Nearly seventeen months after a deadly explosion at a sugar refinery near Savannah, a strange phenomenon has appeared in the resulting wave of litigation: Lawyers for the plaintiffs and defendants look as if they have traded arguments.

One example is in a recent notice filed by attorneys for Sugar Land, Texas-based Imperial Sugar Co. and its related entities-which plaintiffs have sued claiming their negligence caused the ignition of sugar dust that killed 14 workers and injured dozens of others.