Defendants File Petition for Writ of Mandamus in High Court Over Unimpaired Docket Dispute

AUSTIN, Texas -- Several defendants named in cases pending in the Texas asbestos MDL have filed a writ of mandamus in the state's high court, seeking an order requiring the development of objective criteria to be used for establishing an unimpaired docket. In re Union Carbide Corp., et al., No. 04-1120 (Texas Sup. Ct.).

In the Dec. 17 writ filed in the Texas Supreme Court, defendants Union Carbide, Certain Teed Corp., Dow Chemical, General Electric and Kelly-Moore Paint Co. alternatively ask the court to conditionally grant the writ and require the pretrial court to reconsider its order denying the creation …