Maryland Senators Debate Bill Establishing Office to Mediate Asbestos Claims; Judiciary Opposes Efforts

BALTIMORE –– Legislators in Maryland are currently debating a bill that would establish an office to mediate asbestos claims, but the Maryland Judiciary has opposed the efforts, maintaining that it is “making full use of … procedures” established five years ago to address a backlog of asbestos cases in the Baltimore City docket.

In that letter, the Maryland Judiciary points to the recent disclosure that a plaintiffs’ firm representing the “greatest number of plaintiffs on the docket” has left 217 trial slots unused in 2019 alone.

The latest version of the bill pending in the Maryland Legislature says …