Defense attorneys plan to appeal a decision by a Manhattan Supreme Court justice to allow the consideration of punitive damages in asbestos lawsuits for the first time in almost 20 years, The New York Law Journal's Jeff Storey reports. Supreme Court Justice Sheri Klein Heitler, coordinator of the New York City Asbestos Litigation (NYCAL) court, opined that plaintiffs are able to seek punitive damages in every court except her court and "'I, for one, cannot justify a situation in which an asbestos plaintiff is permitted to apply for punitive damages in Buffalo but not in this court.'"
The NYCAL has been criticized by the defense bar and tort reform groups as an outlier where "damages are significantly higher than in other jurisdictions and rulings and procedures do not give proper regard to due process rights of defendants," NYLJ further reports.
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