Michael McCarthy to Rick Evans on Opposing an Early Trial for a Dying Mesothelioma Plaintiff in Duncan v. Johns-Manville (1982)

A two-page letter of June 11, 1982, from Michael McCarthy of Haight, Dickson, Brown & Bonesteel, J-M's outside counsel in Santa Monica, to Rick Evans, an attorney at Johns-Manville, on Edward Duncan v. Johns-Manville in Los Angeles Superior Court. Duncan's lawyers had asked for an early trial because he had mesothelioma, diagnosed in July 1981, and "was not expected to live beyond six months." J-M opposed the motion, arguing that about 2,400 other plaintiffs in Los Angeles County were "similarly situated," and the judge granted the motion only so far as to give Duncan's case the priority of the 1978 filings, so a trial before March 1983 was unlikely.

What it shows

McCarthy closes: "Although this may not appear to be a victory on the surface, the reality of the situation is that the plaintiff will probably expire prior to the end of this year." The letter shows defense counsel reporting to J-M that delaying a dying man's trial was counted as a gain for the company.

In Johns-Manville's chronology

Johns-Manville's own chronology of what the company knew describes this document as follows:

Letter of 6/11/82, to Rick Evans from Michael McCarthy of Haight, Dickson, Brown & Bonesteel, re Duncan v. J-M, states that plaintiff had filed a motion to specially set trial in the action due to the fact that plaintiff had mesothelioma and was not expected to live beyond six months. Manville successfully opposed the motion, and McCarthy stated, "Although this may not appear to be a victory on the surface, the reality of the situation is that the plaintiff will probably expire prior to the end of this year."