News & Knowledge

Fred Krutz and Daniel Mulholland successfully argued that the judge who preceded Judge Simpson and entered the sanctions award erred in doing so because a reasonable person could have perceived that the judge had developed a bias against defendants.

Forman Watkins & Krutz LLP is proud to announce that its recently overhauled website (www.formanwatkins.com) won its first national award, the W³. Out of over 5,000 entries for 2016, the firm was chosen for the General Website – Legal Services Silver Award along with a Silver Award for Website Photography.

Bankruptcy trust transparency, or lack thereof, is one of the most hotly contested issues in asbestos litigation today. Repeated attempts at federal legislation have not been successful. However, legislatures in Georgia, Ohio, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Arizona, Texas, Tennessee, and Utah have enacted laws that entitle defendants to information regarding plaintiffs’ bankruptcy trust submissions.

Forman Watkins & Krutz LLP obtained a 10-2 defense verdict for sand supplier Precision Packaging in the Circuit Court of Jefferson County Arkansas.

On September 16, 2016, Trey Watkins, Nick Giallourakis, and their Illinois counsel obtained summary judgment for a premises defendant client in a secondary asbestos exposure case filed in Madison County, Illinois.  Our client was the sole remaining defendant at the time of the summary judgment hearing, which was held only three days prior to when the case was set for trial.  Forman Watkins and our Illinois counsel successfully persuaded Judge Stobbs that plaintiff’s exposure affidavits were not timely produced in discovery and should be stricken from the record.  They were then able to convince Judge Stobbs that, in the absence of the stricken affidavits, plaintiff could not establish the frequency, regularity, and proximity exposure elements necessary to satisfy the Illinois causation standard.  Judge Stobbs dismissed all of plaintiff’s secondary exposure claims against our client, who was facing a final trial setting if unsuccessful. Trey Watkins and Nick Giallourakis are partners in the Jackson, Mississippi office.  Both routinely represent clients involved in Illinois asbestos litigation, and Nick Giallourakis is licensed in Illinois. For more information, please contact Holland Familia, Marketing Director, at 601-960-8600 or Holland@formanwatkins.com.

On August 22, 2016, Win Gault won summary judgment based on the Mississippi statute of limitations in Desoto County Circuit Court

On May 24, 2016, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a decision by a federal Court in New Orleans excluding plaintiff’s experts and dismissing the case against a FormanWatkins’ client.

Louisiana 1st Circuit Court of Appeal granted a supervisory writ in favor of a FormanWatkins’ client and in doing so, clarified an open question of Louisiana law which is of critical importance in “oilfield legacy” cases.

Forman Watkins attorneys Tanya Ellis and Benton York recently obtained a big win at the Mississippi Supreme Court on behalf of their client Illinois Central Railroad Company.

Fred Krutz, Daniel Mulholland, and Caroline Upchurch won plaintiffs’ consolidated appeal to the Mississippi Supreme Court of summary judgments in seventeen silica cases entered by the Jackson County, Mississippi Circuit Court.