December 16, 2006

The Georgia Supreme Court invalidated a provision in a 2005 law requiring plaintiffs in pending asbestos cases to meet specific medical criteria before being able to pursue damages in Georgia courts; refusing to sever an evidentiary provision it held unconstitutionally retroactive, all of the procedural requirements in the bill have fallen as applied to the thousands of forum-shopping asbestos plaintiffs, the vast majority of whom have suffered no injury, much less injury in Georgia. [DaimlerChrysler v. Ferrante; AJP Alert; Chamber of Commerce amicus brief; NAM brief; earlier: Sep. 29, 2005; related: Mar. 6]