Occupational Asbestos Exposure Case Proceeds to Trial in La. Federal Court

NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana federal judge has refused to remand an occupational asbestos exposure case set for trial on May 8, explaining there are no novel or complex issues of state law in the case, therefore federal jurisdiction exists.

In a March 27 order, Judge Carl J. Barbier of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana added that although the court has dismissed the claims over which it had original jurisdiction, the case has been pending in federal court for several years, extensive discovery has occurred, the court has decided multiple dispositive motions, and the case …