Our Record of Success

DBS Successfully Challenges $40 Million Jury Verdict and Obtains a New Trial for Product Manufacturer

Karen Kies DeGrand and Scott Howie successfully obtained an order granting defendant’s post-trial motion, dispensed with the $40,750,000 jury verdict in plaintiff’s favor and awarding defendant a new trial. In a wrongful death action plaintiff filed on behalf of her deceased father, plaintiff asserted negligent failure to warn and failure to test claims related to asbestos-containing products manufactured by defendant. Plaintiff alleged that her father developed mesothelioma from working with defendant’s asbestos-containing gaskets and packing materials. After a two-and-a-half-week trial, the jury returned a verdict in plaintiff’s favor.

DBS attorneys filed a post-trial motion that challenged the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the jury’s verdict and argued for a new trial based on trial error. Granting defendant’s request for a new trial, the trial court determined that plaintiff’s counsel’s misconduct during closing argument deprived defendant of a fair trial. The trial court agreed with the defense that, during her closing argument, plaintiff misstated the law, improperly appealed to the jury’s passions and sense of social justice, violated pretrial orders, and used undisclosed demonstrative exhibits that underscored her improper arguments. The trial court held that plaintiff’s overwhelmingly prejudicial closing argument warranted a new trial.