D.C. Court Finds Claims Barred under District's Special Asbestos Statute of Limitations

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A trial court in the District of Columbia has granted Georgia-Pacific's motion for partial summary judgment in an asbestos action, finding that the plaintiffs' claims failed under the district's one-year statute of limitations specific to asbestos-related cases. Rocha, et al. v. Georgia-Pacific Corp., et al., No. 2009 CA 000838 A (D.C. Super. Ct.).

In the Jan. 10 decision, the District of Columbia Superior Court declined to utilize a three-year statute of limitations governing all other tort claims, noting that the intent of the legislature in enacting the one-year limitations period, which starts on the date of diagnosis …