Wash. Appellate Court Affirms Defense Verdict in Asbestos Case, Rejects Jury Instruction Argument

SEATTLE –– A Washington appellate court has affirmed a defense verdict in an asbestos case, concluding that the plaintiffs’ failure to articulate his theory of the case during closing arguments did not render the jury instructions insufficient.

In the March 11 order, the Washington Court of Appeals, Division One, court concluded that since the plaintiff “could still argue his theory of the case and the instructions given permitted him to do so, we conclude that the court’s failure to give an ongoing duty to warn instruction was not error.”

In his complaint, filed in May 2020, plaintiff Gary Olson alleged …