An Anniversary to Remember
Forty years ago Clarence Borel, dying of mesothelioma, filed his landmark claim against the leading manufacturers of asbestos products. Borel prevailed at trial and when the defendants appealed his $75,000 judgment saying he couldn't prove which defendant was responsible the 5th Circuit open the floodgates of mass toxic tort litigation by holding:
“[I]t is impossible …to determine with absolute certainty which particular exposure to asbestos dust resulted in injury...” “[E]ach exposure may result in an additional and separate injury…. therefore … the jury could find that each defendant was the cause in fact of some injury…”
