The Michigan Supreme Court recently issued an order barring theconsolidation of asbestos cases for settlement or trial.

The Court's four-to-three decision requires lower courts to hearasbestos cases individually, prohibiting the “bundling” of cases,according to the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies(NAMIC). The result of the decision is that very serious cases willnot be used as leverage to settle less serious cases. Currently,there are more than 25,000 asbestos-related lawsuits pending inMichigan. There has not been an asbestos case trial verdict in thestate since 1999.

“It is the opinion of this Court that each case should bedecided on its own merits and not in conjunction with other cases.Thus, no asbestos-related disease personal-injury action shall bejoined with any other such case for settlement or for any otherpurpose, with exception of discovery,” the Court's majority opinionstated. Justice Stephen J. Markman's concurring majority opinionstated that the Court's order will allow the state legislature tomore accurately assess the true costs of asbestos litigation, whichhe said has been obscured by the bundling of claims.

“Asbestos claims are inundating U.S. courts at an alarmingrate,” said Marliss Browder, NAMIC's federal affairs director. “Todate, over 700,000 asbestos liability claims have been filed. Onereason for the drastic increase in asbestos lawsuits is that thescope of defendants has widened to companies with only peripheralinvolvement with asbestos. Previously, the majority of asbestosclaims centered on companies that manufactured asbestos-containingmaterials.”