Asbestos Litigation, In re
| Decision Date | 26 November 1996 |
| Docket Number | 95-40694,Nos. 95-40635,s. 95-40635 |
| Citation | 101 F.3d 368 |
| Parties | In re ASBESTOS LITIGATION. James FLANAGAN; David H. Middleton; Edee Cochran; Esteban Yanez Ortiz; John R. Allgood; Henry William Evers; Lester Eugene Taylor; Safety National Casualty Corporation, Appellants v. Gerald AHEARN; James McAdams Dennis; Charles W. Jeep; James Drake; Juanita Drake; James Ellison; Roland Dearborn; Judith Dearborn; Kerwin Butcher, Dir., Workers Comp., Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, U.S. Dept. of Labor; Paul Cochran; Ida Beck; Marion Behee; Longshore Intervenor; William James Mitchell; Fibreboard Corporation; Bethlehem Steel Corporation; Continental Casualty Company; Pacific Indemnity; Francis McGovern; Owens-Illinois Inc.; Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company; Columbia Casualty Company; CNA Casualty Company of California; Celotex Corp.; Daniel Herman Rudd, Jr., on behalf of themselves and others similarly situated; Beverly White, on behalf of themselves and others similarly situated; John Hansel, on behalf of themselves and others similarly situated, Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Leonard C. Jaques, Michael J. Connor, The Jaques Admiralty Law Firm, Detroit, MI, for appellants.
Elihu Inselbuch, Charles Sanders McNew, Caplin & Drysdale, Chartered, New York City, Steven Kazan, Kazen, McClain, Edises, Simon & Abrams, Oakland, CA, Joseph F. Rice, Ness, Motley, Loadholt, Richardson & Poole, Charleston, SC, Peter Van Lockwood, Caplin & Drysdale, Chartered, Washington, DC, Joseph B. Cox, Jr., Cox & Cox, Sullivan's Island, SC, Harry Fred Wartnick, Wartnick, Chuber, Harowitz, Smith & Tigerman, San Francisco, CA, for Ahearn, Dennis, Jeep, Ellison, and Mitchell.
Eric D. Green, Boston, MA, for Dennis and Jeep.
Bruce L. Ahnfeldt, Napa, CA, for Drake.
Clinton A. Krislov, Krislov & Associates, Chicago, IL, Ronald W. Lupton, Stinson, Lupton and Weiss, Bath, ME, for Roland and Judith Dearborn, Butcher, and Longshore.
Michael Scott Hertzig, Washington, DC, for Dir., Workers Comp., Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, U.S. Dept. of Labor.
Frederick M. Baron, Dallas, TX, for Cochran, Beck and Behee.
Kelly C. Wooster, Stephen M. Snyder, San Francisco, CA, William R. Irwin, James L. Miller, Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison, San Francisco, CA, for Fibreboard Corp.
Herbert Maurice Wachtell, Meyer G. Koplow, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, New York City, Billy Glynn Parker, Ireland, Carroll and Kelley, Tyler, TX, Donald T. Ramsey, David M. Rice, Rodney L. Eshelman, Carroll, Burdick & McDonough, San Francisco, CA, for Continental Cas. Co.
Paul J. Bschorr, Richard B. Sypher, Dewey Ballantine, New York City, for Pacific Indem.
Richard L. Josephson, Baker and Botts, Houston, TX, Robert B. Shaw, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, L.L.P., Columbia, SC, for Owens-Illinois Inc.
Gary A. Bresee, Barger and Wolen, San Francisco, CA, for Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company.
Herbert Maurice Wachtell, Meyer G. Koplow, Stuart Philip Ross, Ross, Dixon and Masback, Washington, DC, for Columbia Cas. Co.
Charles P. Schropp, Schropp, Buell & Elligett, Tampa, FL, for Celotex Corp.
Arthur H. Bryant, Anne W. Bloom, Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, Washington, DC, for Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, amicus curiae.
Jeffrey Robert White, Pamela A. Liapakis, Associated Trial Lawyers of America, Washington, DC, for Association of Trial Lawyers of America, amicus curiae.
Craig A. Berrington, David F. Snyder, James L. Kimble, American Insurance Association, Washington, DC, for American Insurance Association, amicus curiae.
Scott McCullen Baldwin, Baldwin & Baldwin, Marshall, TX, for Asbestos Victims of America, amicus curiae.
Roy L. Stacy, Dennis D. Conder, Dallas, TX, Andrew K. Epting, Jr., Wise, Pratt-Thomas, Pearce, Epting & Walker, Charleston, SC, for Safety National Casualty Corporation.
Brent M. Rosenthal, Steve Dan Baughman, Baron & Budd, Dallas, TX, Frederick M. Baron, Dallas, TX, Sidney Katherine Powell, Powell & Associates, Dallas, TX, S. Ann Saucer, Dallas, TX, for Edee Cochran, appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas; Robert M. Parker, Circuit Judge.
ON SUGGESTIONS FOR REHEARING EN BANC
(Opinion July 26, 1996, 5 Cir., 90 F.3d 963)
Before REAVLEY, DAVIS and SMITH, Circuit Judges. *
The court having been polled at the request of one of its members and a majority of the judges who are in regular active service not having voted in favor (FRAP 35 and Local Rule 35), the suggestions for rehearing en banc are DENIED.
I respectfully dissent from the failure of the court to grant rehearing en banc. The result of this litigation, as implemented by the district court and affirmed by the panel majority, is the first no-opt-out, mass-tort, settlement-only, futures-only class action ever attempted or approved. The issues presented are worthy of consideration beyond the level of circuit panel review.
Five of the active judges are disqualified from participating in this matter, and a sixth judge has elected not to participate in the consideration of the suggestion for rehearing en banc. Accordingly, it is not possible to determine whether, if all active judges were voting, a majority would decide to rehear this case en banc.
The applicable statute and rules require the affirmative vote of a majority of...
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Eubanks v. Billington, s. 95-5336
...be given an opportunity to opt out. See, e.g., In re Asbestos Litigation, 90 F.3d 963, 986-87 (5th Cir.1996), reh'g denied, 101 F.3d 368 (5th Cir.1996), petition for cert. filed, (March 3, 1997) (No.96-1394) ((b)(1)(B) actions); Dosier v. Miami Valley Broadcasting Corp., 656 F.2d 1295, 1299......
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Ortiz v Fibreboard
...The Fifth Circuit denied rehearing en banc, with Judge Smith, joined by five other Circuit Judges, dissenting. In re Asbestos Litigation, 101 F.3d 368, 369 (1996). FN12SRC12. In Amchem, the Court found that class members' shared exposure to asbestos was insufficient to meet the demanding pr......