ASBESTOS LITIGATION SHAD C. SHAW, and SARAH SHAW, His Wife
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EFiled: May 13 2019 04:18PM EDT Filing ID 63260161 Case Number 86,2019 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE IN RE: ASBESTOS LITIGATION ) ) SHAD C. SHAW, and SARAH SHAW, his wife ) Plaintiffs Below, Appellants ) ) No. 86, 2019 v. ) ) Court Below: AMERICAN FRICTION, INC.; BAKER HUGHES ) The Superior INCORPORATED; CABOT CORPORATION; ) Court of The CONOCOPHILLIPS COMPANY, as successor by ) State of Delaware merger to PHILLIPS PETROLEUM COMPANY and ) C.A. No. N17C- TOSCO CORPORATION; DRILLING ) 03-229 (ASB) SPECIALTIES COMPANY. LLC, individually as ) successor in interest to CHEVRON PHILLIPS ) CHEMICAL COMPANY, LP; EXXON ) CORPORATION; FORD MOTOR COMPANY; ) GENUINE PARTS COMPANY, trading as NAPA ) AUTO PARTS; GOULDS PUMPS, ) INCORPORATED; and GREENE, TWEED & ) COMPANY, INC., ) Defendants Below, Appellees. ) APPELLEES’ ANSWERING BRIEF RUFO ASSOCIATES, PA /s/ Loreto P. Rufo Loreto P. Rufo (#2534) 1252 Old Lancaster Pike Hockessin, Delaware 19707 (302) 234-5900 Dated: May 13, 2019 Defense Coordinating Counsel (Additional Counsel for Appellees Listed on Inside Cover) 22812365v.1 Additional counsel: LAW OFFICE OF JOHN V. WORK REILLY McDEVITT & HENRICH /s/ John V. Work /s/ Brian D. Tome John V. Work (#4666) Brian D. Tome (#5300) 800 N. King Street, Suite 303 1013 Centre Road, Suite 210 Wilmington, Delaware 19801 Wilmington, Delaware 19805 (302) 540-8747 (302) 777-1700 For: American Friction, Inc. For: Baker Hughes, a GE Company, LLC SWARTZ CAMPBELL, LLC PHILLIPS GOLDMAN MCLAUGHLIN & HALL, P.A. /s/ Joseph S. Naylor Joseph S. Naylor (#3886) /s/ John C. Phillips 300 Delaware Avenue, Suite 1410 John C. Phillips (#110) Wilmington, Delaware 19801 David A. Bilson (#4986) (302) 656-5935 1200 N. Broom Street For: Cabot Corporation Wilmington, Delaware 19806 (302) 655-4200 For: Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP and ConocoPhillips Company, Individually and as Successor by Merger to Phillips Petroleum Company and Tosco Corporation MARON MARVEL BRADLEY WHITE AND WILLIAMS LLP ANDERSON & TARDY, LLC /s/ Christian J. Singewald /s/ Paul A. Bradley Christian J. Singewald (#3542) Paul A. Bradley (#2156) Rochelle Gumapac (#4866) Stephanie A. Fox (#3165) Courthouse Square 1201 N. Market Street, Suite 900 600 N. King Street, Suite 8000 Wilmington, Delaware 19801 Wilmington, Delaware 19801 (302) 472-1792 (302) 654-0424 22812365v.1 For: Exxon Mobil Corporation, For: Ford Motor Company incorrectly identified as Exxon Corporation and Genuine Parts Company, incorrectly identified as Genuine Parts Company, trading as NAPA Auto Parts MORGAN, LEWIS & BOCKIUS WILBRAHAM, LAWLER, & BUBA LLP PC /s/ Kelly A. Costello /s/ Timothy A. Sullivan Kelly A. Costello (#3382) Timothy A. Sullivan III (#4813) 1007 N. Orange Street, Suite 501 919 N. Market Street, Suite 980 Wilmington, Delaware 19801 Wilmington, DE 19801 (302) 574-7289 (302) 421-9922 For: Goulds umps LLC For: Greene, Tweed, & Co., Inc. 22812365v.1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TABLE OF CITATIONS ........................................................................................ iii NATURE OF PROCEEDINGS ................................................................................. 1 SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT ................................................................................. 5 STATEMENT OF FACTS ........................................................................................ 8 A. Appellants File Suit Under Texas Law ............................................ 8 B. After Appellant Shad Shaw And His Father Were Deposed For Purposes Of Product Identification, Appellants Added Their Case To The MTSO For Trial In November 2018 .......................................................................... 10 C. The Special Master And The Superior Court Found That Appellants Lacked Good Cause To Move The Trial Grouping Again ..................................................................... 13 ARGUMENT ........................................................................................................... 19 I. THE SUPERIOR COURT DID NOT ABUSE ITS DISCRETION IN DENYING APPELLANTS’ MOTION TO MOVE TRIAL GROUPING BASED ON THEIR FAILURE TO SHOW GOOD CAUSE FOR DOING SO ...................... 19 A. Question Presented ......................................................................... 19 B. Scope of Review ............................................................................ 19 C. Merits of Argument ........................................................................ 20 1. The Applicable Standard Is Good Cause, And Appellants Waived Any Argument To The Contrary ............................................................................... 21 2. The Superior Court Did Not Abuse Its Discretion In Ruling Appellants Failed To Show Good Cause ................................................................ 28 i 22812365v.1 TABLE OF CONTENTS—Continued Page 3. Drejka Is Inapplicable .......................................................... 37 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................ 43 EXHIBITS General Scheduling Order No. 1 (Amended Dec. 17, 2015) ........................ Exhibit 1 Master Trial Scheduling Order and Table of Trial Schedule Abstracts (Amended Aug. 16, 2018) .................................................................. Exhibit 2 ii 22812365v.1 TABLE OF CITATIONS Page(s) CASES: Borg-Warner Corp. v. Flores, 232 S.W.3d 765 (Tex. 2007) ........................................................................... 9, 10 Bostic v. Georgia-Pacific Corp., 439 S.W.3d 332 (Tex. 2014) ................................................................................. 9 Brewington-Carr v. Univ. & Whist Club, 2009 WL 924533 (Del. Super. Ct. Apr. 6, 2009) ................................... 24, 27, 37 Bumgarner v. Verizon Del., LLC, 2014 WL 595344 (Del. Super. Ct. Jan. 14, 2014) .................................. 27, 28, 36 Candlewood Timber Grp. LLC v. Pan Am. Energy LLC, 2006 WL 258305 (Del. Super. Ct. Jan. 18, 2006) ........................................ 31, 32 Christian v. Counseling Res. Assocs., 60 A.3d 1083 (Del. 2013) ................................................................. 34, 38, 40, 42 Clouser v. Doherty, 175 A.3d 88, 2017 WL 3947404 (Del. 2017) (Table) ........................................ 26 Coleman v. PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLC, 902 A.2d 1102 (Del. 2006) ..........................................................................passim Dishmon v. Fucci, 32 A.3d 338 (Del. 2011) ..................................................................................... 14 Doe v. Colonial Sch. Dist., 2011 WL 7063682 (Del. Super. Ct. Dec. 27, 2011) ........................................... 31 Drejka v. Hitchens Tire Service Inc., 15 A.3d 1221 (Del. 2010) ............................................................................passim Freibott v. Miller, 2012 WL 6846562 (Del. Super. Ct. Oct. 26, 2012) ............................................ 28 Goode v. Bayhealth Med. Ctr., Inc., 931 A.2d 437, 2007 WL 2050761 (Del. 2007) (Table) ...................................... 41 iii 22812365v.1 TABLE OF CITATIONS—Continued Page(s) Hammer v. Howard Med., Inc., 2017 WL 1170795 (Del. Super. Ct. Feb. 14, 2017) ........................................... 23 Hill v. DuShuttle, 58 A.3d 403 (Del. 2013) ......................................................................... 40, 41, 42 In re Asbestos Litig. (English Trial Grp.), 1994 WL 721771 (Del. Super. Ct. Sept. 19, 1994) ............................................ 25 In re Asbestos Litig. (Richards), 2018 WL 3769190 (Del. Super. Ct. Aug. 8, 2018) ............................................. 23 In re Asbestos Litig. (Vala), 2012 WL 2389898 (Del. Super. Ct. June 22, 2012) ........................................... 23 Incyte Corp. v. Flexus Biosciences, Inc., 2017 WL 7803923 (Del. Super. Ct. Nov. 1, 2017) ............................................. 36 Ivanhoe Partners v. Newmont Mining Corp., 535 A.2d 1334 (Del. 1987) ................................................................................. 20 Jackson v. Hopkins Trucking Co., 3 A.3d 1097, 2010 WL 3397478 (Del. 2010) (Table) ........................................ 22 Jefferson v. Helgason, 2012 WL 1413674 (Del. Super. Ct. Feb. 13, 2012) ..................................... 22, 35 Kent v. Dover Ophthalmology ASC., LLC, 2018 WL 1940450 (Del. Super. Ct. Apr. 12, 2018) ........................................... 39 Layton v. Layton, 192 A.3d 556, 2018 WL 3814500 (Del. 2018) (Table) ................................ 28, 29 Lorenzetti v. Farrell, 2013 WL 3569098 (Del. Ch. July 12, 2013) ...................................................... 26 Lundeen v. PricewaterhouseCoopers, 919 A.2d 561, 2007 WL 646205 (Del. 2007) (Table) ...................... 30, 31, 32, 34 iv 22812365v.1 TABLE OF CITATIONS—Continued Page(s) MCA, Inc. v. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co., 785 A.2d 625 (Del. 2001) ................................................................................... 28 Meck v. Christiana Care Health Servs., Inc., 2011 WL 1226456 (Del. Super. Ct. Mar. 29, 2011) ....................................passim Moses v. Drake, 109 A.3d 562 (Del. 2015) ............................................................................passim Murphy v. State, 632 A.2d 1150 (Del. 1993) ................................................................................. 21 Nationwide Mut. Fire Ins. Co. v. Cropper Oil & Gas, Inc., 2012 WL 1413589 (Del. Super. Ct. Feb. 7, 2012) ............................................