Supreme Court Update: Bostic v. Georgia-Pacific Corp.

The Texas Supreme Court today affirmed the Dallas Court of Appeals’ judgment in a wrongful death/asbestos case, which had vacated an $11.6 million plaintiff’s verdict. The majority opinion disagreed with the Court of Appeals’ holding that the plaintiff had to prove that the decedent would not have contracted mesothelioma but for his exposure to the defendant’s own product. Nevertheless, applying the “substantial factor” test for causation, the majority held that the plaintiff had still failed to provide legally sufficient evidence that the defendant’s product had caused the victim’s illness.

Bostic v. Georgia-Pacific Corp. (majority)

Bostic v. Georgia-Pacific Corp. (Guzman concurrence)

Bostic v. Georgia-Pacific Corp. (Lehrmann dissent)