Lawyers for out-of-state asbestos plaintiffs are being asked to file their cases in other forums in order to allow the First Judicial District to get its asbestos case inventory back into compliance with American Bar Association standards that all cases be resolved within 24 to 25 months.
That request was one of several changes announced Thursday by Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge John W. Herron, the administrative judge of the trial division, which includes civil cases. Herron, along with the coordinating judge in charge of mass torts, Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Sandra Mazer Moss, met with both sides of the asbestos bar and sought comment from the bar about consolidating and reverse bifurcating asbestos cases. Herron also presided over an asbestos trial in order to see experts in those types of cases firsthand and to learn about the medical issues.
