Harvey Kruse has been involved in defending asbestos-related disease claims since cases began in Michigan in the late 1970s. The firm has represented and tried cases for clients throughout Michigan and as far south as El Paso, Texas. With approximately 1,000 cases set for trial every year, we have a large and experienced team of lawyers and paralegals dedicated to this area alone. We have obtained countless dismissals on motions for summary judgment in asbestos litigation over the years, including those based on product identification deficiencies, the statute of limitations, the “sophisticated user” doctrine, and “successor liability” defects. We also have extensive experience defending a wide variety of different products such as insulation materials, friction products, gaskets, gages, valves, and pumps. In addition, we represent a number of companies sued for premises liability.
Tort reform legislation in Michigan, which permits an allocate of substantial responsibility for any injury to other entities including those not even named as defendants in the litigation such as insolvent corporations, effectively requires defense counsel to switch roles and put on plaintiffs' cases against other potentially responsible parties. Harvey Kruse has a unique sense for how to prove “shares” against non-parties due to its three decades of work in the field.
Other tort reform measures in Michigan that Harvey Kruse is particularly well suited and well versed in handling include Daubert “junk science” challenges to expert testimony on a variety of subjects. Harvey Kruse has been involved in numerous evidentiary hearings over the years involving such issues, not only in trial courts, but also in the Michigan Court of Appeals and the Michigan Supreme Court.
Finally, Harvey Kruse was instrumental in establishing “Medical Counsel” and “Lead Defense Counsel” programs in Michigan several decades ago that are still in existence and continue to substantially reduce the litigation costs associated with this complex and seeming unending litigation.
