L.A. pipe maker says law firm filed bogus asbestos lawsuits

A Los Angeles pipe manufacturer that has been sued thousands of times for allegedly causing asbestos-related disease in workers handling its products is accusing a leading law firm of filing fraudulent cases.

- BY LAURENCE DARMIENTO

DANIA MAXWELL Los Angeles Time.

JM EAGLE is privately held by Chief Executive Walter Wang and has about $2 billion in annual revenue.

J-M Manufacturing, which does business as JM Eagle, filed a federal RICO lawsuit Wednesday in Illinois alleging the Gori Law Firm in Edwardsville, Ill., brought sham lawsuits against it as part of a strategy to reach costly mass settlements.

The lawsuit alleges the law firm's plaintiffs who might suffer from lung cancer or mesothelioma, a rare aggressive organ cancer caused by asbestos were coached by trained attorneys to identify the company’s pipe as the source of their exposure, even when that was demonstrably false.

It accuses the law firm of a “systematic scheme of fraud operating beneath the surface of ostensibly ordinary asbestos litigation.” The company said it learned of the alleged fraud after a former attorney at the firm came forward.

“We are outraged by these ridiculous claims from an asbestos company. These scare tactics will not stop us from fighting for justice for our clients who are hurt by manufacturers like J-M Manufacturing Co.,” the firm said in response to the lawsuit.

The firm's website says it has “recovered” more than $4 billion for its clients.

Asbestos is a mined fibrous silicate that was widely used in home insulation, automobiles and other applications through the 1970s until its use was slowly phased out as its health effects became widely known.