Foley Mansfield

$27M

Asbestos Litigation Defense

Foley & Mansfield attorneys Diane Babbitt and Brian Smith won a significant victory for client Pryor Giggey, a manufacturer of boiler insulation accused of sending asbestos-containing insulation to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard where the plaintiff worked as a boilermaker and sought $27 million in damages. The Foley & Mansfield team argued and proved the absence of evidence of the claims and in a 10-2 jury vote, cleared their client of the claims.

$19M

Product Liability Defense

Gary D. Sharp and Keith M. Ameele of Foley & Mansfield’s Los Angeles office teamed with Meredith Shaw of the San Francisco office of Quinn Emanuel to represent Colgate-Palmolive Company in a case filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court. Plaintiff Anna Blount filed her case claiming that she suffers from a terminal illness (peritoneal mesothelioma) and that a product manufactured by Colgate was the cause of her disease. The case was tried over a 2 ½ week period in the Chatsworth Division of the Los Angeles Superior Court. During closing arguments, plaintiffs requested $19 million dollars in damages and a finding of punitive damages. The jury deliberated for less than 3 ½ hours before returning a verdict in favor of Colgate and rejecting all of plaintiffs’ claims.

$3.7M

Medical Malpractice Defense

On Tuesday, November 4, 2014, a jury for the 20th Judicial Circuit Court for Fort Meyers, Florida, found in favor of an emergency department physician and a physician’s assistant accused of failing to diagnose a patient’s pulmonary embolism that caused her death. The decedent, a 42-year old woman, died three days after being discharged from the emergency department. Alleging that the physicians failed to order necessary diagnostic tests to rule out the patient’s embolism, the decedent’s husband and daughter asked the jury for $3.7 million dollars in damages. However, the defense successfully argued that the decedent’s fatal embolism developed after she left the emergency room, and that the physicians made the appropriate diagnosis of acute bronchitis prior to discharge. After a compelling closing argument by lead counsel Kevin O’Connor, the jury returned a defense verdict after four hours of deliberation.

$3.6M

Product Liability Defense

Foley & Mansfield of counsel Melissa Roeder and partner Terry Hall of the firm’s Seattle office successfully defended a cement company against products liability and negligence claims brought by the family of a retired employee of Puget Sound Naval Shipyard diagnosed with mesothelioma. After hearing evidence during a three week trial, the jury deliberated for less than an hour before returning a defense verdict on plaintiff’s claims. Plaintiff’s counsel requested approximately $3.6 million in damages during closing arguments.

$2.3M

Wrongful Death Defense

Foley & Mansfield partner Gary D. Sharp of the firm’s Oakland and Detroit offices, along with national coordinating counsel Carmen N. Anderson of Milwaukee’s von Briesen & Roper and local counsel Dan Brady of Buffalo’s Hagerty & Brady successfully defended an equipment manufacturer against a wrongful death claim brought by the estate of a gentleman diagnosed with mesothelioma. After hearing evidence during a three and a half week trial, the jury deliberated for two hours before returning a defense verdict on all causes of action brought against it. Plaintiff’s counsel requested $2.3 million during their closing argument.

$600,000

Education Law / Fraud

On August 26, 2014, the Macomb County Circuit granted summary judgment in favor of our client, the City of Fraser, in a case brought against Almeda University, an institution with its place of business located in Puerto Rico, in the amount of $600,000. This case of first impression was brought against Almeda University under the recently passed Authentic Credentials In Education Act, MCL 390.1601, and involved Almeda University issuing Bachelors and Masters degrees to police officers which were used by the officers for promotion and salary increases. The Macomb County Circuit Court found that because Almeda University was not a qualified institution under the Act necessary to issue advance degrees in the State of Michigan, Almeda “knowingly issued or manufactured a false academic credential.”