News & Knowledge

FormanWatkins attorneys Ruth Maron, Joshua Metcalf, and Nick Giallourakis worked with attorneys from Bullivant Houser Bailey to obtain summary judgment in a King County, Washington living mesothelioma case on February 28, 2020. 

In another win for our forest products team, on February 21, 2020, FormanWatkins won summary judgment on all counts on behalf of a dimensional lumber manufacturer in a case involving a plaintiff’s alleged childhood exposure to softwood dust in his father’s hobby woodshop.

Win Gault and Spencer Ritchie recently won in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, where the Court affirmed the District Court’s ruling that awarded our client contractual damages, attorney fees, pre-judgment interest, and post-judgment interest totaling more than $900,000.

Win Gault and Spencer Ritchie presented oral argument before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Gault and Ritchie appeared before the Court on behalf of an oil and gas company after having obtained a bench trial verdict for the company in the Eastern District of Louisiana. The District Court awarded our client contractual damages, attorney fees, prejudgment interest, and post-judgment interest totaling more than $800,000.

Forman Watkins & Krutz LLP is pleased to announce that 15 lawyers from our Firm have been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America© 2020, the oldest and most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession. Best Lawyers® has published their list for over three decades, earning the respect of the profession, the media, and the public as the most reliable, unbiased source of legal referrals. Lawyers on The Best Lawyers in America list are divided by geographic region and practice areas. They are reviewed by their peers on the basis of professional expertise, and undergo an authentication process to make sure they are in current practice and in good standing.

Win Gault and Jake Banks obtained a defense verdict in an arbitration concerning claims brought under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“Act”). Claimant maintained that Respondent (a national retailer) violated the Act by using an automatic telephone dialing system (“ATDS”) to place calls to her cellular phone to collect a delinquent debt.

A FormanWatkins trial team consisting of Peter Moir, Tim Gray, and Margaret McLaughlin just obtained a defense verdict in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  The case involved a claim that an equipment manufacturer supplied asbestos-containing components in equipment it provided to a copper mine and that the components caused the mesothelioma and subsequent death of a mine employee. 

Jackson Partner Peyton Smith recently had an article published in DRI’s For The Defense (June 2019).  Click the image below to read it.

New Jersey partners Tom Toman and Nicole Diesa recently won a summary judgment motion in New Jersey asbestos litigation.  Despite a tentative decision to deny the motion, the Court eventually granted summary judgment and found that based upon a failure to establish causation, plaintiff could not submit a legally sufficient case against the manufacturer of electrical products represented by FormanWatkins.  Ms. Diesa wrote the winning briefs, and Mr. Toman gave the oral argument.

Malissa Wilson and Courtney Hunt won summary judgment in a case involving an uninsured/underinsured coverage dispute. The plaintiffs were seeking $3 million in uninsured/underinsured coverage. The Court dismissed plaintiff’s complaint on the ground that the policies in dispute had been properly non-renewed and were not in effect at the time of the accident.