New York City Judge Upholds Recommendation Relating to Production of Trust Claims

NEW YORK –– The judge overseeing the coordinated asbestos docket in New York City has rejected efforts by the plaintiffs to categorize claims submitted to bankruptcy trusts as confidential or protected under work-product privilege.

In the November ruling, Justice Sherry Klein Heitler of the New York Supreme Court for New York County affirmed a recommendation made last year but noted that the production of the bankruptcy documents should only contain factual information, and not the plaintiffs’ personal information.

Plaintiffs’ firm Weitz & Luxenberg P.C. objected to a 2011 recommendation that requires all asbestos plaintiffs to provide defendants with information regarding …