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Sandra Waite, as Personal Representative of the Estate of John Waite, Jr. v. Union Carbide Corporation, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, No. 16-15569 · judgment August 23, 2018


Certiorari denied · March 25, 2019
Pre-decision estimate: 4% cert probability

Before the decision, roughly the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a circuit split argued in the petition, a dissent in the court below (flagged in the petition), and an Eleventh Circuit decision below, and down for a business respondent.

Question presented

I. Whether the circuit court erred when it ignored the three-prong analysis the Court has repeatedly set forth for analyzing specific jurisdiction and, instead, applied a single-factor, plaintiff-specific in-state causation test to this asbestos products liability case. II. Whether the circuit court erred in applying its in-state causation test when it defined the legal “injury” in this case not as Mr. Waite’s mesothelioma, but rather as his initial inhalation of asbestos. III. Whether, in return for granting the right to conduct intrastate business in the forum, a state may require a foreign corporation register for that right and consent to general jurisdiction in the forum.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Jonathan Ruckdeschel
The Ruckdeschel Law Firm

For respondent
Matthew John Conigliaro
Carlton Fields, P.A.

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. Mar 25 2019
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Mar 06 2019
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 3/22/2019.
  3. Feb 26 2019
    Waiver of right of respondent Union Carbide Corporation to respond filed.
  4. Jan 29 2019
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due March 4, 2019)