| One Step Closer to the Creation of an Asbestos Department for the San Francisco Superior Court
November 20 2009
The Honorable James McBride, Presiding Judge of the San Francisco Superior Court, appears to be on the verge of establishing a single department to handle the significant majority of pretrial matters in asbestos cases filed in San Francisco. On November 17, 2009, over 140 members of the plaintiffs and defense asbestos bar participated in a hearing before Judge McBride to discuss the proposed issuance of General Order No. 162, which will dedicate a single department to handle all law and motion, discovery, and case management issues associated with asbestos matters. Any motions related to trial dates, including motions to continue or motions to sever, will remain with the master calendar department overseen by the presiding judge. However, the presiding judge indicated that trial preference determinations will be made in the asbestos department.
This department is being created in the expectation that it will streamline asbestos case management and provide certainty to parties that if a case is set for trial, it will in fact proceed to trial on that date. With the court hamstrung by a stretched budget and a continually depleting jury pool, Judge McBride believes that the time is now to put a system in place that will better conserve the resources of all parties involved. "I sound like somebody's mother, but this is actually going to be good for everybody. It just might taste bad," Judge McBride stated at the recent hearing.
The Honorable Harold Kahn, Judge of the Superior Court, has been tapped by Judge McBride as the judge expected to preside over this new department. Despite voiced concerns regarding the details and operation of the new department, most of the defense and plaintiffs bar appear willing to give this new department a chance. Judge McBride is expected to issue his order establishing the department in the coming weeks and said that any order will address the concerns raised about deadlines and logistics of the new department. Any asbestos case or motion filed after January 4, 2010, the operative date of the proposed order, will be under the jurisdiction of this new department. Judge McBride also stated that, for the first few months of the newly formed department, two judges and a commissioner will handle the transition. However, it is anticipated that Judge Kahn will be the sole authority after this transition period.
For more information on this development or other recent asbestos news, please contact any WFB&M attorney with whom you have an existing relationship, or call (714) 634-2522 (Orange), (415) 781-7072 (San Francisco), or (213) 489-4015 (Los Angeles) to be directed to someone who can answer your questions.
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