILITY CREATED AS A  RESULT  OF
 AN  ADMINISTRATIVE  OR  LEGAL  ACTION,  A  COURT-APPROVED BANKRUPTCY, OR
 PURSUANT TO 11 U.S.C. 524(G) OR 11 U.S.C. 1121(A)  OR  OTHER  APPLICABLE
 PROVISION  OF  LAW,  THAT  IS  INTENDED, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, TO PROVIDE
 COMPENSATION TO CLAIMANTS ARISING OUT OF, BASED ON, OR  RELATED  TO  THE
 HEALTH EFFECTS OF EXPOSURE TO ASBESTOS.
   (2)  "TRUST  CLAIM"  MEANS  ANY  FILING  WITH,  SUBMISSION TO OR CLAIM
 AGAINST AN ASBESTOS TRUST SEEKING RECOVERY OF  COMPENSATION  OR  DAMAGES
 FOR OR ARISING FROM THE HEALTH EFFECTS OF EXPOSURE TO ASBESTOS.
   (3)  "TRUST  CLAIM  MATERIAL" MEANS ANY AND ALL DOCUMENTATION FILED OR
 SUBMITTED BY OR ON BEHALF OF A CLAIMANT AS PART OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH
 A TRUST CLAIM, INCLUDING:
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD01068-01-9

 S. 7659                             2
 
   (A) DOCUMENTATION, MATERIALS AND INFORMATION THAT A  CLAIMANT  SUBMITS
 OR PROVIDES TO AN ASBESTOS TRUST FOR THE PURPOSE OF DEMONSTRATING ASBES-
 TOS EXPOSURE, THE HEALTH EFFECTS OF EXPOSURE TO ASBESTOS, OR THE VALIDI-
 TY OF A TRUST CLAIM; AND
   (B) CLAIM FORMS AND OTHER MATERIALS THAT AN ASBESTOS TRUST REQUIRES IN
 ORDER TO SUPPORT A TRUST CLAIM.
   §  9902.  REQUIREMENT  TO MAKE TRUST CLAIMS. (1) EXCEPT AS PROVIDED BY
 SUBDIVISION FOUR OF THIS SECTION, A CLAIMANT WHO HAS FILED AN ACTION  TO
 RECOVER  DAMAGES FOR OR ARISING FROM AN ASBESTOS-RELATED INJURY, AND ANY
 PERSON WHO IS REPRESENTING THE CLAIMANT AND/OR HAS A FIDUCIARY  DUTY  TO
 THE  CLAIMANT FOR THE CLAIM, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE CLAIMANT'S
 REPRESENTATIVES, AGENTS, COUNSEL AND ASSIGNS, SHALL CONDUCT AN  INVESTI-
 GATION  AND  FILE  ALL TRUST CLAIMS THAT CAN BE MADE BY THE CLAIMANT NOT
 LATER THAN FORTY-FIVE DAYS AFTER  THE  CLAIMANT'S  COMMENCEMENT  OF  THE
 ACTION.
   (2) A CLAIMANT MAY FILE A MOTION SEEKING RELIEF FROM THE OBLIGATION TO
 MAKE  A  TRUST  CLAIM OTHERWISE REQUIRED BY THIS SECTION IF THE FEES AND
 EXPENSES, INCLUDING ATTORNEY'S FEES, FOR FILING THE TRUST  CLAIM  EXCEED
 THE CLAIMANT'S REASONABLY ANTICIPATED RECOVERY FROM THE ASBESTOS TRUST.
   (3)  IF  A  CLAIMANT  FILES  A  MOTION  UNDER  SUBDIVISION TWO OF THIS
 SECTION, THE COURT SHALL  DETERMINE  WHETHER  THE  CLAIMANT'S  FEES  AND
 EXPENSES,  INCLUDING  ATTORNEY'S FEES, FOR MAKING THE TRUST CLAIM EXCEED
 THE CLAIMANT'S REASONABLY ANTICIPATED RECOVERY FROM THE ASBESTOS  TRUST.
 IF THE COURT DETERMINES THAT THE CLAIMANT'S FEES AND EXPENSES EXCEED THE
 CLAIMANT'S REASONABLY ANTICIPATED RECOVERY, THE CLAIMANT IS NOT REQUIRED
 TO  MAKE  THE  TRUST  CLAIM  BUT SHALL PROVIDE THE COURT WITH A VERIFIED
 STATEMENT OF THE EXPOSED  PERSON'S  EXPOSURE  HISTORY,  USAGE  OR  OTHER
 CONNECTION  TO  ASBESTOS  THAT IS COVERED BY EACH ASBESTOS TRUST AGAINST
 WHICH A CLAIM IS NOT REQUIRED.
   § 9903. NOTICE OF TRUST CLAIM; PRODUCTION OF TRUST CLAIM MATERIAL. (1)
 A CLAIMANT IN AN ACTION TO RECOVER DAMAGES FOR OR ARISING FROM AN ASBES-
 TOS-RELATED INJURY SHALL SERVE ON EACH PARTY A  SWORN  STATEMENT,  UNDER
 PENALTY  OF  PERJURY,  AND  TRUST CLAIM MATERIAL RELATING TO, EACH TRUST
 CLAIM MADE BY OR ON BEHALF OF THE EXPOSED PERSON.  THE  SWORN  STATEMENT
 MUST:
   (A)  IDENTIFY  EACH  TRUST  CLAIM  MADE BY OR ON BEHALF OF THE EXPOSED
 PERSON;
   (B) STATE THE AMOUNT OF ANY TRUST CLAIM PAYMENT MADE OR TO BE MADE  TO
 COMPENSATE FOR THE EXPOSED PERSONS' INJURY; AND
   (C)  STATE  THE  DATE  EACH  TRUST CLAIM WAS MADE OR IS TO BE MADE AND
 WHETHER A REQUEST FOR INDIVIDUAL OR ENHANCED REVIEW OR FOR  A  DEFERRAL,
 DELAY,  SUSPENSION,  OR  TOLLING  OF THE CLAIM HAS BEEN SUBMITTED TO THE
 ASBESTOS TRUST.
   (2) THE CLAIMANT SHALL SERVE THE SWORN STATEMENT AND TRUST CLAIM MATE-
 RIAL REQUIRED BY SUBDIVISION ONE OF THIS SECTION NOT LATER  THAN  THIRTY
 DAYS AFTER THE COMMENCEMENT OF DISCOVERY.
   (3) THE SWORN STATEMENT AND TRUST CLAIM MATERIAL REQUIRED TO BE SERVED
 UNDER  SUBDIVISION  ONE OF THIS SECTION ARE IN ADDITION TO ANY NOTICE OR
 MATERIALS REQUIRED TO BE SERVED OR PRODUCED AS  PART  OF  DISCOVERY  AND
 UNDER ANY OTHER LAW, RULE, ORDER, OR APPLICABLE AGREEMENT.
   (4)  IF  A  CLAIMANT DISCOVERS THAT THE SWORN STATEMENT OR TRUST CLAIM
 MATERIAL PROVIDED BY THE CLAIMANT UNDER THIS SECTION WERE INCOMPLETE  OR
 INCORRECT  AT  THE  TIME THE SWORN STATEMENT OR TRUST CLAIM MATERIAL WAS
 SERVED OR THAT THE SWORN STATEMENT OR TRUST CLAIM MATERIAL AS SERVED  IS
 NO  LONGER COMPLETE AND CORRECT, THE CLAIMANT SHALL SUPPLEMENT THE SWORN
 STATEMENT AND THE PRODUCTION OF TRUST CLAIM MATERIAL. THE CLAIMANT SHALL

 S. 7659                             3
 
 SERVE THE SUPPLEMENTAL SWORN STATEMENT OR TRUST CLAIM  MATERIAL  REASON-
 ABLY PROMPTLY AFTER THE CLAIMANT DISCOVERS THE NECESSITY FOR THE SUPPLE-
 MENTATION,  BUT  NOT  LATER  THAN  THE  THIRTIETH DAY AFTER THE DATE THE
 CLAIMANT DISCOVERS THE NECESSITY FOR THE SUPPLEMENTATION.
   §  9904. FAILURE TO MAKE TRUST CLAIM OR PROVIDE NOTICE AND TRUST CLAIM
 MATERIAL. (1) A COURT MAY NOT COMMENCE TRIAL IN  AN  ACTION  TO  RECOVER
 DAMAGES FOR OR ARISING FROM AN ASBESTOS-RELATED INJURY UNLESS THE CLAIM-
 ANT HAS:
   (A) MADE EACH TRUST CLAIM AS REQUIRED BY THIS ARTICLE; AND
   (B)  SERVED THE SWORN STATEMENT, AND TRUST CLAIM MATERIAL RELATING TO,
 THOSE TRUST CLAIMS IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION NINETY-NINE HUNDRED  THREE
 OF THIS ARTICLE.
   (2)  THIS  SECTION SHALL NOT BE CONSTRUED TO REQUIRE THAT THE CLAIMANT
 RECEIVE PAYMENT OF A TRUST CLAIM FROM AN ASBESTOS TRUST BEFORE  A  JUDG-
 MENT IS RENDERED IN THE ACTION.
   §  9905. IDENTIFICATION OF ADDITIONAL ASBESTOS TRUST CLAIMS BY DEFEND-
 ANTS. (1) NOT LESS THAN NINETY DAYS BEFORE TRIAL, IF A DEFENDANT IDENTI-
 FIES AN ASBESTOS TRUST CLAIM NOT  PRODUCED  BY  THE  CLAIMANT  THAT  THE
 DEFENDANT REASONABLY BELIEVES THE CLAIMANT MAY FILE, THE DEFENDANT SHALL
 CONFER  WITH THE CLAIMANT AND THEREAFTER MAY MOVE THE COURT FOR AN ORDER
 TO REQUIRE THE CLAIMANT TO FILE THE ADDITIONAL TRUST CLAIM. THE  DEFEND-
 ANT  SHALL PRODUCE OR DESCRIBE ANY DOCUMENTATION THE DEFENDANT POSSESSES
 OR OF WHICH THE DEFENDANT IS AWARE  IN  SUPPORT  OF  THE  MOTION.  IF  A
 DEFENDANT  HAS  PREVIOUSLY  FILED A MOTION UNDER THIS SECTION, THE COURT
 SHALL NOT GRANT A SUBSEQUENT MOTION  IF  THE  DEFENDANT  KNEW  THAT  THE
 CLAIMANT  MET  THE  CRITERIA  FOR PAYMENT FOR THE ADDITIONAL TRUST CLAIM
 IDENTIFIED IN THE SUBSEQUENT MOTION AT THE TIME THE EARLIER  MOTION  WAS
 FILED.
   (2)  WITHIN  10 DAYS OF RECEIVING THE DEFENDANT'S MOTION, THE CLAIMANT
 SHALL, FOR EACH ASBESTOS TRUST CLAIM IDENTIFIED BY THE DEFENDANT, DO ONE
 OF THE FOLLOWING:
   (A) FILE THE ASBESTOS TRUST CLAIMS;
   (B) FILE A WRITTEN RESPONSE WITH THE COURT STATING THE REASON THERE IS
 INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE FOR  THE  CLAIMANT  TO  FILE  THE  ASBESTOS  TRUST
 CLAIMS; OR
   (C)  FILE A WRITTEN RESPONSE WITH THE COURT REQUESTING A DETERMINATION
 THAT THE FEES AND EXPENSES, INCLUDING ATTORNEY'S  FEES  FOR  FILING  THE
 ASBESTOS  TRUST  CLAIMS  EXCEED  THE  CLAIMANT'S  REASONABLY ANTICIPATED
 RECOVERY FROM THE ASBESTOS TRUST.
   (3)(A) WITHIN 10 DAYS OF THE CLAIMANT FILING A WRITTEN RESPONSE TO THE
 DEFENDANT'S MOTION, THE COURT SHALL DETERMINE  IF  THERE  IS  SUFFICIENT
 BASIS  FOR  THE  CLAIMANT TO FILE THE ASBESTOS TRUST CLAIM IDENTIFIED IN
 THE MOTION. IF THE COURT DETERMINES THAT THERE IS A SUFFICIENT BASIS FOR
 THE CLAIMANT TO FILE AN ASBESTOS TRUST CLAIM IDENTIFIED BY  THE  DEFEND-
 ANT, THE COURT SHALL ORDER THE CLAIMANT TO FILE THE ASBESTOS TRUST CLAIM
 IDENTIFIED  AND  STAY   THE ASBESTOS ACTION UNTIL THE CLAIMANT FILES THE
 ASBESTOS TRUST CLAIM AND PRODUCES ALL RELATED TRUST CLAIM MATERIALS.
   (B) IF THE COURT DETERMINES THAT THE COST OF  SUBMITTING  AN  ASBESTOS
 TRUST  CLAIM  IDENTIFIED BY THE DEFENDANT EXCEEDS THE CLAIMANT'S REASON-
 ABLY ANTICIPATED RECOVERY, THE COURT  SHALL  STAY  THE  ASBESTOS  ACTION
 UNTIL  THE CLAIMANT FILES WITH THE COURT AND PROVIDES ALL PARTIES WITH A
 VERIFIED STATEMENT OF THE CLAIMANT'S  HISTORY  OF  EXPOSURE,  USAGE,  OR
 OTHER CONNECTION TO ASBESTOS COVERED BY THAT ASBESTOS TRUST.
   § 9906. EVIDENCE OF TRUST CLAIMS. (1) TRUST CLAIM MATERIAL IS PRESUMED
 TO  BE  AUTHENTIC,  RELEVANT  AND ADMISSIBLE IN EVIDENCE IN AN ACTION TO
 WHICH THIS ARTICLE APPLIES.

 S. 7659                             4
 
   (2) CLAIMS OF PRIVILEGE SHALL NOT APPLY TO ANY TRUST CLAIM MATERIAL IN
 AN ACTION TO WHICH THIS ARTICLE APPLIES.
   (3) A PARTY MAY USE THE TRUST CLAIM MATERIAL TO PROVE:
   (A)  AN ALTERNATE SOURCE FOR THE CAUSE OF THE EXPOSED PERSON'S INJURY,
 DEATH OR LOSS;
   (B) A BASIS TO ALLOCATE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE EXPOSED PERSON'S  INJU-
 RY, DEATH, OR LOSS; OR
   (C)  ANY  OTHER  ISSUE RELEVANT TO ADJUDICATION OF A CLAIM ASSERTED IN
 THE ACTION.
   § 9907. MOTION FOR SANCTIONS. (1) ON THE  MOTION  OF  A  DEFENDANT  OR
 JUDGEMENT  DEBTOR  SEEKING  SANCTIONS  OR  OTHER  RELIEF IN AN ACTION TO
 RECOVER DAMAGES FOR OR ARISING FROM THE HEALTH EFFECTS  OF  EXPOSURE  TO
 ASBESTOS,  AND  AFTER  REASONABLE  NOTICE  TO THE PARTIES, THE COURT MAY
 IMPOSE ANY SANCTION PROVIDED BY COURT RULE OR LAW,  INCLUDING,  BUT  NOT
 LIMITED  TO,  VACATING  A JUDGEMENT RENDERED IN THE ACTION, FOR A CLAIM-
 ANT'S FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH  THE  DISCLOSURE  REQUIREMENTS  OF  SECTION
 NINETY-NINE HUNDRED THREE OF THIS ARTICLE.
   (2)  IF  THE  CLAIMANT, CLAIMANT'S COUNSEL, OR ANY OTHER PERSON ON THE
 CLAIMANT'S BEHALF FILES AN ASBESTOS TRUST  CLAIM  OR  CLAIMS  AFTER  THE
 CLAIMANT  OBTAINS  A JUDGEMENT IN THE ACTION, AND THE ASBESTOS TRUST WAS
 IN EXISTENCE AT THE TIME THE CLAIMANT OBTAINED THE JUDGEMENT, THE COURT,
 ON MOTION BY A DEFENDANT OR JUDGEMENT DEBTOR SEEKING SANCTIONS OR  OTHER
 RELIEF,  HAS  JURISDICTION  TO  REOPEN  THE  JUDGEMENT IN THE ACTION AND
 ADJUST THE JUDGEMENT BY THE AMOUNT  OF  ANY  SUBSEQUENT  ASBESTOS  TRUST
 PAYMENTS  OBTAINED  BY  OR ON BEHALF OF THE CLAIMANT AND ORDER ANY OTHER
 RELIEF TO THE PARTIES THAT THE COURT DEEMS JUST AND PROPER.
   (3) A DEFENDANT OR JUDGEMENT DEBTOR SHALL FILE ANY MOTION  UNDER  THIS
 SECTION  WITHIN  A  REASONABLE TIME AND NOT MORE THAN ONE YEAR AFTER THE
 JUDGEMENT WAS ENTERED IN THE ACTION.
   § 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day  after  it  shall
 have  become a law, and shall apply to all actions commenced on or after
 such date.

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Senate Bill S7659

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Judiciary Committee

2019-S7659 (ACTIVE) - Details

2019-S7659 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2019-S7659 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2019-S7659 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

Senate Bill S7659

Share this bill

Sponsored By

Neil D. Breslin

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Judiciary Committee

2019-S7659 (ACTIVE) - Details

2019-S7659 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2019-S7659 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2019-S7659 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments