Federal district court judge presiding over multi-district litigation (MDL) involving over 100 silica-related products liability cases (over 10,000 silicosis plaintiffs) recently published an interim decision & order which might provide mineral producers with some hope for common sense in such proceedings. The proceedings have attracted national attention, as they showcased questionable diagnoses by plaintiffs' expert medical witnesses & abuse of the legal process by the plaintiffs' attorneys. Judge J Graham Jack's decision & order remanded 90 cases to the Mississippi state court system for disposition & retained jurisdiction over most of the remaining cases. Judge Jack further excluded some of the plaintiff's expert medical testimony as inadmissible & sanctioned a law firm representing plaintiffs finding that they "multiplied the proceedings unreasonably & vexatiously."
