Tanenbaum Keale LLP partner Malika Johnson and associate Erin P. Fraser recently attended the Perrin Asbestos Litigation Conference, held October 1-3 in San Francisco.
The conference featured a diverse group of speakers, including plaintiff and defense attorneys, judges, expert witnesses and representatives from corporations and insurance companies involved in the litigation.
Among the panel discussions, topics included jurisdictional trends from around the country, the emergence of talc litigation, the future of lung cancer cases, the latest on bankruptcy trusts, and ways to improve efficiency and cooperation in the litigation.
Additionally, the conference featured an informative judicial roundtable discussion with representation from a majority of the problematic jurisdictions. The conference also included a mock talc trial, during which a plaintiff attorney and defense attorney each gave a closing argument presentation to a mock jury.
The jurors then gave their feedback and deliberated in front of the audience. Fraser said having the opportunity to hear the jurors’ feedback in real-time was eye opening.
The mock trial ended in the jury awarding the fictional plaintiff more than $30 billion in damages.