A Blank Rome Insurance Recovery team secured a victory for Nooter LLC, a construction engineering and maintenance contractor, before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The appeals panel affirmed a trial court decision preventing Evanston Insurance Co. (“Evanston”) from making arguments in Missouri federal court regarding the payment of more than $60 million for asbestos litigation. The Court ruled that Evanston had been contesting the same issue with Nooter in state court for years, thus barring them from pursuing the federal case.
The dispute between Nooter and Evanston started in 2010 when asbestos litigation was brought against Nooter because of products used in refineries and chemical plants that allegedly caused asbestos-related injuries. Nooter, Evanston, and other insurers then disputed insurance coverage issues in Missouri state courts for years. The Insurance Recovery team won declaratory judgments awarding Nooter coverage for asbestos bodily injury claims, prevailed in a jury trial for breach and bad faith verdict, and then established “all sums” and “vertical exhaustion” as Missouri law of the land in the Missouri Court of Appeals.
In response, Evanston appealed to federal courts to overturn state court judgements. Evanston sought to remove limits and avoid its duty to defend in excess of limits, through a purported “tender of limits.” The Blank Rome team moved to dismiss the case, asserting Missouri courts’ exclusive jurisdiction over the coverage issues. The Eastern District of Missouri granted the motion, forcing the insurer back to state court. The Eighth Circuit affirmed this decision on February 24, 2025, maintaining the insurance dispute within the jurisdiction of Missouri state courts.
The Eighth Circuit decision was covered by Law360 in an article titled “8th Circ. Says Mo. Law Bars $60M Asbestos Coverage Suit.”
The Blank Rome team was led by John A. Gibbons with support from Omid Safa, Alexander H. Berman, Jeffrey Hoffman, and Debbie Lowrance.
