Judge Sends Misjoined Asbestos Cases Out of Jefferson County

FAYETTE, Miss. - A judge in Jefferson County, Miss., ruled that parties in a multi-plaintiff asbestos case were improperly joined under the state's rules of civil procedure and must be transferred to another jurisdiction if their cause of action did not occur or accrue here. Chisolm v. Garlock, Inc., No. 01-14 (Miss. Cir., Jefferson Cty.).

Judge Lamar Pickard of the Jefferson County Circuit Court said in an order filed Oct. 12 that while he does not believe plaintiffs in the case abused the state's Rule 20, which allows for the joinder of plaintiffs filing similar claims, he is hesitant to …