Tanenbaum Keale LLP partner Christopher Marks will take part in a three-person panel discussion for a Toxic Tort Committee of the Association of Defense Counsel of Northern California and Nevada (ADC) webinar titled “The Campaign of Plaintiffs’ Attorneys in Asbestos Litigation To Prohibit Genetic Testing and Suppress Basic Scientific Research.”
The proximate biological cause of all cancer, including mesothelioma, is the accumulation of mutations at critical gene loci leading to the abrogation of normal cellular replication. This process can and does occur spontaneously without exposure to any environmental carcinogens. Like other cancers, mesothelioma is a disease of mutation accumulation, a process that occurs inexorably with age. Quite apart from any asbestos exposure, of any fiber type, the risk of developing pleural mesothelioma increases with age. During the hour-long session, panelists will discuss how certain asbestos plaintiffs’ law firms, despite having filed lawsuits in which plaintiffs have put their diagnosis at issue, have tried to prevent world-renowned experts from evaluating plaintiff’s pathology materials and performing genetic testing, thereby stifling critical research in the diagnosis and etiology of mesothelioma. The discussion will include a look at the current status of the litigation in the Alameda Superior Court in California, the law defendants are using to fight these efforts and next steps.
Marks is an accomplished trial lawyer admitted to practice law in Washington, Oregon, and California and is admitted to appear before the U.S. District Court for the Northern, Southern, and Central Districts of California, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern and Western Districts of Washington, and the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon. He focuses his practice on commercial matters, consumer litigation, and high-exposure tort matters, including product liability claims related to asbestos and talc, consumer products, and transportation.