Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani Partners John Katerndahl and Vincent Gunter recently obtained an outstanding trial result for a manufacturer of asbestos-containing electrical cable, holding a jury verdict to $900,000 against a $50 million demand following an eight-week trial in Alameda County Superior Court, which is among the most challenging asbestos venues in the country. The GRSM team also included Associate Brandon Sanchez, on-site trial Paralegal Laura Vitanova, and Paralegal Kerrie Lease.
The plaintiffs, the surviving spouse and four children of a former painter who died of mesothelioma, alleged that the decedent was exposed to asbestos from the company’s electrical cable during construction of a California nuclear power facility. GRSM’s client was the sole remaining defendant at trial. The plaintiffs asked the jury for $50 million and called 15 witnesses across their case-in-chief and rebuttal.
At trial, Katerndahl and Gunter vigorously contested the disputed mesothelioma diagnosis, product identification, and causation, presenting evidence that the company’s chrysotile cable posed a de minimis exposure far below any level associated with disease and that the fibers capable of causing mesothelioma came from other sources. The defense answered with a disciplined, focused case, calling six retained experts, spanning pathology, pulmonary medicine, industrial hygiene, cardiology, and maritime analysis, along with the decedent’s treating pathologist and a company fact witness. The result reflected extensive groundwork, including the invaluable efforts of on-site Paralegal Laura Vitanova throughout the eight weeks of trial, together with the work of Associate Brandon Sanchez and Paralegal Kerrie Lease over the preceding year, which positioned the case for success.
After the eight-week trial, the jury returned a verdict assessing total damages of $1 million, with 10% apportioned to a non-party entity. The verdict left GRSM’s client responsible for just $900,000, less than 2% of the plaintiffs’ $50 million demand.