Los Angeles manufacturer accuses law firm of filing fraudulent asbestos lawsuits
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A Los Angeles pipe manufacturer that has been sued thousands of times for allegedly causing asbestos-related disease in workers handling its products is accusing a leading law firm of filing fraudulent cases.J-M Manufacturing, which does business as JM Eagle, filed a federal RICO lawsuit Wednesday in Illinois alleging the Gori Law Firm in Edwardsville, Ill., brought sham lawsuits against it as part of a strategy to reach costly mass settlements.The lawsuit alleges the law firm’s plaintiffs — who might suffer from lung cancer or mesothelioma, a rare aggressive organ cancer caused by asbestos — were coached by trained attorneys to identify the company’s pipe as the source of their exposure, even when that was demonstrably false.It accuses the law firm of a “systematic scheme of fraud operating beneath the surface of ostensibly ordinary asbestos litigation.” The company said it learned of the alleged fraud after a former firm attorney came forward.
“We are outraged by these ridiculous claims from an asbestos company.These scare tactics will not stop us from fighting for justice for our clients who are hurt by manufacturers like J-M Manufacturing Co.,” the firm said in response to the lawsuit.The firm’s website says it has “recovered” more than $4 billion for its clients.
Business Palmdale, other water agencies awarded zero damages in whistleblower suit against L.A.company JM Eagle, the world’s largest maker of PVC water pipe.Asbestos is a mined fibrous silicate that was widely used in home insulation, automobiles and other applications through the 1970s until its use was slowly phased out as its health impacts became widely known.JM Eagle is a large producer of plastic and PVC pipe, a business it got into in 1982 after purchasing those operations from Johns-Manville Corp., which went bankrupt because of asbestos claims.
It is privately held by Los Angeles...